Well, the ortho trip took a bit longer than we though it would, and we didn't end up leaving 'till 11:30.
However, we managed to make up a hell of a lot of time on the road; and we didn't hit any real traffic 'til Palm Springs, a little more in Redlands, a bunch coming out of Burdoo, and ; and then a bit more on the 395 a couple times between Hesperia and Kramer Junction.
We lost about an hour to lunch at Silly Als pizza in Quartzite; which had surpringly good pizza. Great crust, decent cheese, but it was kinda let down but supersweet canned sauce. Unless you like Bonta Super Dolce, or sweeter (worse than pizza hut sweet, not as bad as papajohns sweet), I'd order it "light on the sauce".
We also grabbed fuel in quartzite, since it was $2.59 for diesel, and stations in CA were up to as high as $3.59 (most were lower, around $3.20).
We lost about another hour and a half to traffic (I was surprised at how little) according to the GPS, and another 20 minutes to a biobreak at a Pilot in Kramer Junction (I recommend avoiding that place in future).
The ride up from Kramer Junction to Bishop was quick and smooth. Unfortunately most of it was too dark to see much once we hit the mountains (great shieldwall formation by the way); but what we could see looked like pretty, old California, and the real rural California that everyone seems to forget about these days... including other Californians.
You know what the difference is between Kern County CA and Gila County Arizona? Kern county has higher taxes, and the idiots in Sacramento pushing them down even further. They're both just as rural west as you can get.
We finally pulled in to Bishop just about 9:30. A logged trip distance of 596 miles, for a total time en route of 10 hours, and a gross average of just under 60 miles per hour. Not bad given traffic and stops. The net total drive time was 7:40 for an average speed of 78mph actual; and a logged fuel economy of 21mpg.
God I love my truck.
Bishop is a lovely little town, though like every tourist town on the planet, overbuilt on the main drag.
Let me STRONGLY recommend Whiskey Creek restaurant, and Erik Schats' Bakkery (some of the best baked goods we've ever had in our lives. We stocked up for the week).
Let me strongly discommend the Best Western "Holiday Spa". The people were nice enough, and the room clean; but the showerhead broke off in my hand, and the bed was one of the worst I've ever slept on; and that includes in the Air Force. It was like trying to sleep on a bouncy castle.
Oh and there was one little mishap. Mel wasn't paying attention to her parking, and hit a post, busting in a corner of out rear bumper.
Pics of that later. For now, it's three hours up to Tahoe.
