It’s not goodbye, it’s see you later

Day 59: 1/18/2022

After extending our stay the day before, we came to the decision to move onto a new part of California. It was hard, but we had already started making plans for when we come back. Today was going to be a long drive down to Bakersfield, CA. We are in the part of January when we need to rely on free spots to park. Of course we found yet another casino that offered free overnight parking. We are starting to really like this, not because of the games at the casino, but because of the security that is offered compared to just a rest stop or vista point. After 5 hours of driving and a Chick Fil A stop, we have made it to Golden West Casino. We stopped in to fill out a security sheet and got the surprised “You’re from Iowa?” look. We skipped the games and headed to the camper to make a grocery list for the coming days in Death Valley. We FINALLY found an ALDI on this trip and we have missed it so much. We did our grocery shopping and got a few extra items that were suggested for our trip to the desert, including a second gas can so we don’t run out of gas in the middle of nowhere. We also had to do much of the planning before we got there since we read that there is absolutely zero service in the entire desert. Oh well, it's the price we pay to see another National Park and the lowest place in the United States.