Monday, September 28, 2015

Fresno to Edwards Air Force Base

9/23 We got up really early and were at Chick's Frame and Wheel at 8am. I have been watching the passenger side tires on the trailer wear on the outside edge telling me that there is an alignment issue. As we drove down through 101, 1 and Yosemite, we could hear a loud screech on really tight right hand turns. I thought it was the bearings and too much side load on the tires but it turns out that the tires were leaning in under load and rubbing the frame of the trailer. The back side of the rear tire had worn all the numbering off of it. After asking around, I made an appointment with Chick's and here we are.
I took some pictures of the alignment work but I must have deleted them because they are no where to be found. Anyhow, they got us out in about two hours after aligning the axles, setting the toe and adjusting the camber. No more squeal! They also raised the ball up on the hitch by two holes and that leveled the trailer out again as the Tahoe springs are starting to sag. This made breaking much better. Also the ball was loose so that got tightened back up as well.
As I was packing the bearings, a guy came over and asked what I was doing and told me he never needed to worry about doing any work on his trailer because he bought a life time warranty and he was going to take it back once a year to get everything checked and fixed. I smiled and said, "you better pack your tool box, never know when something will break." So far we have put thirty thousand miles on the camper and never has it been at home when I needed to sort things out.
After getting everything fine tuned, we were back on the road. We pulled off the interstate and had lunch by a little Mexican cantina in a dusty old town with no stop signs or stop lights. Across the street was a truck was and we drove over and gave the trailer a bath for the first time since Louisiana last year. She needed it.
It was on to Bakersfield and of course the old Buck Owens song "Streets of Bakersfield."

I came here looking for something
I couldn't find anywhere else
Hey, I'm not tryin' to be nobody
I just want a chance to be myself

I've spent a thousand miles of thumbin'
Yes, I've worn blisters on my heels
Tryin' to find me something better
Here on the streets of Bakersfield

Hey, you don't know me but you don't like me
Say you careless how I feel
'Cause how many of you that sit and judge me
Ever walked the streets of Bakersfield

After we made the turn onto I-40 I saw a sign for Cesare Chavez National Monument. Becky was busy knitting and Patrick was doing something. So I turned off and we ended up on a tight narrow road leading to a little compound. Mister Chavez was a leader in forming the National Farm Workers Association and was a leading advocate for the Latin American Civil Rights movement in the US. He bought this compound to be a base for the workers to come and learn trades other than farming and to be a community farm and headquarters for the union. The property is still a working farm and houses a replica of Chavez's office/library, his home, his grave and a large community building that can be rented for retreats and meetings.
First three pics are of the business center.



 Cesar's grave

 We topped another mountain range and into more desert. This time there were Joshua Trees. It is interesting that only certain plants grow in certain areas. Saguaro cactus have a certain range and so do the Joshua tree and they do not mingle.   

 We were able to see the tails of the airplanes in the Mojave Airplane Graveyard and there were lots of wind mills along I-40.


We were running low on gasoline and I wanted an early end to the day so we turned into Edwards AFB and their famcamp. It wasn't the nicest one we have been to but it was cheap and we had full hookups. Becky and I went over to the commissary for groceries and filled the gas tank. First gas station I have been to that has a handicap button for calling directly to the store and it wasn't mounted on the gas pump. The pumps were also blocked with cones. Then after laundry and showers it was bed time!

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