Bakersfield to Loomis, CA

Thursday January 31st

Got going before 9 but getting to I-5 took much longer than I thought it would.  What I should have done was go N on CA-99 until we were closer to I-5, but our neighbor at the RV Park advised against Hwy 99, so I followed C'A-58 to I-5.  He was from Leavenworth, WA and was headed for a tour of Baja California with several other RVers; he said they would go all the way to Cabo San Lucas which would be about a two thousand mile round trip in Mexico.

I-5 was not in very good condition.  For some reason every over-pass and bridge had a rough joint to the roadway.  In places it looked like the roadway had been re-paved but the area under the overpass had not been re-paved (probably to maintain the clearance from the roadway to the overpass.)  There were also several broken places in the pavement every mile that added to the rough, trailer jolting experience.  If we go back to AZ, I think we will go over the Sierras and down US-95.  It's colder over there but US-95 is a great road and quite scenic, not that I minded seeing all the agriculture along I-5.  I am really amazed by the extent and variety of agriculture here; I guess I knew that it was that way but seeing it is amazing.  In the three hundred miles from Bakersfield to Sacramento we were never out of sight of a vineyard, orchard or cultivated field, unless we were going through a city.  There are many signs along I-5 making references to the cuts in water allotments since 2008.  I do not know the background of that issue but the signs call it a Congressionally caused 'Dust Bowl.'  We did see numerous abandoned orchards that I concluded were due to lack of water but for the most part agriculture in CA looks pretty healthy.

We didn't get to the Sacramento area until about 4pm, so we had to spend a lot of time in slow traffic before we got through Sacramento to the N suburbs.  this time we are setting up in Loomis, a small town on the edge of the Sacramento urbanization.  It's along I-80 and is only 7 miles from Roseville so should be much more convenient than West Sacramento, which is about 20 miles away.  By the time we were set-up it was dark.  Rose was going to come over to visit but Cathey was sick with an upset stomach, so I met Rose at the California Pizza Kitchen.  We both ordered a pasta dish and it was very good.  Rose had to grab a to-go carton and go back to her apartment to let her roommate in, so we didn't get to spend much time together.