TRIP TO DAD'S: PART ONE ~ PARTING SHOT

TRIP TO DAD'S: PART ONE

We left Yakima on October 14th at 7:00am and it was 26 degrees outside in Yakima. So you can imagine that we were eager to get to California and a little warmth. We made the boring ride through the eastern part of Oregon...at least the speed limit isn't 55 statewide like it was a couple years ago. We saw lots of open fields and then lots of trees. The 10-hour drive was uneventful and we stopped for the night at Red Bluff, our halfway point. We had our traditional beers and supper at Applebee's, a block from our motel. We like this set up so we can walk back to the motel.

10 hours driving down, 10 more to go!

The next day we set out on the second leg of our trip, leaving the motel at 7:15am. We had decided to go down Interstate 5 to get to Dad's, as it is supposedly a bit faster. We had done this years before but we couldn't remember if it was faster or not. We usually go down Highway 101 because the scenery is better, but this time we opted for speed. So, we proceeded down I-5. The further we got along on it, the more the scenery became monotonous and boring, even worse than Eastern Oregon. From about the halfway point on I-5, we saw nothing but dry, brown hills and fields, with the wind making a haze of dust in the air so that we could barely make out the surrounding hills.

Picture taken early on, before it got really boring

There was no scenery of note, no towns to ride through or even come close to, nothing to indicate where we even were. We started to wonder if we were even going anywhere, and at one point Linda remarked, "How can we be sure we're on the right road?" I replied, "We might even be in Mexico by now and not know it!" I checked my watch and announced, "It's 1:35." Linda gasped, "You're kidding me!! You mean to say it's only been an hour since you last checked the time? It seems like days." We rode on for what seemed like forever, about to go insane from the boredom and then...in the distance...came a glimmer of hope! Cries of "Hallelujah!" went up from the passenger seat, and our intrepid driver wept tears of joy. For there, approaching slowly on the horizon, was our salvation...The Grapevine.

The Grapevine

For those of you who don't know, The Grapevine is a long, windy road over Tejon Pass in the Tehachapi Mountains, and includes a 6% grade, which is always fun (not). But it was a welcome sight as there is plenty of scenery to look at while making the trip over this pass. And it signaled that we were getting closer to our destination at Dad's house with only about an hour left to go.

Finally, some scenery!

We arrived at our motel at 4:15pm, which was actually about an hour sooner than we would have arrived if we had gone down Highway 101, proving that it is indeed faster. But I don't know if it was worth the mental anguish of enduring that boring, boring, boring drive down I-5. Did I mention it was boring? We would be staying at this motel for three days until Linda's sister and brother-in-law left to go on vacation, at which point we would move into their RV. After settling in to our motel, we went up the hill to Dad's house and enjoyed a nice visit with everyone, including cocktails and dinner...and baseball! After all, it was the playoffs leading up to the World Series. It has always been a treat watching baseball with Dad because he really loves it. We left a bit early and went back to the motel because we were exhausted.

PARTING SHOT

Since Summer Girl wasn't with us on the trip and would not pose for a picture for my friend who was taking care of her, I don't have a parting shot of her. I have discussed what to do about the "Parting Shot" with Summer Girl and she is perfectly fine with a bird picture as substitution. I didn't show her what bird picture I would be posting, so I'm not sure if she would be happy about my choice!

Turkey Vultures perched in a tree outside our motel room

Coming up in next week's blog edition:  Day trips to Santa Barbara and Ojai. Be sure to check back next week for more on our trip to Dad's!