Alex's Trek: Bakersfield, Grapevine, Bakersfield, Tahachapi Pass, Vista, and San Diego, CA

Focusing Qi, however, did not levitate

The trip back to Maander was much longer and arduous than we expected. After the ride from Sac to Bakersfield we jumped on the bus and trucked down with the intention of going to LA. We get to the Grapevine and the is traffic there completely stopped. The wind is blowing so hard the rain and snow is going horizontal. Later we found out the winds were 50-60mphs with gusts of 90. Pretty crazy. Well we probably waited 1.5 hours till we started moving and we see that the CHP has closed down the highway and turning everyone around. We get word that the alternate route is shut down too and we are going back to Bakersfield. We thought we would have to stay the night in Bakersfield but luckily the alternate route opened up and we were able to make it through after 8 hours of being on a bus. Anna and I had our snacks in the luggage compartment and were absolutely starving by the time we got to LA. We eventually made it and Peggy came and picked us up in Oceanside and we quickly went to bed.

This is what we went through to
get back here

I started getting sick the day before our return and it was in full swing by the time we were in Vista. I laid low for the day while Anna and Peggy went shopping and did some other things that girls tend to do that I never seem to remember. The rain was coming down just as hard as it did right before we left and we were feeling discouraged about the weather. It seems to be following us. After dinner we went to a friend of Peggy's house. The O'Dashes were a very funny group. Everyone was there for Dan's B-day party and we just dropped in to say hi and Peggy gave Dan a gift. It was fun meeting them and Dan talked about how when his youngest son was getting to be 20 he encouraged him to hitchhike route 66. I thought that that was pretty crazy and that Dan is definitely much different from my parents were actually aren't excited about our trip. I hope to encourage my children to explore this crazy world we have when they get to a good age.

First stop La Jolla

Anna was happy she could
wear sandals again

Pretty cool cove we saw when we first got there

The sun came out the next day and we were on our way. We went and got the oil changed and valves adjusted before we left Vista for San Diego. We walked all over Old Town which I have never been to and it was a really awesome experience. It seems the San Diegans really treasure their history. When I got my oil changed the mechanic warned me about the suspension going out on Maander. I didn't think much of it and thought we could probably neglect it for our trip. Well I got to looking at the abnormal wear on the tire and it was actually pretty bad. I knew we couldn't last long with the suspension in the shape it was in. And on top of that the brake pedal was beginning to stick. I thought that the repairs were actually really likely to be expensive and Anna and I started stressing. We thought about our options and the amount of money we would be willing to spend to keep Maander on the road. We even debated temporarily moving here to SD while we save up and let the bad weather pass.

Been walking a long time
had to take a seat and rest

This guy was playing by the Botanical Gardens. Thought he was good and he looked way too unique.

I never even imagined something like this.
This is absolutely insane tree/cactus.
trectus?

I brought Maander to a shop today to see what the damage was. Luckily, the gentleman said my ball-joints weren't bad and that it just was in need of an alignment. The brake just turned out to be a little sticky and with some WD-40 that was fixed. In all it set me back 52 bucks and I was really happy about that.

Maander going to the doctor

I have been using this application on my phone that tells you different camping sites, supply stores, and Walmarts for camping. It will tell you whether a Walmart will allow camping or not. Well up in Northern California basically all of them don't allow camping. I started looking around down here and more and more do allow camping! I went over to Arizona and a ton of Walmarts allow camping! I am excited to utilize the Walmarts which will help us save on costs.

Quilt making uughh

Even in an old town I gotsta get my
gamble on!!!

Tomorrow is the official day we head east now instead of south. It will be somewhat of a change getting out of this state. I am a bit nervous but look forward to the sites we will see. Hopefully we will meet good people and have an experience of a lifetime.