Rested, Laundered, Mama

 

After driving some 3,250 miles over 9 days, visiting three groups of people, staying in four Cracker Barrels, one driveway, one rest area, and one free desert campground...needless to say we were just a bit tired.  On a trip like this, the hardest part is typically the Big Cities, and last 200 miles.  Tallahassee, Mobile, Houston, San Antonio, and LOS ANGELES...with the two hard ones being Houston and especially L.A.   Thank goodness, we have had a couple of good nights sleep.  However, I took a nap on Monday and when I awoke, it took a minute or so to know where I was.  I thought I was at a rest area taking a nap.

So Sunday we went over to visit my Granddaughter, who is 2 years 9 months old...and when she calls and says, "I am excited to see you Grandpa"...it makes all those miles worth every inch of them!  After a nice visit, we went to see mom.  I was so relieved that she knew me as soon as she saw me.  She turns 95 in just a couple of weeks, and things in her mind are a bit confused, to say the least.  She thinks my brother Roger is her brother Jimmy, who died in WW2 on a aircraft carrier that was hit by a massive Kamikaze attack. Last year she called me "Al" many times, which is my Dad, who passed on Thanksgiving Day in 2019.  She refers to my Sister Sandy and her Sister Mary...I think you got the point.  But she is, for the most part, pleasant to be around. We saw her again Monday, and will see her again tomorrow.

Today was laundry day...we both have enough clothes for two weeks, but I have found that the laundromat we use here in Sacramento area is not as busy on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  Today was not exception to that, and I was able to load the washers, get them right into open dryers, and out the door in about 90 minutes.  Went over to a Safeway to stock up on some food and water, and the day was complete.  Did not like hitting the shopping cart in the parking lot of Safeway, but it is nothing that a sticker can't cover up...maybe something like this...

 

 

550 Miles, L.A. Hell, and We Are in Sister's Backyard

Very quiet night at Chiriaco Summit.  Good coffee at the Gas Station before we left this morning at 6:30 am.  The last time I drove through L.A. area was around 1996, give or take a year or two.  As I get older and older the more I don't want to drive through large cities...and you can't get much bigger size ways than L.A,

 

By 9:15 we were on I-5 headed north on the Grapevine.  By the time we got over the pass and at the split for Highway 99 and I-5 traffic thinned out.  Did not have any problems driving through L.A. other than it is long, and traffic was getting worse and worse the further west we traveled.  Gas just as before we hit the Grapevine was $85 for 16 gallons...we just paid $50 for 17 gallons at Quartzsite.  Go figure.

 

Traffic got thick as we got to Tracy area due to San Francisco traffic headed east, but it was not too bad.  Stopped in Lodi for another Van Wash at Blue Beacon...same price as it was in Casa Grande a few days earlier.  So many bugs, especially moths and butterflies splattered all over the window and front of the van.  Made it Sacramento around 5 pm, and had a few splattered bugs after just 40 miles of travel...it is what it is.  Nice to be back in Sacramento...