December 3 to 20, 2010 - Bakersfield, Morgan Hill and Martinez, CA

December 3rd after breaking camp we decided to try a new route out of Death Valley, CA-190 West.  Bad move.  The descent into Panamint Valley is six miles of 9-1/2% grade and Bill took it in first gear and 10mph since anything faster and the motorhome tried to get away. 

Here we are at the bottom in Panamint Valley stopping for lunch.

The road we came down.

Diane's back was really bothering her this day.

Parts of the rest of CA-190 were very narrow, but doable.

After 249 miles we set up at dusk at Bakersfield River Run RV Park in Bakersfield, CA.   It was a nice place to land for three nights.  Our last stop in Bakersfield was for one night where we stayed at the Elks Lodge on March 29, 2005.

While in Bakersfield we repaired a problem with our sunshades, which had come loose, got Diane a prescription for her back and had one lunch out at Red Robin.

On December 6th we had originally planned to take two days to TT Morgan Hill but decided to make the 221 mile drive in one day.  We again set up in the dark.

Our last stay here was in April 2009

It was cool and wet for our stay.

A couple times we drove up to Saratoga and visited with Cathy and John, who were running a Christmas tree lot.

It was good to see them, even if only for a couple short visits.  We had last seen them in August in Missoula, MT.

Wild turkeys in the campground.

While in Morgan Hill we ate out at Chipotle, Mamma Mia's and Black Bear Diner plus one other place we won't mention since Bill thinks he got food poisoning there.

Diane saw a chiropractor in Morgan Hill and also got an MRI to make sure there was not a serious problem giving her back pain.  The chiropractor was doing some good but we had to move on before she was pain free.

December 17th we drove the familiar 84 miles to park in front of Brian's place in Martinez, CA.  Our last stop was in April 2009.  It was wet but we set up like normal.

One evening we went over to Bill's cousin Dianna's place where we had dinner with cousins Patty and Rose and their families.  It was a great visit with them and we look forward to seeing them again.

With Brian we ate at Zen, La Tapatia, Lemongrass, and Yanni's Greek.

Now we are off to see family for Christmas.

Back Home    Back to 2010 Main Page    Previous Adventure    Next Adventure