Today we started our three-day journey to reach El Norte (Phoenix, AZ), with overnight stops in Tehachapi, CA and Kingman, AZ. As we pass over the Diablo Mountain range just east of the Bay Area, we enter the central valley of California, which is in the Far West Nation (beige area on the map in prior blog). It does feel like a different nation. The rolling hills and flat areas are unoccupied, void of vegetation and parched. Interstate 5 is our 200-mile roadway through the desert-like valley. It is the main north-south thoroughfare between Sacramento and Bakersfield. I recall that when it was first opened in 1979, motorists were advised to fill up their gas tanks, since in some cases it was more than 100 miles to the next service station. Things have changed. Every freeway entrance/exit has become a small oasis offering fuel and every type of fast food you would want. Several times we passed over the zig-zagging canal that delivers water from Northern California to the Central Valley and Southern California.
We’re ready to leave our home!
After about 50 miles, we pass large patches of orchards, vineyards, and feedlots on both sides of the highway. Almond and pistachio orchards, and increasingly vineyards seem to be the crops of choice. Nut orchards are among the highest water consuming crops to grow and yet they are planting them in a desert! In some parts of the Central Valley they are even growing rice! It seems that the choice of crops and increasing scarcity of water are in conflict. The methane stench warns us of feedlots ahead, filled with thousands of cattle -another high water consuming industry -in their final stage of fattening up, before hitting our tables as steaks and hamburgers. Lets go vegetarian!
Homemade signs are posted periodically along the highway: “Growing food is not wasting water,” and “Dams for Water Storage not Trains. The last one referring to California’s plan to build a high-speed (200 mph) train between the SF and the LA areas. In contrast, the Left Coast nation has just received approval to remove several dams in northern California to save the salmon. The roadside signs highlight the differences in how the nations view things.
Referring back to Woodard’s thesis re: the Far West nation, and using the central valley as an example, it is by nature arid and not capable of supporting a large populace. During the 19th century, a series of cartels – railroad, mineral mining and processing, and oil –invested in the area driven by the potential for financial gain, and consequently fueled population growth. These cartels were all headquartered in major economic centers outside the Far West nation – New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago. More importantly, the federal government served as a pseudo-cartel and built large numbers of dams, hundreds of miles of irrigation networks and highways. Central Valley farming would not exist without investments by the cartels and the government. After all, it is basically still a desert.
The challenge is how to bring the benefits of agriculture in balance with the availability of water, which is projected to become more scarce in the future. Unfortunately, central valley agriculture is taking on the guise of a victim, demanding more government aid and investment to provide more water and roadways. Strategically, it would be more productive to explore lower water-consuming crops, and lower water-wasting irrigation. How much water is lost by evaporation of the water flowing down the open canals?
Camping in Tehachapi, CA
After reaching Bakersfield, we head southeast, climbing out of the desert into mountainous and green terrain towards our overnight destination – Tehachapi, CA. Set in the mountains, the small town was originally formed around the Southern Pacific railroad depot. Consistent with its history, it is a popular railfan site. A large wind farm overlooks the town of about 15,000, from the nearby hills. We arrived at our campground adjacent to a Glider Airport – Shiny Object Alert! An array of gliders sits in the grassy area next to the runway. The gliders beckon us to check them out up-close and personal. It would be fun to take a ride. There are two small runways, several tow planes, and hangers for the gliders. The direction of the runways, hence the take-off path, point directly at the hills filled with hundreds of wind turbines. Seems like it would require a hard turn after takeoff to avoid these 200+ foot towers, with blades over a hundred feet long, moving at a fast pace.
Walking the field of gliders.
This one looks GREAT!
Sunset in Tehachapi
Prior to leaving the next morning, it was fun to watch the tow planes and gliders taking off – and yes, they do bank left to avoid the wind turbines – and land with just a wisp of wind. We visited the glider flight school, and yes, they offer several levels of experience in the gliders. Since we have plans to stop here on our way home, we’ve decided to extend our trip by one day, so we could soar – something I’ve wanted to do since I was eight years old. More about that later, when we return.
Starting to roll down the runway.
Lift off and heading towards the wind farm.
The second leg of our travels takes us through the Mojave desert with rolling hills filled with desert vegetation – Joshua trees and cacti in bloom. We pass an aircraft storage facility, where the airlines store surplus aircraft waiting to bring them back into service or to sell them. We also pass the Borox 20 Mule Team museum – it reminds us of the old Death Valley Days TV series, partly narrated by Ronald Reagan.
As we approach Arizona, the terrain changes from desert vegetation to rock formations. The hills and the winding road makes driving more interesting. Later in the day, we arrive in Kingman, AZ to spend the night. While Kingman has an interesting history and is frequented by Route 66 buffs, we decided not to investigate but instead to stay on track to Phoenix, AZ. Our camp is on the McDowell Nature Preserve, located adjacent and east of Phoenix. After three days on the road it felt great to do something else -setting up camp and sitting down to watch and enjoy the desert.
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