The Sandcastle

We’ve been very busy the last few days working on a couple of projects you’ll hear more about later. But, today Dave left me working while he took some time off to go explore the Tehachapi Loop. He took my camera with him so we could share his adventure with you.

Just before he left the campground he heard the whistle of an eastbound train. He caught up with the train in Caliente.

The he got ahead of it a bit so he could see it again as it crossed under Bealville Road.

Then he drove on to Tehachapi to see the tunnel and the tracks around it. Here’s the lower end of the tunnel.

And here’s a satellite view of the area.

The Woodford-Tehachapi Road leads to a parking area with this view and historic markers.

But, look at this terrain view of the map.

See the dirt road leading up from the paved road to a turn-around? Follow it and you’ll find a parking place with a port-a-pot and this view.

If you leave your car there and hike up to the spot where the purple pin is you get the best viewing spot of all for watching trains travel around and through the loop.

And here comes the same train up the hill with Highway 58 in the background.

Eventually, we see the lead engine coming out of the top tunnel–

and nearly disappearing into a cut.

This train is so long we see part of it coming out of the tunnel on the left while the lead engines are still climbing the loop on the right; yet further to the right we see more of the same train still back by Highway 58.

This track is so convoluted here we see the lead engines passing their own mid-train helpers. Now that might not seem so odd if this was a case of the engines meeting as they  come up a switchback but this is a pass which means both sets of engines are traveling the same direction much as if one vehicle on a freeway was passing another vehicle.

Now we see the lead engines passing over the tunnel while more of its train is coming through the tunnel.

Then we see the smoke of the mid-train helpers as they emerge from the tunnel.

If you look closely at the above picture you can see a signal bridge in front of the mid-train helpers that marks the beginning of a passing track while in front of the lead engines you can see the other end of that siding. While the tunnel has only a single track this siding at the top end of the tunnel is there so downhill trains can wait for uphill trains to make the climb. But our train today is so long it laps both ends of that siding so it would have to be a much shorter train than is typically run nowadays for it to be stopped there to safely meet our train.

Finally the last car of this particular train exits the tunnel marking the tail of my tale.

I hope you enjoyed your ride.

Now I must go back to work on our projects since they need to be fully functional before we leave here tomorrow.

TTYL,

Linda

I spend a lot of my time reading RV forums getting and giving information about this wonderful lifestyle we’ve chosen.

Newcomers are often trying to decide what type of RV to buy. The two main choices are drivable or towable.

Within the towable category their are bumper pull trailers and 5th wheel trailers.

Whichever type of towable a person is considering the question often arises, “Can I tow this trailer with that truck?” To which the primary answer often is, “You might be able to tow it but you may not be able to stop it.”

That’s often followed by the statement, “You can never have too much truck.”

I was reminded of that latter statement when a fellow blogger posted this picture yesterday.

😀

TTYL,

Linda Sand

This blogger has managed to say something I would like to share with the whole world. I’m starting with you.

http://www.missminimalist.com/2011/04/minimalist-philosophy-sophrosyne/

I hope you enjoy reading her post.

TTYL,

Linda

Today we drove from Needles, California, to Bakersfield, California. Here’s some of our experiences along the way.

At the first rest area we stopped at we found ourselves parked next to this guy. Do you suppose he’s the relief driver? Or the owner?

To protect his innocence I should say the dirt is on our windows not on his truck. We are badly in need of a truck wash.

Two wrongs don’t make a right

Because our RV towing our car is 55 feet long we cannot park just anywhere and we cannot back up at all. So, as we plan our trips I look for lunch stops with easy in and out and places we are likely to fit while parked. Today’s halfway point was Barstow, California, so I looked for a lunch stop there. Google maps showed an In N Out Burger with multiple driveways and extended parking spots for oversize vehicles. We both like their burgers so into their place we pulled at what should have been the end of their lunch rush. Except I’m not sure In N Out ever has a non-rush time.

Still there were a half-dozen spaces clearly posted as Bus/RV parking. There was a pick-up truck towing a U-haul trailer in one of them which was fine since he also needed the extra-long spot. The rest all had passenger vehicles in them. There was a bus parked in the driveway and another backing in in front of one of the cars. An employee suggested we should park next to the bus in the driveway which would have blocked all traffic there. There was one spot next to a curb where we thought we would fit facing a vehicle we hoped would leave before we did.

Just as we decided to try that, a car pulled around us and pulled into that spot. I lost it. I quickly got out of our RV and stormed over to confront the young woman who had taken our only potential spot. Her response was that someone else had already done that. I managed not to channel my mother saying, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” What I did say was, “Yes, but we would fit there with that car if you didn’t park there.” She replied that she was willing to move in a tone that said I should not have used my own tone of voice. I apologized for my tone saying that when I’m hungry I might as well be a two-year old throwing a tantrum.

She moved her car; we pulled in right up to the nose of the SUV we were facing. When the owner of the SUV returned we promptly started our engine and waited for her to move then followed, still right on her nose, up to the end of that spot so we would be able to pull out when leaving for fear that, if we didn’t move up, someone else would try to park there. Why on earth would all those people think it was OK to park in the spaces reserved for busses and RVs?

California logic

Part of Highway 58 between Barstow and Bakersfield is four lane divided with limited access and part is two lane with opposing traffic and stop lights at cross streets. Because we tow a car we have extra speed limitations in some states with California being one of them. Thus on the 4-lane divided sections our speed was limited to 55 mph. On a two lane section with increased possibilities of a head on collision our limit was 60 mph. Would someone like to explain to me the logic behind this?

Interesting tandems

A pickup truck with a camper in it’s bed towing a tear drop camping trailer. A Sprinter van similar to the one we started our full-timing in towing a baby airstream travel trailer. Do you suppose the trailers are guest houses?

TTYL,

Linda

Remember us? The people who never make reservations for camping? You’ll never believe what we did. We signed up for a whole summer at one place!

We plan to spend the summer living along the Mississippi River in Minnesota. Here’s a link to our new-to-us summer home:

http://www.mrarvpark.com/

We will be parking our RV on this lot:

A few steps down the hill towards the river is this second campfire ring:

If you come visit, bring your own chairs and lots of bug repellant.

TTYL,

Linda