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Location Date California 
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Location Date Palo Alto 1435359600 Bakersfield 1435186800 Paso Robles 1370991600 Needles
1370818800 Pomona 1366412400 Castaic 1285887600
Mon, Jun 10, 2013
STATS
Departure: Flagstaff, Arizona
Arrival: Needles, California
Miles: 206 miles
Travel Time: 5 hours
When we left Flagstaff this morning, we had a plan with options. We could stop in Kingman, or we could stop in Needles, or we could go to Barstow, which would be about 350 miles. That was our initial decision: to make it to Barstow. By the time we made it past Kingman, I was getting rather stir-crazy, so I suggested we stay in Needles.
We found a KOA there and headed that way. Their billboards on the highway called it "an oasis in the desert." That sounded good to us, so we pulled off the highway in Needles.
As we approached the KOA, we could see that it was, indeed, an oasis. There were lush bushes all through the campground with palm trees towering overhead. It was very inviting. But the sign at the entrance to the place said “Desert View RV Park”, and another sign pointed to the KOA, just ahead. Okay, the KOA is the oasis, so it's gotta be even better than this one.
Nope.
The KOA was nothing more than a flat spot in the desert (which is, actually not hard to find; the desert is pretty flat all over) with lines drawn on the ground so the RVs won't run into each other. I guess their sign was supposed to say “next to an oasis in the desert” but the “next to” rubbed off in a sand storm.
We hung a very wide U-turn in the parking lot and went back to the Desert View.
This was a very nice place. We had large bushes on either side of us, providing a modicum of privacy.
When we stepped outside, though, we were hit by a blast furnace. The wind was gusting up to about 30 mph, and the temperature was 103. The people there said this was a cool day; last week it got up to 114. They had a pool, so we went over for a swim. The pool was about 100 feet away from us, and it only took a half a minute or so to get there. By the time we got there, I had melted into a puddle of primordial goo.
After a nice, refreshing swim, we headed back to the RV (100 feet, remember). When we got there, we were almost completely dry and ready for a swim. But, inside the RV, our air conditioner had cooled the place down to almost 92 degrees. We decided to just turn on a movie and refrain from moving. By the time we went to bed, the temperature inside was down to about 85. Outside, the forecast had said it wouldn't be that cool until about 3:00 am.
We decided to get up early and be on the road by 7:00 o'clock, when it would be around 82 or 83.
What dummy said, “Hey, I know! Let's stay in Needles!” Oh, yeah. That would be me.
- comments
Dan Hartford Boy you guys really lucked out with such a cool day in Needles. We were there 3 or so weeks ago (107 at 8:00 pm) and the fellow that runs the motel said the "AVERAGE" high in the summer is 115 -- AVERAGE! ! ! ! He added for good measure that it many times nudges over 130. Man, they must get the delux thermometers as most outdoor ones I recall top out at 120. Maybe they use those meat thermometers we cook the turkey with. On our trip a few weeks ago, after Ellen took a 10:00 pm swim in the pool (that had chillers to keep it from getting too hot), we set the temp on the room AC in 68, pulled up the blanket and stayed nice and comfy. I can't imagine trying to sleep in an RV in that kind of heat with the poor little AC unit on the roof struggling all night trying to overcome heat beyond it's capability. But, hey - that's the adventure of it all. Dan As a kid, I recall several trips from LA heading east on US-66 (now I-40) to places like Grand Canyon and others. Of course that was pre-AC in cars or motels and RV's hadn't really been invented for general use yet. The drill then was Hide in the shade all day and drive all night. I recall many times we'd leave LA around 3 or 4 in the afternoon such that we went through Barstow and Needles in the cool of the night (well, below 100). But then again we missed all the scenery.
Allen Well, at least you can stay in A/C. I'm two hours NW of you and a little higher but still close to 100 and I was outdoors all day... older still.... older still...
Brenda Yeahhh! You're back in California! Do hope you get to see Barstow. That is where my mother graduated from high school; would've been about 1928 or '29. Yup, there was a high school there then, don't know about now. Did 'ya see it? What brought them to Barstow way back then you may ask? Well, my grandfather was an Engineer for the California Highway Department; and they were out there (he loved the desert) replacing with asphalt the plank highway which kept getting buried by sand. Yes, up to then, they would have to pick up the planks and move them so they would remain passible. Does that give you a little different slant (no pun intended) on the highway upon which you were traveling?
Sharon So glad you are probably home by now. We had a heat wave here last weekend. It topped out at 109. We had gone to see Chubby Checker in a live performance in Lincoln. He was amazing, still twisting at 71. He performed for 90 minutes non-stop. Worked the crowd, row by row twisting the whole way, wearing a blue denim suit, complete with blue checkered boots. What an inspiration for us babyboomers!