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Yesterday (Saturday the 27th of August) Tarona adn I loaded up a big cooler with cold sodas and bottled water and headed out to try to hook up with the V44 Vereniging group as they made their way from Bishop, CA. to Death Valley, then on to Bakersfield, CA.
I figured that the shortest, most interesting route for them would be CA Hwy 178 from Ridgecrest, through Kern Canyon, to Bakersfield - about 100 miles.
When we hooked up with the group in Barstow, CA the previous weekend, I had pushed this route pretty hard, as it would get the travelers out of the desert and into the mountains much sooner than the other proposed route south on CA Hwy 14 to Mojave, CA.
We stopped at the local grocery store and came across two people speaking Dutch, but lost them in the parking lot. I never did see which car they were driving.
We found another car, a tan Amazon wagon, in Inyokern, about 15 miles from our house. The owners were in an antique store poking around...like they don't have old stuff in Holland. Maybe they were looking for U.S. old stuff...
ANyway, we found out that the Death Valley loop had been dropped from the itinerary due to the heat (about 115 degrees) so all the travelers had extra time they could spend exploring the area.
We stopped and talked a few minutes, and I scored a great little copper teapot with 4 copper measuring cups (from Portugal) for $7. eBay here I come!
We then took off and headed out toward Kern Canyon (where the U.S. Whitewater Kayaking Team practices) and found a gold P1800 in a gas station. We topped off our tank and chatted for a while (including the normal time spent with local folks who all wanted to see the car).
Passing Isabella, we entered the canyon and soon found a group of 5 Volvos parked at the edge of the road, enjoying some shade and some cold drinks. We stopped and talked for a while, and I suggested that we move on a few miles to a picnic area with a good parking lot and restrooms, as well as river access for those who might want to wade to cool off.
Naturally, after we got there we found out that the Beaureau of Land Management had taken over the Federal lands in that area, and the formerly free day use area now cost $5 per car...
Since I was leading the group (and had invited them to stop here) I chose to ignore the fee signs and wait to see if a Ranger showed up to colloct our money. I figured I could talk my way through it, or I'd just write a check to cover everyone if he/she wouldn't be reasonable.
While people were taking a potty break or going down to the river (no swimming allowed, to dangerous - wading OK) I got some interesting pictures under the hood of another PV544. Pretty much totally different from the U.S. versions! Now I understand why everyone seemed so interested in my car! I'll post some pix as soon as we get home.
I invited anyone who was interested to attend the dirt-track races with us that evening, but they all declined, wanting to get to the hotel and into the swimming pool to cool off. We did discuss the heat problem, and I recommended that if their club wanted to tour the deserts of the U.S. Southwest, that they set it up for April, May, or the 1st half of June, when the temperatures are great.
We led the group into Bakersfield, and Tarona and I peeled off to go to her Mother's house while our Dutch frineds went on to their hotel. I thought it was funny that they seemd to think Bakersfield was a 'village' when the population is about 1/2 million!
On our way from T's Mom's house to the race track we stopped by the hotel for one last round of pictures. If I hadn't already made plans for Sunday I would have joined them for their last leg, over to the Coast, then south through Malibu to Los Angeles.
Anyway, the tour is done and I have a lot of pictures to process and post. I'll get home again tonight, and I'll probably have the website updated sometime tomorrow.
Steve Stanfield 'Baron of Greymatter'
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