Wayne and Margy's Rental RV Trip Log 4

Trip Log Part 4

Wednesday, January 30 -- We left the Orange Grove RV Park later than normal. Today we only had 160 miles to drive, that's less than our typical leg between gas stops. We used the extra time to have breakfast, then we emptied our black and gray water holding tanks. You can read more about that below.

The rolling hills of Highway 58 leaving the Central Valley.

Our route today took us through Tehachapi, Mojave (with it's Air and Space Port), Rosamond (where Wayne's Air National Guard base's C-130s did practice cargo drops), Lancaster, Palmdale, then east on the Pearblossom Highway to familiar Southern California freeways, I-15, I-215, and I-10.

A train, wind generators and Joshua Trees past Tehachapi.

The desert is already dry and brown even though there's been more rain this year with El Niño conditions. Towards the Mojave Desert there were some very interesting exposed rock formations with uplift caused by earthquakes on the Garlock Fault.

Uplifted rocks on the Garlock Fault descending towards Mojave.

Before we left Orange Grove I called the Mission RV Park in Redlands, California, to see if they had space for us for two nights. Rain is forecast to arrive tomorrow afternoon and last into that night. We picked this park because it's in walking distance to stores and restaurants. If we get bored we can go out for a meal or do some shopping.

Right after we arrived we went next door to Cha Cha's Tacos for Mexican food. There's nothing like authentic choices in Southern California. In the Pacific Northwest, many of the restaurants have Americanized their recipes. I had a chili rellano and Wayne had fish tacos. The plan is to return for hueves rancheros for breakfast.

Cha Cha Tacos in front of the RV park.

There's supposed to be a break in the rain on Friday morning. We'll hunker down here for Thursday and hit the road when it lets up.


RV Waste Handling - Yesterday I shared our bathroom facilities. What happens to water from the sink and toilet? Our rental Coachman Leprechaun RV has two holding tanks. The one for black water from the toilet holds 22 gallons. The other for gray water from the sinks and the shower holds 28 gallons. Many RV sites have a sewer connection, or you can stop at a public or private RV dump station.

Connected to services including the large black hose to the sewer.

We've emptied our tanks twice. You wait until they are 3/4 full for enough gravity pressure to empty the contents through the large flexible hose. Black water goes first followed by gray water so it can flush out the hose. Fresh water finishes the cleaning process before storing the hose in an exterior compartment.

Any questions? Let me know in a comment. I invite you to return tomorrow for more of our rental RV adventure. -- Margy