The park allows RV washing on their concrete pad using their hose.

The park allows RV washing on their concrete pad using their hose.

We used the Park’s RV wash area and got Barbie and Sandy (really) all cleaned up. The coach and car were so coated with that stuff from the road that it took a lot of scrubbing with my new WalMart brush and lots of auto washing soap. I will be using that brush on the cars from now on. With both of us working it took us about an hour to get most of the oily dirt off. After we got both of them all cleaned up we all felt like a million dollars.

Bakersfield is just to the West of Tehachapi which is a 4,000-foot mountain pass. So, heading East, the first thing out of the gate is a climb from almost sea level to 4,000 feet in one long haul. I had forgotten how bad the eastbound climb was and was thinking about the westbound climb which is less than 2,000 feet I think. Any way, it was no big deal. The weather is nice and reasonable – mid-70’s – and I just downshift and follow the trucks up the hill. What’s the hurry anyway?

We decided to go down the East side of the Salton Sea this time. We like going to Yuma from the Palm Springs area and the roads that connect the two go on either side of the Salton Sea. The most direct route is along the West side but we have seen that side several times but never the East side. We have heard good things about the Fountain of Youth Spa RV Park and have been told we have to see Slab City too so we decided that, being so close to home and the weekend we could afford an extra night and still get home Saturday. We are probably spending a couple of nights here. It is very quiet – far from everywhere but lots of people spread out over a huge park so it feels safe.