Northbound and down.....

 9:18 am - Wednesday - November 19th - TWW - 41° F, humidity 81%, wind 8 mph out of the south by southeast.....continued heavy cloud cover with rain expected anytime now, and the forecast high has shrunk to 44° F.  On this date in 2016 TLE and I were taking a walk on the Pacific Electric Trail (rails to trails) near Rialto, CA....

.....used to host the Pacific Electric Red Cars (electric trollies) from Pasadena, CA to the Inland Empire.  It runs right behind the Fontana/Rialto Elks Lodge.

We were up around 6 am Tuesday morning in anticipation of beginning our 6 hour journey back to TWW, and by 7:20 am we were on the road headed northward.  Over the course of the day we would lose an hour as we entered 'Mountain Time'.  In short, we left Borrego Springs at 7:20 am, and arrived at TWW around 3:20 pm (2:20 pm PST), so around 7 hours of actual travel time.  At one point we had to back track north of Mecca, CA as Box Canyon Road was closed due to washouts, so that added time, but any time you can drive 7 hours in deteriorating weather and arrive at your destination without incident is a good thing.

It's about 25 minutes from Borrego Springs to Salton City where we picked up SR-86 north to Mecca.  We planned to access I-10 taking Box Canyon north out of Mecca, but as I said the road was closed, so we had to back track and drive back to Indio where we picked up I-10 eastbound.  We took a short break at Chiriaco Summit where TLE took over driving.  We left I-10 at Desert Center where we exited to begin the trek north on CA-177 to I-40....

Heading into the rain

....the drive to Vidal Junction, where I was to reassume driving duties, was beautiful, but you could tell we were heading into the forecast rain as we got closer and closer to Needles, CA and I-40.  It began raining shortly after we left Vidal Junction to finish the drive to I-40 on US-95....

.....TLE took over driving at Kingman, AZ for the leg to Seligman, AZ where we would pickup our mail from the Post Office before heading back to TWW.  

We were in Seligman by 2:30 pm, where I resumed driving for the final 26 miles to TWW, the last 6 of which I had been dreading all day.  It had been raining for two days at TWW, and that means the 6+ miles of dirt roads would be muddy, and difficult to drive.....they did not disappoint!  There were at least 5 places where we almost got stuck in our low slung VW Beetle, but we managed to slip and slide our way to dry ground each time....they key being to never stop....NEVER.  Once you stop, you'll never get moving again.  The final leg of our journey was the 1/2 mile access road into the property, and this particular section (see below), which is mostly clay, gets very muddy after a rainfall like we've had....

.....no one had driven on it while we were gone, so it was just us and the water soaked clay...who would win?  Getting through that last muddy spot was nip and tuck, and we slid from side to side like we were on ice, but that faithful front wheel drive of the VW saved the day, however, all that being said, she took a muddy beating....

....if you look at the back wheels you can see how much clay (about 2") stuck to all the tires.  After unloading the car I headed back outside to spray off that clay before it dried, and got hard.  It was the last thing I wished to do on a cold, blustery, rainy afternoon, but you do what you have to do.  Finally, a little after 4 pm I changed my clothes, and sat down in my recliner to take a break before unpacking my suitcase.  That was a long, long day, but it ended well.  Shortly after I finished washing the mud off the drive train it began to rain again.....great timing!

As I finish this latest missive on Wednesday morning, it has begun to rain again, but we are warm, and dry inside the lovely confines of our 1982 Newell Classic.  Charles and Phyllis will be arriving shortly for a couple of days.

Thanks for stopping by!