Photos from the Road: Big Bear Lake to Bakersfield, California

September 7, 2008

Two months ago, on Monday, July 7, 2008, after joining my family for a “one-day vacation” in Big Bear Lake, CA I embarked on a 3 hour and 21 minute, 205.5 mile journey to Bakersfield where I was scheduled to start teaching another session at DeVry University that evening.

My family remained in Big Bear for an additional few days after I left and I stayed over in Bakersfield at the Vagabond Inn (North) during the same period (there was nobody home, so why bother being there?).

I am only just now able to process the photos from this trip and post this entry because the past two months were exceptionally challenging, but rewarding, for me. I taught three classes at DeVry: BUSN-115 (Introduction to Business and Technology), COMP-100 (Computer Applications for Business with Lab) and ENGL-135 (Advanced Composition).

I also facilitated four to six concurrent online sessions of COM-140 (Contemporary Business Communication) and COM-220 (Research Writing) for Axia College of University of Phoenix. In between I was juggling some consulting projects and my myriad responsibilities as a husband and father of two amazing boys.

Despite the very limited amount of free time I have these days, it was important to me to at least attempt to have some kind of a vacation with my family, even if doing so involved driving approximately 350 miles for a total of 6.5 hours in a 24 hour period.

On Sunday, July 6 my family and I departed our home in Santa Clarita en route to Big Bear. Although my time in Big Bear was short, it was priceless. We rented a pontoon boat and spent several hours driving around on the lake just relaxing and taking in the fresh air (a rare experience considering I live and work in areas with notoriously bad air). I don’t step back and take a break much, especially these days, but it was a wonderful chance to partially recharge my batteries.

After spending the morning of July 7 on the water once more I loaded up my car, filled up the tank (at $4.73 a gallon!) and got what I thought would be a cheap automated car wash (it was $10!). I got on the road at almost exactly noon and was off on my big adventure.

My route included California Highway 18 north (through Apple Valley) to Interstate 15 North (briefly) to Highway 58 West (the starting point is near Hinkley, CA — made famous/infamous in the movie “Erin Brokovich”) and ending on Highway 99. My stopping point was the Vagabond Inn (North Bakersfield).

The photos below document this pleasant and, thankfully, uneventful road trip. I took them all with my Palm Centro, which for the most part takes decent pictures as long as you don’t use the zoom feature and you don’t need to quickly get a shot of anything (it takes 5 to 10 seconds for it to turn on and get ready once you activate it from the Palm menu):

Fueling up in Big Bear Lake ($4.73 a Gallon!)

Leaving Big Bear Lake on Highway 18

Some kind of processing plant at the base of the mountain

Decisions, Decisions…

Apple Valley (where are the apples?)

Getting onto Interstate 15 (it is the overpass in the distance)

Interstate 15 North

Highway 58 to Bakersfield

Highway 58 Near Hinkley, CA (made famous/infamous in “Erin Brokovich”)

Mojave (home of SpaceShipOne)

Leaving Mojave and heading up the mountain on Highway 58 West

Nearing Tehachapi

Nearing Bakersfield

Smoky skies from various wildfires (see YouTube video below)

The video below was shot during the last leg of my journey from Big Bear Lake that started earlier that day. Note the overcast/discolored sky that was the result of soot and smoke in the air from the Piute Fire (near Lake Isabella, CA) and, possibly, the Gap Fire that was burning in Goleta, CA (near Santa Barbara). By the way, if the music you are hearing in the backround sounds familiar to you, it is the main theme from the movie “Napoleon Dynamite.” For the music buffs out there it is actually called “Music For A Found Harmonium” and can be found on the album “Irish Times” by Patrick Street. It was available for free from YouTube and, for some reason, seemed to fit the video quite well. Gosh!