The long last day

Had we not gone back through Victorville and Barstow, today would have still been one of our longer days, but what is an extra 150 miles when you’ve driven 19 miles short of 5500 in the last three weeks.  Actually we made good time, I forget that no one drives the speed limit in California, even with concerns for gas mileage.  We left LA at 9:10, visited the two museums and had lunch, then hit the road for home from Barstow at 1:15 p.m.  made it to our drive way by 7:55 p.m. with a short stop and McDonald’s in Merced.

Cutting across from Barstow to Bakersfield to get to Highway 99 we went past Boran (20 Mule Team country for those old enough to remember Ronald Reagan’s TV Western Show).  The Mojave Desert is pretty desolate, but they had a nice rest stop so took a picture, in the back ground is a borax plant.

We drove up Highway 99 because it is more interesting than I-5, also wanted to take a photo of the Giant Orange hamburger stand along the way.  It was north of Madera CA but we didn’t see it and from the road construction going on in that area it looks like it got bulldozed so the road can we widened.  The last time Sandy and I had been down in LA we had come back up 99 and stopped for fresh orange juice there.  I know the road needs additional lanes, but it is sad that the last of the giant orange stands on 99 is gone.

Addendum:  After we got home learned that the “Giant Orange” had been moved from the highway to Chowchilla.  As I had guessed the highway improvement was going to run right over the original site of the Giant Orange, next time we are down that way I’ll have to swing into Chowchilla and find the new location of the Gaint Orange.