Monday, 01NOV, was a beautiful but long drive down I-5 south to Redding, CA. The drive was almost seven hours of up & down, plus mountain curves, before arriving at the RV park. Almost from the minute we crossed into California we had great views of Mt Shasta, followed by Mt Lassen in the east upon our arrival in Redding. We decided to stay at same RV park as our drive north on 18APR of this year.
Tuesday was another glorious, sunny day, in fact we had to run the generator for the roof top A/C to keep the RV cool during the drive. We finally were out of the hills/mountains & the drive was straight & level south on I-5. But it appears the state has changed the speed limit for RVs; the speed is 70 for cars, but for semis & ANYONE towing the speed limit is 55!!! So you end up with some people towing at 50 to insure they don’t get ticketed & then you have cars going 75 or 80+; in our opinion this is not a safe situation! We pulled into Patterson, CA, at same the RV park as 17APR. We quickly changed into shorts & sandals to enjoy the 80 degree weather. We decided to treat ourselves to dinner at that famous French restaurant Jacque dans la Boite.
Wednesday we decided to drive to Edwards AFB to stay for two nights & take a break from the driving. Enroute we stopped at Murray Family Farms a large roadside produce stand; although they were shutting down for the season we could see they a little something for everybody - corn maze, ant farm, petting zoo, etc. After setting up camp we headed to the Commissary & BX. While shopping we discovered Lee Esther’s food truck in the parking lot featuring some very good & interesting creole/cajun food. The military RV Camp is not the best, but it is only $15 a night.
http://www.murrayfamilyfarms.com/
According to Wikipedia – “Almost every United States military aircraft since the 1950s has been at least partially tested at Edwards, and it has been the site of many aviation breakthroughs as a result. The base is strategically situated next to Rogers Dry Lake, an endorheic desert salt pan; its hard dry lake surface provides a natural extension to Edwards' runways. This large landing area, combined with excellent year-round weather, makes the base a perfect site for flight testing. The lake is a National Historic Landmark. Notable occurrences at Edwards include Chuck Yeager's famous flight where he broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1, test flights of the North American X-15, the first landings of the Space Shuttle, & the 1986 around-the-world flight of the Rutan Voyager. The base is also one of the largest purchasers of renewable energy in the nation, deriving 60 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, and is a lead partner in the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Partnership.” Plus it is home to worlds largest Anechoic chamber.
http://www.edwards.af.mil/
Next day we slept in, & then Corrie took off to do laundry. We then drove around a small portion of this almost 500 square mile base. In the afternoon Dan headed to the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum (3 locations, including Blackbird Airpark in Palmdale). Apparently this museum has not been accessible to the public after 11SEP because it is located on base? Dan is not sure why this is so, because other museums on other bases are still accessible to the public. The museum covers among other things the formation of the ancient lakebeds, early settlers, WWII, breaking the sound barrier, etc. In the museum Dan saw a display about Pancho Barnes & her Happy Bottom Riding Club. Then Dan remembered reading about her & how all the test pilots (like Chuck Yeager) hung out there in that famous best seller “The Right Stuff” (highly recommended reading). Dan wanted to take off right away to find the Riding Club; but he soon learned that sadly Pancho got into a dispute with Air Force officials & her establishment mysteriously burned down decades ago. Checkout Chuck Yeager’s website below to learn more about one of the first female pilots in the world, former holder of air speed records, & a true American pioneer.
Trivia – what does a 50 caliber bullet have to do with the X1?
http://www.afftcmuseum.org/
http://www.chuckyeager.com/specialfeatures/Pancho.htm
Friday, 05NOV, we got an early start for Quartzsite, AZ. The Flying J truck stop across border in Arizona had cheap diesel & this resulted in backed up lines of RVs & semis. But after waiting 25 minutes we finally refilled our tanks. We finally make it to Quartzsite, a town of only 3500 full time residents but it hosts 1.5 million RVers annually! Many RVers dry camp out in surrounding desert for little to no expenses. It is obvious that the onslot of RVers has not started; & we are not sure what they all do when they are here, since the town appears to have limited activities. It appears that the main attraction is 15 major flea markets & swap meets?
After setting up camp headed into town to check out some eccentric sites. First stop was the monument to Hi Jolly (aka Haiji Ali, aka Philip Tedro). He was one of the last camel drivers when the US Army tested the feasibility of using camels in the deserts of the southwestern USA around 1857. He was born a Greek/Syrian, who made the Hajji to Mecca becoming Haiji Ali, & arriving in America his name became mispronounced into Hi Jolly. Next stop was Reader’s Oasis Books. Why a book store? Because it is the home of the nearly naked book seller - Paul Winer. Interesting thing is that Corrie couldn’t keep her eyes focused on his eyes, whereas Dan had no problem doing so? Last stop was Celia’s Rainbow Garden, which is in memory of a young girl who died at a very young age & one of her last wishes was to create a place of lasting beauty. The result is numerous different memorials created out of various materials in not only memory of Celia, but other town’s people who have passed away & whose loved ones have created their own unique memorials.
Next day we slept in, & then Corrie took off to do laundry. We then drove around a small portion of this almost 500 square mile base. In the afternoon Dan headed to the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum (3 locations, including Blackbird Airpark in Palmdale). Apparently this museum has not been accessible to the public after 11SEP because it is located on base? Dan is not sure why this is so, because other museums on other bases are still accessible to the public. The museum covers among other things the formation of the ancient lakebeds, early settlers, WWII, breaking the sound barrier, etc. In the museum Dan saw a display about Pancho Barnes & her Happy Bottom Riding Club. Then Dan remembered reading about her & how all the test pilots (like Chuck Yeager) hung out there in that famous best seller “The Right Stuff” (highly recommended reading). Dan wanted to take off right away to find the Riding Club; but he soon learned that sadly Pancho got into a dispute with Air Force officials & her establishment mysteriously burned down decades ago. Checkout Chuck Yeager’s website below to learn more about one of the first female pilots in the world, former holder of air speed records, & a true American pioneer.
Trivia – what does a 50 caliber bullet have to do with the X1?http://www.afftcmuseum.org/
http://www.chuckyeager.com/specialfeatures/Pancho.htm
Friday, 05NOV, we got an early start for Quartzsite, AZ. The Flying J truck stop across border in Arizona had cheap diesel & this resulted in backed up lines of RVs & semis. But after waiting 25 minutes we finally refilled our tanks. We finally make it to Quartzsite, a town of only 3500 full time residents but it hosts 1.5 million RVers annually! Many RVers dry camp out in surrounding desert for little to no expenses. It is obvious that the onslot of RVers has not started; & we are not sure what they all do when they are here, since the town appears to have limited activities. It appears that the main attraction is 15 major flea markets & swap meets?
After setting up camp headed into town to check out some eccentric sites. First stop was the monument to Hi Jolly (aka Haiji Ali, aka Philip Tedro). He was one of the last camel drivers when the US Army tested the feasibility of using camels in the deserts of the southwestern USA around 1857. He was born a Greek/Syrian, who made the Hajji to Mecca becoming Haiji Ali, & arriving in America his name became mispronounced into Hi Jolly. Next stop was Reader’s Oasis Books. Why a book store? Because it is the home of the nearly naked book seller - Paul Winer. Interesting thing is that Corrie couldn’t keep her eyes focused on his eyes, whereas Dan had no problem doing so? Last stop was Celia’s Rainbow Garden, which is in memory of a young girl who died at a very young age & one of her last wishes was to create a place of lasting beauty. The result is numerous different memorials created out of various materials in not only memory of Celia, but other town’s people who have passed away & whose loved ones have created their own unique memorials.Trivia - what is the difference between Quartzsite & Quartzite?
3 comments:
Good post, very interesting. Great opening picture -- beautiful shot!
John & Laurie
Are you glad I told you about the book seller?
John/Laurie - thanks for the feedback. we should be back in LA early Dec. maybe we can hook up at a RV park in LA or nearby state?
Chuck/Anneke - dan's not sure he should thank you or not. let's just say, we can check that off our list of things to do.
tata - corrie & dan
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