July 21, 2013, Bakersfield, CA

In the early morning, 2 AM, I heard a gurgling sound.  I got up and realized I had left the water running when I dumped the sewer last night.  There was a stench in the air that smelled like burning garbage.  I got up again around 4 AM and checked out every compartment around the coach, nothing obvious.  The odor was gone when I was getting ready to roll up the hose and power cord.  The water must have held a valve in the park sewer open and the smell dissipated after a few hours.

Our goal for the day was The Bakersfield River Run RV Park.  After evaluating the fuel situation we decided to get through Los Angeles.  Our route was I-5 north.  We ran into heavy traffic near Downy.  That continued off and on to Castaic.  In a way the slow traffic was blessing.  The road was so rough it would have been worse if we had been able to do the speed limit.  I missed the turn off to the service station, so it was on toward Bakersfield via the Grapevine Hill.  Traffic was light except for some stretches of construction.  In some places there were even workmen.  The hills around Gorman were brown, they are a beautiful color in the spring with the wildflowers blooming yellow and purple.

We did turn off the interstate at the community of Grapevine, but the price for diesel was $4.79 a gallon.  We decided to go on.  I went around under the interstate but found out too late that the road ended with a southbound entrance and exit.  I checked the map and if I went south and turned around it would be quite a few miles.  I decided to unhook the Jeep and make a u-turn.

After that it was north to CA-99 to the Rosedale Highway and on to the Bakersfield River Run RV Park.  We have stayed here before it is easy off and easy on.  The park has some long pull through spots.  The site was level so I just hooked up the power and Gerri put out the slides.  It took quite awhile to cool the coach off.

We watched TV for awhile and then tuned in the worship services from Oakey Boulevard via the internet.

Gerri made Burritos for supper.  I inhaled the first one.  They were good and we have left overs.

At sundown I walked down to the Kern River which runs behind the park.  How high is the water Momma?  No feet and fallin'.  Standing on the banks of the Kern in this area at this time of the years is just like standing in the bed of the river, both are dry.  I walked around the park, I had forgotten how big it is.

Speaking of walking a few weeks ago I bought an activity tracker called Fitbit.  It is like a pedometer only it tracks sleep, stair climbing and a few other things.  All this is downloaded to a website and can be viewed in various forms.  I don't climb many stairs except getting in and out of the motor home.  There are six steps to get in.  Last week I sent an e-mail complaining that my steps up weren't being counted.  The reply was that it took ten steps up before the device registered.  When we stopped for the evening the website had registered 10 flights of stairs and a high number of walking steps.  It must have been bouncing on the rough highway through Los Angeles.

After a couple of episodes of Laredo and Have Gun Will Travel.  I called it a night.