15 June – Paso Robles – Lodgepole

We took the 46 out of town and more wineries. They seem fairly young plantings, so obviously an up and coming wine region. It was hot and dry, so interesting to see if they are focussing on more Spanish varietals. From the wineries, the landscape changed to desert – very dry and flat. 

Once we went under the I5, into the San Joaquin Valley the desert suddenly changed to farmland. The map showed the California Aqueduct and some of the offshoot channels were running along the roadside all the way. There is a lot of water running around in the desert here! We passed fruit trees, potatoes, lots of corn, nuts, oranges and grapes. 

We stopped at a place called Orange Cove for fuel. There were bars on all the windows, and razor wire around the garden centre…. Leaving town we pulled over next to an orange plantation for some lunch. Part way through eating we heard a cat wailing and found the poor beggar at the top of a power pole. He was screaming his little head off, and scrambling around on the cross arms, but wouldn’t come down. A lass came out of a nearby farm house and drove up to us. It was her cat and had been up there for two days. She said the power company and the fire department wouldn’t come and get him down so she was waiting for him to get down or eventually fall. Sad L. Very suddenly the flat farmland gave way to very rocky mountain ranges. We climbed the mountains to over 7500 ft, then into the sequoia forest. 

Arriving at Lodgepole campground, we got the last available RV site. Score! We had been a bit worried we wouldn’t find anything given it’s a weekend and the volume of traffic on the road in. No services and still $20 a night. We were getting full hook-ups in Oregon state parks for $25. Everything is pricier in California. Oddly, someone is playing the bagpipes...