This is a time of many changes! The Canadian Snowbirds are all heading home
earlier than the normal time this year. A
pandemic has disrupted the whole world so it is time to get home. The drive to get home doesn’t vary much from
last year, other than knowing what is going on out there; the weather, usually sunnier, is the
biggest difference in Southern California.
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| Windmills in Coachella Valley |
The sun is shining, as is usual as we leave the Coachella
Valley. I-10 passes through the
windmills, which easily outnumber the palm trees in the valley. Traffic is fairly light at midday and our
travels home have begun. My camera is
ready to jump into action at any time as the plan is to chronicle the whole
trip home. Have I done this before? Guilty! but I still enjoy doing it!
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| Snow in the clouds |
The mountains in Southern California often get snow and this
is no exception. It may be here later
than normal with the current weather conditions and it does add interest for
the photos. I think that snowy mountains
are my favorite photos, or at least one of my favorite. The terrain through the mountains is
interesting, too. We headed north at San
Bernadino on I-215 onto I-15 where we passed this mountain range.
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| Mojave Desert |
The drive through the Mojave Desert after leaving Barstow
looks pretty dark. Weather forecasts
rain and we do see it in the distance, but hopefully we will avoid it. There were several new miles built over the
past couple of years on this freeway, which is a definite improvement. Our truck allows us to feel most bumps in the
road so new construction is always appreciated.
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| Black clouds ahead |
More black clouds ahead and we did drive through that
downpour ahead. So deceiving with curves
and corners of the road, which there are very few of on this stretch, but
enough to take us over to that big black raincloud. Just a quick pass through, enough to wash
some bugs and dirt off the windows.
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| Mojave Air and Space Port |
Curiosity wins. I had
to google this! This is an “airplane
boneyard” or graveyard for those planes that are retired from their services. It is also storage for the surplus and has
been used as that for many years. No
more guesswork, although we were darn close, now we know what we’re looking at.
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| Tehachapi Pass |
This is my favorite part of this drive today. We have passed through Tehachapi and are now
descending the Tehachapi Pass, although that is a misnomer as the actual ‘pass’
is only a small part of this. We are now
on our way towards Bakersfield. The
railway tunnel is part of the tracks that connect to the Tehachapi Loop, a feat
built many years ago by the Southern Pacific Railroad. It allows the train to climb the elevation
and any train over 1200 metres (4000 ft) will pass over itself going over the
loop. The Loop is not visible from the
highway but several of the many tunnels are.
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| Hwy 223 |
Before we reach Bakersfield we leave this road to travel
towards I-5, where we will join that freeway to continue on our day. This is a short drive through to a small town
of Arvin situated in a valley of many vineyards and orchards.
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| Storm looming |
Now that is a very big black cloud ahead of us! The rain and showers get more now that we’re
on the freeway. Traffic is still light
so the big exodus of Canadians is still not too conspicuous, but we have seen some RV's and license plates from BC heading north. The freight
trucks are still doing their job with plenty of them on the road.
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| California orchards |
We pass several citrus orchards on this part of the
travels. This orchard is still covered with
its’ winter coat to protect the fruit.
Blooming time shouldn’t be too far away.
We are usually either too early or moving too fast to see much on these
trees situated south of San Francisco on I-5.
We are heading towards Redding, CA to meet friends on the same
travels as we are, we’ve booked accommodations and will spend our first night
here on the road home.
