Saturday November 20, 2004

Coso Junction to Route 395-14

We've been staying in my neice's camper for the past few days, so I haven't had the opportunity to file updates. We'll be in the camper again tomorrow, but we should be on line the rest of the way - starting Monday.

The weather certainly is not what we expected in sunny southern California. Very cold in the morning. I've been wearing a heavy (long sleeved) jersey, a flannel shirt and a heavy sweat jacket in the mornings.

By 10 or 11 it starts to warm up and by afternoon it's pretty warm. At least the sun is hot. We're still 3,000 feet high and heading south, so I imagine it will get warmer as we go.

We seem to be at the end of the Sierras. They're petering out into a series of dirt hills. But there's another range (east-west this time) dead in front of us. The road divides here with 395 heading east around the mountains to San Bernardino and 14 heading west to Mojave. That's where we're going. It's still desert, with few towns along the way, I'm told. That's why we'll be in the camper.

I'm sure we'll turn that corner at Mojave and we'll discover the California us Easterners imagine. Everyone will be wearing beach clothes and have blond hair and sun glasses as they drive around in their convertables looking beautiful. Hmm... is it possible I've been watching too many old movies?