IncorpoRatedX
Explorer
This report is a few weeks old now. we've been on the road for the better part of the month and we're just getting settled back into our tiny-house in the southwest. If we back up two months, I got a call from a friend asking if I was interested in a transportation job. When I moved to the southwest I put the word out that I was interested in moving vehicles around the west coast for people at reasonable rates, I've wanted to see more of the west coast so it seemed like a win-win. This was the first time a call for a good one came in though. Phoenix to Berkeley to deliver a retired built rig to a guy that wanted to transfer the great parts from the trail worn rig onto his clean chassis. I loaded the cargo in the east valley and hit the road for Prescott, our first stop on the trip and extremely important; lunch. We stopped at The Raven Cafe had some decent sandwiches, somehow the barista made a Mocha with 4 shots of espresso accidentally and asked if I wanted it. My powerstroke diesel wasnt the only thing rattling as it left town... :coffeedrink: On our walk back to the convoy we came across a very nice Bridal outlet;
Fueled up and off toward Chino Valley for a scenic drive up to 40, head west, through kingman, a dip under barstow and up to bakersfield where some BLM land was waiting for us in the Dead Mountains.
The next morning, up early and heading into town there wasnt any sign of life around the Dead Mountains except for one lonely crow that flew 20 feet in front of us, soaring up and looking back at us to make sure we continued to follow him until we reached what I assumed was the edge of his town, he perched on a pole and watched us pass. It was quite enjoyable. We stopped in a historically decorated area of route 66 and had breakfast at one of the greasy spoons, then onward to interstate 5 and the long jaunt to Oakland.
When we started into the bay from the eastern side, the hills became huge, rolling and green. The bay area received a lot of rain in the weeks prior to our visit and everything was green. Later we learned this was a rare and special event, all the locals were excited, the drought had left most of these hills brown or golden for most of the year.
By the time the bay was visible the sun was coming down and the fog was starting to roll in. We cruised up 580 through Oakland and Berkeley, on to Richmond where we dropped the truck off, got a couple recommendations and a place to park our trailer, unhooked and rolled into downtown berkeley on a friday night for dinner. We walked the streets and did a little shopping, got some great curry, then cruised back to our friend's place to see how the truck was coming along. We came back to find it mostly stripped already, he works fast.
A couple of local guys that I knew came by, one of them in a truck I had rescued a year prior from sitting in a warehouse for 6 years with it's engine out. I got it back up and running and eventually he flew down on new years day to drive it home, he took a more scenic route into the winter weather up through Reno and into Oakland than I did.
Having been on the road all day I was ready to settle in, so we made our way down to the Berkeley Marina where we had a spot reserved for our van. Parked near the facilities and settled in to the gentle sound of the bay moving boats around. We woke to see there's a nice meadow across from the marina. No sign that you're in an actual city.
The next post will be our time in Berkeley
Fueled up and off toward Chino Valley for a scenic drive up to 40, head west, through kingman, a dip under barstow and up to bakersfield where some BLM land was waiting for us in the Dead Mountains.
The next morning, up early and heading into town there wasnt any sign of life around the Dead Mountains except for one lonely crow that flew 20 feet in front of us, soaring up and looking back at us to make sure we continued to follow him until we reached what I assumed was the edge of his town, he perched on a pole and watched us pass. It was quite enjoyable. We stopped in a historically decorated area of route 66 and had breakfast at one of the greasy spoons, then onward to interstate 5 and the long jaunt to Oakland.
When we started into the bay from the eastern side, the hills became huge, rolling and green. The bay area received a lot of rain in the weeks prior to our visit and everything was green. Later we learned this was a rare and special event, all the locals were excited, the drought had left most of these hills brown or golden for most of the year.
By the time the bay was visible the sun was coming down and the fog was starting to roll in. We cruised up 580 through Oakland and Berkeley, on to Richmond where we dropped the truck off, got a couple recommendations and a place to park our trailer, unhooked and rolled into downtown berkeley on a friday night for dinner. We walked the streets and did a little shopping, got some great curry, then cruised back to our friend's place to see how the truck was coming along. We came back to find it mostly stripped already, he works fast.
A couple of local guys that I knew came by, one of them in a truck I had rescued a year prior from sitting in a warehouse for 6 years with it's engine out. I got it back up and running and eventually he flew down on new years day to drive it home, he took a more scenic route into the winter weather up through Reno and into Oakland than I did.
Having been on the road all day I was ready to settle in, so we made our way down to the Berkeley Marina where we had a spot reserved for our van. Parked near the facilities and settled in to the gentle sound of the bay moving boats around. We woke to see there's a nice meadow across from the marina. No sign that you're in an actual city.
The next post will be our time in Berkeley
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