The weather on the coast of California was a chilly and wet, so after only a couple of nights there Wilson and I had had enough, we wanted warmth and sunshine. The only plan we had was to drive east toward Arizona in the hopes of finding warmer weather and less rain. California really needs the rain so we couldn't really begrudge their weather, but we didn't have to endure it either :) We packed up Alex and headed east....of course we had to stop by a local bakery and Starbucks before we left. If you are ever in Los Osos, CA I would suggest you stop at Carlock's Bakery, which is right next to the Starbucks. They have so many yummy treats there...filled pastries, donuts, bagels, cakes, cookies....you name it, they make it. Wilson and I sampled a German Bierock which was filled with ground beef, onions, and cabbage, a giant bagel, and some Asian filled thing that was basically a giant dumpling...the texture of the last one was a bit doughy and odd, but the filling was delicious.
Anyway, back to the trip....Wilson and I ended up on the road for nine hours. It didn't really seem that long. We ended up on the border town of Needles, CA. We didn't plan for a campground and there wasn't a local Walmart that allowed camping so we ended up at a Quality Inn. It was a nice room and our plan was only to spend the night but we ended up spending two. I woke up feeling fine but ended up getting a 24hr bug of some sort so we decided not to chance being too far away from a bathroom :) Wilson explained the situation to Jessy at the desk and she was very sympathetic and used her own hotel points to give us the extra night at no charge...She was incredibly generous, going above and beyond to help us out. She also guided Wilson to a local garage, as we had picked up a nail or something the night before and one of Carrie's tires had a leak. It's so nice to meet such wonderful people while on our travels. I spent the day in bed while Wilson explored the area a little bit...of course, wouldn't you know it, he also picked up the bug and spent the later part of the afternoon in bed too.
If you are ever in Needles, CA and in need of a place to stay you should stop by the Quality Inn. There isn't much in Needles which we found out. We wanted to get Jessy some flowers as a thank you and stopped by a local business to ask for a florist or grocery store, something like that, and was informed that the grocery went out of business a year or so ago...Needles is on Historic Route 66. We travelled 70 miles on this historic route and boy was it depressing. I had expected the route to be filled with businesses with flashy neon lights highlighting Route 66 but on the stretch that we drove all we saw were desolated areas that clearly had had a Hey Day, but were now abandoned heaps of junk. I'm sure there are areas along the route that would fit my imagination and we actually found a bit of that in Needles....still "progress" can have such depressing end results.
Conversation Topics:
- Interesting to see Pistachio Trees side by side and across working oil fields....how do pistachio and other nuts grow? We know that the cashew grows on top of a fruit that looks sort of like a bell pepper, having seen them in Brazil.
- When we see grapes growing we automatically assume they are being grown for wine, but what about eating grapes? Are they grown in the same way? Where are the grapes that we eat grown?
- General thoughts on roads and such
- Did you know that in Texas they have secondary roads that are marked as FM, or Farm Road? On Farm Roads animals have the right of way, so if you run into a cow or horse on one of these roads it is considered the fault of the driver and they can be sued by the farmer.
- California Speed Limit for vehicles towing as well as tractor trailers is 55mph
- In the west you don't say Interstate 10 or I-10 you just call it the 10
Leave Montaña de Oro Campground - 7:44am
Arrive Carrlock's Bakery & Starbucks - 8:00am
Miles Traveled - 5.4
Leave Starbucks - 8:55am
Rte. 1N to Morro Bay (Exit 278)
Gas - Morro Food Mart - $2.61/gal - a steal, as the average gas price was probably $2.99/gal or a little more
Rte. 1N►41N►101N►46E►99S►58E►40E►Historic Route 66 (exit 50)►40E (Rte. 66 for approximately 70 mi)
Gas - AM/PM (Arco) - approx. 30 mi west of Barstow - $2.49/gal
Arrive Needles, CA - 5:51pm
Miles Traveled - 439.1
I would sure love that bakery then. Interesting facts and thoughts. Cool sign. Bummer you got a bug.
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