As usual, I put off a few errands and chores until our time at Mission Bay RV Resort was nearing its end. Monday morning it rained. There were sprinkles and periods of drizzle until late afternoon. I left the Spyder covered and didn’t get to the hardware store as planned.

Tuesday morning was misty with light drizzle. I hopped on the Spyder and took a chance of a shower and made a run to Costco. I also straightened a few odds and ends in the trailer. Time was getting short – we had to hit the road Thursday morning. Donna ran a few errands on her bicycle – she rode her beater bike to the post office in Pacific Beach and stopped at the store. She also washed screens and inside windows. I took a break and went to Offshore Tavern and Grill for my final taco Tuesday of the season.

Wednesday was time to get down to it. I had to pick up a prescription in Point Loma and also stopped at the hardware store in Ocean Beach. I repaired another “D” ring in trailer and finished organizing it. I checked tire pressures on the trailer and coach – all were good. I had drained our fresh water tank on Monday so I refilled with fresh city water. By the end of the day, I felt like we had it under control and just needed to transfer a few final items to the trailer and load the Spyder.

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard stopped by again. Mr. Mallard had some fine nylon mesh netting wrapped around one leg. I tried to entice him close enough so I could remove it, but once he got within two feet he became wary and I couldn’t get it off of him.

Wednesday evening Donna made baked shrimp with fennel and feta. She served it over spinach and orzo for me and zoodles (zucchini noodles) for her. She made enough to have leftovers. We also have leftover pizza chicken that will come in handy on the road.

I dumped and flushed our holding tanks Thursday morning – empty holding tanks and full fresh water tank is how we roll. By the time we had everything packed away and rolled out of site 142, it was past 10am. We drove to the overflow lot and transferred things like chairs and the Weber Q grill to the trailer. I hooked up the trailer and loaded the Spyder. We pulled out of Mission Bay at 11:15am.

I was ready to leave behind the noise, traffic and the hustle and bustle of the city. We’d been in large metro areas for the last seven months with only a couple breaks in he desert. In San Diego – like Mesa, Arizona – there are aircraft overhead almost constantly. In addition to light general aviation aircraft, helicopters frequently fly over Mission Bay. This year we even had a blimp fly over the RV park.

This year, we had an abundance of families with young kids in the park. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but a few of the kids were overly rambunctious and loud. It was tiresome and a few of the regulars we know here also commented on the noise levels.

Our route was a familiar one. After a short ride up I-5 we hit 52 east to I-15. This took us north out of San Diego County to Riverside County. The traffic was light and we breezed along. There are several steep grades along the way but we didn’t have any issues. We took the 215 fork and passed through Menifee where my step-dad Ken lives. From there, I knew we would be running the gauntlet getting through Riverside and San Bernardino .

The traffic became much heavier and we had a few slow downs and stoppages. I strived to be in the proper lane for our route well before any forks or ramps on the route. We rejoined I-15 and climbed Cajon Pass. This is a long steep grade. Trucks use the two right-hand lanes to climb the grade – slower trucks to the far right. Sometimes a large truck will use the number three lane to overtake. The interstate is six lanes wide here.

I remembered a time back in 2007 going up this climb on my Moto Guzzi Breva 1100 motorcycle. I was on my way to a motorcycle race at Willow Springs. As I was going up the hill, a truck swung into my lane ahead of me going at a much lower speed. I took a quick peek over my left shoulder and moved into the clear lane next to me. As I did this, I hit something in the road. I felt the bike jolt and heard a loud clang.

The next thing I knew, I lost traction with the rear tire and started going sideways. I thought maybe I had a flat tire. I lifted my butt out of the seat and corrected the slide. The bike continued to fishtail as I slowed and moved through the right lanes. I was fearful of getting too far sideways and being thrown off the bike in a highside crash. Surely I would be run over if that happened. I made it to the side of the road and got the bike stopped. It was smoking and I smelled hot oil. That’s when I figured out what happened.

I had run over a piece of metal on the road and it flew into the oil filter on my engine. It cut through he filter housing and engine oil was pouring out onto my rear tire.

I had roadside assistance and a guy picked me up. He took me and the bike to an auto parts store nearby. I bought an oil filter, some oil and a can of brake clean. I repaired the bike and cleaned the tire as best as I could and got back on the road.

I don’t have any harrowing tales of Thursday’s crossing. We came over the summit and soon hit US395. It’s been a long time since I’ve been through here and I could hardly believe what it’s like now. US395 was just a two-lane highway that crossed the desert to the Sierra Mountains last time I was on it. Now, the city of Victorville has bloated to the west all the way to US395. There were busy intersections with stoplights. I was determined to press on until we could find some solitude.

We found it about an hour later on BLM land south of Inyokern. We found a level, secluded area far enough from the highway that we had no road noise. The quiet in the afternoon and into the night was awesome. It also got very dark with bright stars twinkling in the night.

The weather was fine – a dry 80 degrees or so. Donna had chicken stew in the crock pot all day while we drove and it made for a nice meal. Overnight the low dropped to the 50s – it was perfect for sleeping with the window open and not a peep to be heard.

Today we’ll move north near Bishop and see what we can find there.