We got to Naval Air Station Lemoore right on time after an uneventful cruise down Highway 99. I say uneventful because we didn’t run into anything even though we had plenty of chances to do so. Many of the drivers down here on the map drive like daredevils auditioning for a movie. Thankfully, we missed every one of them.

Getting on base was simple. The GPS took us right to one of the gates that was accessible for us. It wasn’t the main gate, as we were directed to use, but it worked. Once that was done, we went searching for the MWR office to check in, pay the camping fee, and get directions to the RV park.

NAS Lemoore is huge, like a city planted in the dessert, so finding MWR was a challenge, but not one we couldn’t manage. Once there, I left the bus running while I went in to take care of business. I asked for a map of the base so we wouldn’t get lost but they didn’t have any. That was a bummer, but in reality, just one more challenge. The young lady helping me found a kind of map and tried to make a copy of it was missing parts. She gave me a narrative about where we were and where we should go but it didn’t make any sense to me since I had been driving all day (3 hours) in the intense heat. I just nodded my head as if I was totally aware of what she was telling me, then went back to the bus and disconnected the car. I knew Diane could find our ultimate destination.

We drove around a while with no luck because there weren’t any signs telling us where to go. So, I parked in a very large, empty parking lot and released Diane to search our surroundings. She returned about 1/2 hour later with good news. I followed her to the RV park and she led me pad #25 where I parked perfectly the very first try. It was simple because every space as a cement pad large enough to accommodate the largest RV in existence. I know that’s true because one of them was parked on pad #26.

After I got the water and power connected, Diane took a trip to the commissary for some needed supplies, leaving me alone to make one more attempt to make the Dish work. Sadly, it didn’t, and neither was I able to get any channels on the antenna. So, instead of catching up on the news we spent all our time reading. Not a bad thing, really, Oh, and we ate supper, too. We were going to cook the steak we’ve been hauling around with us, but it was late, again, Instead we ate the rest of the beef stew Diane made before we embarked on this journey. That stuff never goes bad and it was delicious.

It’s been decided that the Dish antenna has ended it’s life cycle and is now available for me to dismantle to figure out how it ticks. Oddly, I actually did that the last time we were at NAS Fallon in Nevada a couple of years ago. Another “oddly” thing is that the RV park in Fallon is exactly like Lemoore’s. Very nice facilities.

Yesterday the heat was grueling sand Max was totally done with lounging in his little throne. Luckily, there’s a dog park next to the forest or landing pads so I took him there and turned him loose. Just as we got to the park a gentleman was leaving and he apparently turned on some sprinklers in the Small Dog area of the park and Max was ecstatic. He found a sprinkler that was making a puddle, dug out around it to make the puddle bigger, then layed down in it, happy as a clam. Almost like cooling off in the crick at home. This one, however, was muddy, but he’s proven that he’s not afraid of a little mud. Consequently, he got very muddy.

Back at the RV I hosed him off knowing that he’d dry in a couple of minutes, which he did.

We got to bed around 9-ish and slept the night away.

Now it’s Saturday morning and our projected departure time is one minute away. We’ve decided we’re not going to make it. The destination is Lancaster Elks Lodge. They have 60 sites. If it’s full, we’ll go on down to the Palmdale Elks Lodge (15 miles) that also has 60 sites. Surely one of them will have a spot for us.

See you later.