On the road again - Las Vegas, NV to Bakersfield, CA

OK I admit it - I never made it outside! Everything's connected so I have a nice fluorescent glow from my Vegas trip. But I found a photo for Kathi, to help her with her Vegas Envy:

277 miles today.

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When I left Las Vegas, it was overcast and some dark clouds were hanging around. That didn't last long, though. Before long I was back into clear skies and incredible scenery! The trip was on I-15 to Barstow, then US58 to Bakersfield (at least I think I remember the switch was at Barstow). Anyway, I loved the US58 leg! It was like driving along old highways....then it got really mountainous again. Only these mountains were green. WOW!!! Just incredible scenery! Scary, but spectacular! (I think I might be in the Cascades now). (Update: nope, not the Cascades. Maybe the San Bernadino Mountains .... then am I still in the Rockies? So much to learn! If anyone knows the answer, please post. Thanks!)

Along US58, in Mojave, I passed a MASSIVE windmill farm. Gosh it was just HUGE! To me they are beautiful, generating all that power without putting lots of gunk into the air. The mountains were really rolling then! I stopped in Tehachapi for gas (first time I paid over $4 - $4.09) - was it ever cold!!!! I was at just a little more than 4000 feet but it was only 47 degrees. Brrrrr! By the time I got to Bakersfield it was warm again.

There are not any scenic pull-offs on US58, but I finally just HAD to stop at one of the truck pull-overs just so I could take some pics of the beauty. Here's one (I'll put the rest on Facebook)

A large part of my drive today was like this ... Just unbelievably beautiful!!!!

I pulled into Bakersfield just around 2:30 Pacific Time. Here's a pic of the beautiful camellias right outside my hotel sliding door.

If you look close you'll see my little bee friend in the bottom flower of the 2-flower cluster. I took more pics of these because they're so gorgeous - also on Facebook. Tomorrow I head to San Ramon to see my friend Kathy for 2 nights; it'll be such fun to catch up with her again!! Then Sunday I get to my west-coast destination - Pacific Grove / Asilomar. What a great trip it's been so far!!

Thanks for stopping by!