Now it is “ GO,” I am going to head north towards Oregon, I am told it is beautiful, all green, unlike California, all trees and with a lovely coastline, it means a journey of about 800 miles to the California/Oregon border, it also means getting through Los Angeles, not something I cherish in a car, let alone my bus, a maze of converging interstates, fly-over’s, fly-unders, 6 lane race tracks, all being done at great speed, lane jumping like you have never seen, one good thing, my trusty sat nav, she will tell me what roads to take, allowing me time to concentrate on trying to keep within the yellow lane lines, not much space.
Los Angeles (Spanish for “the angels”) is the second largest city in America, with a population of 3.8 million, its inhabitants known as “Angelinos.
I managed fine, but I did not stop 'till I was well away from LA, when I did decide I had had enough, A dry shirt was required and a little light refreshment !
The big adventure has begun.
My trusty ( I hope) bus and I are about to start a great relationship (I hope) during what I feel sure is going to be a long, exciting and interesting journey to I don’t know where, arriving back in Temecula just before Xmas, all I know is I must head north, south would take me into Mexico where I have no intention of going.
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On leaving LA, the first obstacle is the steep twisty long climb over the “Tejon Pass” a well known obstacle, Los Angeles lies in a basin surrounded by mountains no matter which way you leave you must climb, also my first real test after the fuel tank problem, the pass climbs over the Tehachapi Mountain range, once over, it drops down to the San Joaquin valley which is the great growing area stretching all the way up to nearly San Francisco, a great flat area sheltered from the Pacific by the Santa Lucia range of mountains.
I must add, the climb was achieved with no problem at all, it gave me renewed confidence.
My first night stop on route after clearing LA and the pass, was at a little place called Kingsburg, the small site was in a walnut orchard, just south of Fresno, although there was nothing of interest here, I decided to have a couple of nights just to gather my thoughts and start some serious map reading.
The site was close to one of the railway lines running to and from LA, almost all railway lines are freight only, I love watching and listening to them, the sound of their sirens makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up, to see them is amazing, they can be over a mile long, weighing over 15,000 tons, being pulled by 3 or 4 huge diesel engines, they make our trains look like toys.
On looking at the map, I see it will be some time before I reach my next state, Oregon, California is about 800 miles north to south, anyway, I am in no hurry, at this stage I have not given any thought to what my final destination or route might be.
Before I set off, I joined three RV clubs, partly to get maps showing where they had RV sites, (recreational vehicle) and partly because they offered discounts varying from 10% off to 50% off, Probably, apart from fuel, my next biggest daily cost was going to be my nightly stop, so if I can get as many discounts as possible, it has to help. I joined "Happy Camper," "KOA" which stands for Kampsites of America, and Passport America, I did sometimes use other sites if I saw one and liked the look of it or its location.
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