Santa Clarita California

Sunday April 29, 2018

I'm glad we are moving on. This has been a very difficult place for walks. We left hotel about 9:30. Topped off the gas tank. Tried to get coffee for my master but they only had tea, bummer. Bob stopped at other places but still no coffee. Bob sure tried, he knows how much Karen loves her coffee. We head back out west on 6. Route 6 and US 395 are combined. We pass North Palisade Mountain to the north and leave Yosemite behind us. We are headed south. We stop at a nice rest area. Soon after we see more lava rock. I researched it and the rock is part of the Mono Lake Volcanic Field. You can read more about it at this website. 

We pass by Kings Canyon National Park to the north. At the town of Lone Pine, we see a sign warning of high wind ahead and cautioning high profile campers etc. Finally our Corvette is just the right vehicle for the job. We saw 2 more teardrops today. Both were small like our Little Guy. We are up to 5 sightings. We drive by Mt. Whitney to the north. It is in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. At 14,505 feet it is the highest summit in the contiguous US. Sequoia Sequoia National Park is farther north. Not sure the picture captured Mt. Whitney but it is the Sierra Nevadas. All passes from the east are closed this time of year so we can't get a closer look. I think that suits my masters any way.

We passed by Owen Lake to the south. It is mostly dry and at a lower elevation than the road. Muah Mountain goes by the to north. There is more lava rock by the town of Little Lake. Traffic starts to pick up the closer we get to Los Angeles. We divert 12 miles off Route 6 to Ridgecrest for lunch at Schooners Patio Grill. My masters split their Pastrami on Fire sandwich so they wouldn't have leftovers. Good thing since they couldn't eat it all even sharing. They ordered a beer and got these. Oh My. My master walked to a convenience store next door to the restaurant and got coffees. She bought all they had. We tried to stop at the Indian Wells Brewing Company but couldn't find it on the first attempt. With the divided road and a detour in effect, it was too hard to try again.

Route 6 leaves US 395 near Inyokern, CA and joins California 14, which is called Aerospace Highway. My masters relate to that name. We pass through Red Rock Canyon. It is a piece of cake compared to others we have done. There was one new thing, Karen had to call gusts for Bob since it is very windy. It sounds like the car is getting sand blasted. We drive by a solar panel field. I thought is was some body of water not on the map. There is nothing but scrub brush as far as the eye can see. We no longer have mountains ahead of us. There are still some to our right. The elevation of the of high points has been steadily decreasing from 5000 to 4000 and now 3000 in Red Rock Canyon. 

We are joined by our old friend the railroad near Mojave. Route 6 leaves California 14 and joins Sierra Highway near Rosamond, California. The guidebook mentions that there is a Historic Route 6 sign outside Rosamond. We found it and my master stopped so we could get a picture. I didn't expect we would see any more. Turns out we saw quite a few more along the Sierra Highway. It is comforting confirmation that we are on the Route 6 path. 

We are driving through mostly towns or residential neighborhoods now. In Palmdale, we see a Lockheed Martin building with a skunk on it. It must be the sight of their Skunk Works operation. I looked it up and that's the spot. Cool to see it. In Palmdale we see bunches of the cactus we first saw earlier today so I googled it to see what it is. There are Joshua Trees. I have heard of Joshua Tree National Park which is located in southeastern California. 

There are still more canyons. It is weird since there are houses and other structures and a lot more traffic. We finally get to Santa Clarita. It is slow driving through town. We leave Route 6, still Sierra Highway at the intersection with Newhall Ave to head to the hotel. We arrive about 5pm at the La Quinta. It has a very nice and large grass area for my walks. No foot baths here. Hooray. My masters leave to have dinner at Chuy's. They have never been to one but it is close. Must not have been their kind of place judging by their reaction. Guess they won't be going back there. We need a good nights sleep. Tomorrow is an exciting day. We will be driving the PCH from Ventura to Santa Monica with the top down!