Wendy Goes West Recap - Day 5

[wendyzski]

I think I woke up at an absurd 6:30- and capi had already been awake and reading for an hour or so. I stumble to the front desk for coffee, and she somehow finds hot water for tea, and we are off again. This time I know how much time the trip will take, so I am able to take more time along the way to enjoy. We stop a few times for pictures as the morning fog clears, and again in Founders Grove for more pictures.

I could live for a time up here. As long as I had a good library-by-mail, that is. I've been a city-mouse a little too long to adjust to that much stillness right away. But I think it would be good to try. There are still a lot of people living in RVs with attached sheds, or converted schoolbusses. Apparently most of them make a good living in…er…agriculture. There seems to be a garden center every 10 miles with a fairly extensive hydroponics selection, and I don't think they are all growing tomatoes.

We stop a few times for souvenirs. I HAD to stop in 'Hobbiton USA" - tacky tourist stuff for geeks! It was closed for the season, but it was worth climbing over the fence for the pictures of little round doors stuck into the side of the hill and the big plastic Gandalf under a plastic bag. We also stopped at 'The Legend Of Bigfoot' gift shop. I got a redwood "Z" for my front door and Capi bought some young redwood trees for her family.

We rolled into Sacramento in the late afternoon. I got to meet Tom and JT, and watch Wiley dance with the sprinkler in the backyard. Tom suggested a new route back to Palo Alto (5-205/580-680-84-82). We hugged a LOT and then I headed off. There was a lot of traffic in Sacramento and Stockton. It was worth it to see one of the most striking sights I have ever seen. Driving over the mountains just at sunset, the stark forms of the windmills were silhouetted against the twilit sky. And there was no place to stop and take pictures!

Tom had said the canyon road was "scenic", but by the time I got there it was just dark, twisty, and very scary. Route 84 is apparently very shy - it likes to hide a lot.. I think it is afraid of the color orange, because every time there was construction it would disappear and I would need to go hunting for it. But I eventually made it across the Bay and returned the car.

Then it was again time to get lost on public transit again. I picked up the 22 bus right where I was supposed to , but it apparently decided to stop at Stamford Mall. So there was a generalized scurrying across El Camino Real and the KX bus stop. Now, I am used to bus drivers who actually know where they are driving. This is apparently not the case with SamTrans. I don't think you need to speak or understand English to get a job with them. The KX driver managed to drop me at Oak instead of Oakwood - almost ½ mile out of my way. Oh, and did I mention I was dragging a fair amount of luggage? A nice clerk in the lobby of the hampton Inn let me use her phone to call RJ and he helped me figure out where I was. I then got on a 390 bus going back (same bus company) and badgered him into taking me back to where I was supposed to be, being as it was his driver who dumped me in the wrong place. Yay for me.

I finally dragged my ass (along with the rest of me, and a small parade of luggage) into Chez-RJ around 10:30 PM. I babbled at him like an over-stimulated toddler for a while, then he let me use his computer to clear my e-mail box before it 'sploded. Then to sleep in a comfy bed. Mmmmm
x

Comments

[capi.livejournal.com]

*breathes deeply*

Speed up! Speed up!!!

[starstraf.livejournal.com]

I know those windmills - yeap the are awsome (I see them when at Pooch's mom's house in Stockton and we go into SF area)