Fill it up–for $115. !

I had filled up the truck with as much as it would hold before leaving the slightly less exorbitant fuel prices in Nevada, but after fighting the strong headwind heading west, it was only a matter or time before I would have to fill in California.  But, with my secret weapon ‘Gas Buddy’ app on my iPhone, I was able to locate a couple of slightly cheaper fuel stops – if I could make it to Bakersfield.  Heading for the summit near Tehachapi I was fighting the hill and the wind, but there is a nice 20 mile glide down the pass on the far side getting into Bakersfield. But still, this meant that I had to stop roadside and add fuel from my reserve can that I keep in the back of the truck.  So when I filled up in Bakersfield, I had to fill both the truck and the can.  Still – ouch! (Can’t wait to get back to Canada, where filling the truck alone will cost that much.)  Hopefully, the prices will begin to moderate soon …

Malone commented on prices for gasoline at $5.05 in Shosone, Ca, and diesel is always a lot more than gasoline down here.  In Alberta, diesel is generally a bit cheaper.  I remember being shocked to see the price for gasoline there quite a few years ago at $2.55/g.  Anywhere you could find that price now would create a line-up!

There is some impressive train track engineering to get the rails over the Tehachapi summit, including multiple tunnels and a spiral tunnel, which I blogged about back in December.  Here the train is going through multiple tunnels at the same time.

 

Tomtom told us to go north out of Bakersfield on 99.  The southbound lanes leading into the city were at a standstill because of construction, or an accident, and I was glad to be going the other direction.  I spoke too soon however, as there was nothing by brake lights ahead of me, only a mile or two before the exit.  Fortunately, it was a minor jack-knife, perhaps caused by a little bit of rain?

Then it was westward again, through the forest of oil wells west of Lost Hills, still pumping in unison on both sides of the highway.

They have some weird farm implements here.  I’m pretty sure you won’t find many of these back home in Saskatchewan!

After passing through the oilfields and the agricultural lands, then the orchards, we got into the green cattle grazing areas – quite a few changes from the deserts of late.

 

It looked like we had some ‘weather’ on the way.

Sure enough, a short but intense hail storm followed, which rapidly started to accumulate on the road.  I turned on the 4wd as a precaution, then decided it would be prudent to get off the road as the traffic was moderately heavy, and I didn’t really want to be sharing the road with a bunch of people with ‘California’ tires and driving habits!

Sure enough, just a couple hundred yards ahead of where I had pulled off, there was wreckage on the road, just seconds old, so my timing had proved perfect.  I got on the phone for some ‘backup’ from the 911 store!  In a few minutes some of the emergency crews had arrived the hail had melted enough for me on continue.  One car had it’s rear end partly torn off – the second vehicle may have been out of sight down a bank.  But then I was most surprised to find another, unrelated roll-over just another half mile up the road!

And, because it is in her contract, here is a pic of Hailey, taking in all the action from the back seat.