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...

Florida to California With No Commercial RV Parks

Cracker Barrel was another good dinner Thursday night, and not very many RVs stayed the night.  Other than a couple of ambulance sirens going down the road, it was a quiet night.  Without looking back on our blog, I think this was the fifth Cracker Barrel out of seven nights being on the road.  Back home we have a Cracker Barrel down the street about 4.3 miles from the condo...but we rarely have eaten there.  We save our Cracker Barrel visits for trips.

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Friday mid-morning we met Laurie at a GOOD restaurant (not that Cracker Barrel is bad...just a good change of pace) called U.S. Egg.  There are five locations in the general Phoenix area, but one was damaged by a fire.  They are owned by these Armenian Brothers, and this is the second time we ate there.  The food is good, portions are large, and staff are GREAT!  After a few hours of visiting, off we went towards California.

In Quartzsite Arizona we stopped for the last of our "less expensive" gas...$3.049 at the Pilot/Flying J.  I expect to pay around $4.50 - $5.00 for gas in California.  We continued on to Chiriaco Summit (General Patton Museum area) and we dry camping at the free campground there.  By-the-way, still a good number of RVs around the Quartzsite area...perhaps 35-40% of normal Wintertime camping.

Saturday we 550 miles to my sister's house (Sandy and Arny), and we plan to leave very early to try and beat any L.A. traffic as we continue along I-10 to highway 57, to I-210 to I-5, which will take us up and into Sacramento.  We have about 200 miles from here to where we no longer have to worry about L.A. traffic...figure if we hit the road by 6:30, we should avoid most traffic problems.  I have driven in L.A. many times, and pretty much refuse to drive it during morning or evening traffic jams...jams which can last ALL DAY.  Thank goodness it is Saturday, or we would be going another way (Sunday would be fine too).

Finally, this is our first trip from Florida to California without staying at a RV Campground.  With our other RVs, I don't think it would be as easy as it is with the Camper Van.  Also, we typically drove 62 mph with the larger motorhomes because the HHR is not suppose to be towed at speeds above 65 mph for prolong periods of time.  With the Van, when it says 80 mph, we can drive 80...although high winds make me bring it down to around 70.  Today is our 8th day on the road...had we not stopped to visit anyone, we could make it from our place to my sisters in 6 to 7 days. 

Another 340 Miles Down, 820 More to Go ... Another New Cane

 

With the wind dying down overnight, the drive through New Mexico and into Arizona was uneventful.  A bit of construction, and one long patch in which the construction appeared to be done, but they still had speed limit down to 55 mph, and only one lane open...saw NO WORK being down and a perfect two lane Interstate with new asphalt down and perfectly lined for the entire stretch...THAT is the type of construction which gets to me...construction which id done but a limited usage on the nicely finished Interstate.  Made it to Casa Grande, AZ around 2:30 pm.  Arizona is on California Time with Daylight Savings Time in effect everywhere except in Arizona.  And it was nice to not have to get up and go by 7:00 am.

One interesting thing...just a few miles before Arizona the West Lane was shutdown...we had to get off, and get back on again...we didn't even have to stop.  Why?  Because the overpass was being taken down due a wreck in which a vehicle hauling an excavator hit the bridge and did major damage to the overpass four weeks ago.  The bridge is being destroyed and will be rebuilt.  With little traffic today, there was not much of a delay...maybe 2 minutes.  The interesting thing is that the GPS wanted us to take a 20 minute detour...which, when I saw no cars or trucks taking the detour, I just stayed on I-10.  Thank goodness I did.

Online I found a cane at a Walgreens on West Ajo in Tuscon.  Briefly stopped there to pick up this adjustable Black Cane with a Brass Band just below the handle.  Personally I like wooden canes, so this will be the Camper Van Cane once I find and get a new wood cane.

Now, if Mom remembered more than she does, she would tell me...You will lose as many canes as you lost jackets while growing up.  I was one to leave jackets everywhere...it would be 55 degrees outside when school let out, and I would walk/ride bike back home and leave the jacket in the class room.  The next day she would say, "Go to school without a jacket today and bring that jacket that is there back home after school.  THAT did little good...the poor jacket would remain there at school until mom convinced the teacher to remind me to take it right as school got out.

Tomorrow we are meeting our GOOD FRIEND Laurie for Brunch.  Laurie is not one to leave comments, but I think she has read just about every blog I ever wrote.  

 

 

1,050 Miles Over Two Days

 

Sometimes I like to put in a lot of miles over two days to take it easier for the remainder of the trip.  Between outrunning and/or dodging storms (which we did), the second thing is we have a big chunk of the trip behind us now...the hard part...which means TEXAS!

Today we traveled from Kerrville Texas to Las Cruces, just like we had hoped.  The trip was much easier than yesterday when we traveled through Houston and San Antonio.  Very quickly the speed limit went up to 80 mph, and our Camper Van handled it very well.  About an hour later, the winds hit...I slowed to around 70, being blown all over the road.  Good news, another 60-90 minutes later the winds had subsided and I was able to get it back up to 80 mph.  Passed three or four police cars, two of which were Texas State Police, and instincts was to slow down...not only me but others around me slowed too.  The police did not even blink since we all were going the speed limit or under.

Stopped for gas at a Flying J where they just happen to be upgrading their pumps.  Had to go in and prepay, went back out and pumped gas, putting my cane against the pump...where I left it.  Did not realize it until I went in to Cracker Barrel to get dinner to-go.  Tomorrow we have to hit up a Walgreens to get another cane.

As usual, the winds really picked up near El Paso, and especially in Las Cruces.  Hoping tomorrow the winds will be fine early in the morning as we go across New Mexico and into Arizona.  It will be an easy day with only 338 miles.  And Friday we will have a leisurely "brunch" with Laurie before we head off to California via I-40, but how far we get will be a whole different thing...

Nearly 500 Miles

 

Today we covered nearly 500 miles, clearing both Houston and San Antonio and many miles of construction and CRAZY Texas Drivers.  Just before Texas we also had some construction near the boarder of Texas and Louisiana in the latter state.  Needing to have a quick stop, I pulled off of an exit, parked in the parking lot and used the Camper Van's facilities, and upon trying to get back onto the freeway I found that the westward entrance was blocked by construction.  Only option was to go east and make a U-Turn...which was 20, YES 20 miles away.  So add those 40 miles extra and we definitely drove over 500 miles today.

Other than that construction, the rest of the construction today (at least 100 miles of it) was not that hard to face.  While Marcia was taking a nap, there was one stretch where they worked on the Interstate and on the Frontage Road along side the Interstate.  This one older lady kept going over to the far right, nearly hitting the concrete wall once, and finally sees an area where she can go over to the frontage road on a dirt patch that connected the two (probably meant for construction use.)  Obviously she was a local and needed to get to her house.  Told Marcia about it later and added, "Where was she when we needed help getting through construction to get onto the freeway!"

I am convinced that Texas Drivers are the most impatient drivers in America.  Enough said about Texas Drivers...

Wednesday we plan to drive to the outskirts of Las Cruces, just over 500 miles...but no large cities to go through, even El Paso is by-passed now days.