We were up pretty early and Jerry and Anna fixed a big breakfast. We visited some more and left their house about 10:00. Jerry had advised us to take "the 5", as it's called in California, instead of Hwy 99. He said neither was the best choice but we had to pick one! Our original plan was to head east toward Yosemite and cross over the Tioga Pass and come down the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Well, Tioga Pass had not been plowed yet and was still closed. We found out later that it didn't open until June 29th! The Glacier Point Rd in Yosemite Valley had opened May 11, 2017. So, we take off and get on the 5. The road and traffic were awful! We had 247 miles to go on it before getting off at Bakersfield. There wasn't much to take a picture of going down the interstate at 70 mph or so and bumper to bumper to traffic. We did get some pictures of the countryside. It seemed funny to see these farms along the interstate.
Along I-5
Along I-5
We stopped in Kettleman City for a late lunch about 2:30 at In-N-Out. It was still so crowded at this time. There was another fast food restaurant across the street and their parkingl lot was almost empty. 
When we got to Bakersfield, we got on Highway 178 that took us through part of the Sequoia National Forest. At least there was something to look at now and a little bit slower speed.
Along Hwy 178
Along Hwy 178
A flower farm
An almond processing plant
Sequoia National Forest
Entering Kern Canyon
Entering Kern Canyon
We didn't know what we were in for when we started in here. Conrad was driving at this point and it ended up making him really nervous. I was sorry that he didn't get to enjoy the scenery as much as I did. The traffic was moving fast, above the speed limit. The mountainside was just a few inches from the edge of the road. It was so hilly and curvy.
This is what the road looked like!
The Kern River
Take a ride with us!
Here's a shorter clip.
The Kern River
OK, we're watching for speeding cars, the side
of the mountain and now we have to watch for
people? This is scary!
Another view of the water.
It really was a beautiful drive.
We had about 100 miles or so on this road, but not all of it was this curvy. It was just like that through Kern Canyon. We took Hwy 178 up to Hwy 190 that comes down the east side of the Sierras. Again, since our plan had changed because we couldn't go through Yosemite and south on Hwy 395 we ended up skipping our stops at the Manzanar National Historic Site and Schulman Grove. Briefly, to catch up, In 1942, the US government ordered more than 110,000 men, women and children to leave their homes and detained them in remote, military-style camps. Manzanar War Relocation Center was one of ten camps where Japanese American citizens and resident Japanese aliens were interned during WWII.
Because of heavy snow this winter, the road to the Schulman Grove had not been plowed. We knew it was a possibility it would not be open yet. Schulman Grove is home to the Bristlecone Pines. The Great Basin Bristlecone Pines, standing as ancient sentinels high atop the White Mountains of the Inyo National Forest, rank among the oldest trees in the world. Some of the bristlecone pines are nearly 5,000 years old and still living. Over the years the wind has sculpted the trees into gnarled and twisted forms of living art. Maybe we'll make it back out to that area again someday. We had seen them when we were at Bryce Canyon in 2006. They really are interesting looking trees.
We had trouble finding a hotel for the night but finally found a room at the Best Western Plus in Lone Pine. We arrived about 7:45 pm. The total price, with tax, was $136.07. We had a beautiful view of the Sierra Nevada Mountains right across the road from us.
View from hotel parking lot
We were pretty tired that night. We ate some of our snacks for supper and called it a night. We drove 431 miles today and a lot of that was stressful driving! Until tomorrow...
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