After spending almost two weeks in Sacramento, it was time for the Gumbos to head further south. Usually, a route is taken down Hwy 99 towards Bakersfield where they head east toward Lake Isabella and then Barstow. But this year the Gumbos decided to try something slightly different. After driving down Hwy 99 as far as Madera, the Gumbos headed east for about 20 miles to a campground that Duwayne had read about online.
The campground was called Codorniz Recreation Area Campground, located on Lake Eastman, a man-made reservoir created by the damming of the Chowchilla River. After a nice drive through some rolling hills and grazing land, the Gumbos found themselves at a really nice, mostly empty campground, nestled amongst oak trees and big boulders. And, as an added bonus, this campground featured full hook-up sites for only $15/night with a senior citizen pass.
There were plenty of opportunities for nice walks, bike rides and hole-sniffing.
The Gumbos were only planning on spending three nights at Codorniz but, because they were enjoying the quiet beauty of the place, they extended their stay another two days. During that time, they drove as far as they could around the lake.
On a side note, when Duwayne was researching this campground, he read a review on Campendium (https://www.campendium.com/). Notice the last paragraph:
Duwayne thought it best not to mention this review to Darla Jean and, as it turned out, the spiders were dormant at this time of year.
After leaving Codorniz, the Gumbos continued south on Hwy 99 to Bakersfield, where they turned east, traversed the Tehachapi Pass and ended up at a Harvest Host campsite — the Slash X Ranch Cafe in Barstow.
This funky little place turned out to be a dive bar with a HUGE parking area in the back. It appeared to cater to the off-road motorcycle crowd (and they were expecting a large gathering of these folks the following day) but was pretty quiet on the particular Friday night that the Gumbos visited.
Next up, south toward the border.
The Gumbos Go! 