Las Vegas (81) to San Francisco (83 – under 89)

Saturday morning’s weather was an improvement from what the weather had been, and what the forecasters had told us to expect. We had some cloud cover but plenty of blue sky and good driving conditions – we tuned in to the radio and they were saying that the cold front was still on its way but now due to hit Vegas tomorrow.

We wondered, therefore, if we were going to drive into the cold front as we were heading to Bakersfield, pretty much due west from Vegas but in a large curve to the south. Bakersfield was a good choice for us to stay overnight, meaning that we had two choices of destination from there.

If the weather in Yosemite was bad, we could head straight up the I5 towards San Francisco, but if there was an unexpected improvement we could take our original path up highway 99, turn off at Fresno and stay in Coarsegold which is at an elevation of around 2500 feet. That left a drive of about an hour to Yosemite Valley; that’s around 4000 feet and the reason I mentioned the elevations was that snow conditions were quoted from 3000 feet and above in that region. Snow falls and temperatures above 3000 were currently terrible and many access roads were closed, so whilst we could probably get to Coarsegold safely, driving to Yosemite Valley may not be possible.

The highway from Vegas to Bakersfield was another very easy drive on a separated 2 lane road. After leaving Vegas, we slowly climbed in elevation until we reached eastern California where it continued the climb. Not at all dangerously steep, but certainly enough to reduce the fuel consumption to around 7 mpg. Cacti were abundant on both sides of the road for much of the drive through Nevada and into California and looking for unusual shapes helps whittle away the boring hours of driving. As we drove a little further into California the road began to descend; the peak had been around 5000 feet and by the time we reached Baker on the I15 we were down to 1000 feet.

The distance to Bakersfield was almost 440 kms and we arrived there mid afternoon. As we only intended to stay the night we didn’t bother unhitching the rig, so we parked in a “pull-thru” site that was fortunately quite level.

That night we were glued to the weather channels and internet to see which way we would head the following day, but decided we should wait till the next morning to make the final decision. The next morning we saw that Vegas was hit with the forecast cold front overnight, and the weather in Yosemite was even worse. Overnight temperatures were down to -12°C and daytime temps were going to reach -2°C. The winds were still 40 mph with stronger gusts and a lot more snow was expected; no improvement in the forecast for the next 5 days and there was only one access road open to Yosemite Valley.

It was simply too dangerous to attempt to pull the rig there in those driving conditions, so we planned the new course up the I5 to San Francisco. It was very disappointing to miss the opportunity to see Yosemite because everyone we have spoken to said it’s a location that is remarkable. Nevertheless, we has to err on the side of safety and hope we will have another chance some day.

San Francisco is a journey of just over 500 kms from Bakersfield; we weren’t too sure whether or not we would make that in one day. Weather conditions, traffic and my tiredness would influence our decision. The I5 is a very good, but extremely boring road to drive as there’s nothing much at all to see. There are many citrus orchards along the way and at one point a terrible stench of urine emanated through the car.

The smell was almost overpowering and was mixed with faeces and a strong animal odour. Obviously we had been downwind from the cause because we saw nothing out the Chev windows at first, then to the right after we climbed a small knoll we saw thousands and thousands of cows herded into pens awaiting slaughter. Murphy’s Law dictates (of course), that was the moment I couldn’t get the electronic recirculation button to work on the car’s air conditioning system – we just sucked it all in!!

Traffic was very heavy at times due to today (Sunday) being the last day of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and huge numbers of Americans travel by road to see their families by road. It became obvious we could reach San Francisco in one day’s driving, aided by the fact that in 400+ kms we had only seen 1 rest stop, time for a wee break and quick bite to eat, then on the road again. As we neared San Francisco the traffic north occasionally slowed to a crawl, but we were buoyed by the sight of the bumper-to-bumper traffic heading south to LA – heading north was definitely moving faster.

Part of a group of hundreds of wind
generators beside the road

Surprisingly the choice of campgrounds around the San Francisco area was quite limited. We had selected a site about 40 kms to the north of the city as it was the closest, “decent” campground. To briefly explain (I might have explained this in a previous blog and if so, sorry, you’re going to see it again!) the software we use to plan our travel has details about every campground in the USA and Canada. That detail includes the GPS coordinates, contact details, sites, facilities, services, recreation, rates and a Trailer Life ratings guide that shows scores out of 10 for the park, restrooms and visual.

As we were travelling from the south and I’ve only ever seen San Francisco on television and the movies, I didn’t fancy pulling the rig through the famed hills in the city and trying to “mix it” with cable cars etc. We plotted a course to stay well to the east of the city and hook around to the north once we’d cleared any possible congestion.

Grace was fantastic in helping achieve this goal as she needed to enter new coordinates into the GPS as we were driving, and also double check where we were in case Homer wanted to try to take us through any unwelcome short cuts. With only a small glitch which was my fault for turning one street sooner than I should have, we arrived safely in Novato RV Park in the late afternoon. Time to unwind, relax, enjoy a quiet red wine, plan what we will do in San Francisco and get a good night’s sleep.