Day 113

Cal-la-forn-ya Here We Come

Aug 27, 2013, 10:11 AM

Traveling down the I-5 through Oregon was so pretty and really a nice ride. No traffic, pretty views we were starting on a high note. Have you ever noticed though how when things are going really well and you are riding high, you only have a downward spiral around the bend, and her name is CALIFORNIA. The first thing that was really crazy was there was a road sign that read, Mandatory All Vehicle Inspection Station. Every vehicle on the road had to go through what was like a toll booth and there were inspectors making trucks open the back. We were in a line for non commercial vehicles and in our line and the one next to us there were box trucks, one was a U-Haul moving van and they made the drivers get out and lift the door. What the heck this was about I have no idea. They just waved the cars that I saw through, there was a fifth-wheel that got waved through, then we got waved through. This was a colossal waste of time. 

The roads were torn up with construction and there were signs saying Any Vehicle Towing Maximum Speed 55. Oh great, not good for time, but good for gas mileage. I'm looking for the positive here. Then we get to the Welcome Center. Now this was kind of nice/weird I don't know, you draw your own conclusions. There are nice picnic tables with covers over them for shade, sprinklers were going and you could see they take a lot of pride in their green grass lawn, there is a table off to the sign with a man sitting there his back to the table. There is a chess board all set up on the other side of the table. There is a man walking across the grass, he is walking to the table, he grabs the chess board and walks away without a word spoken between the two men. I notice this as we are walking into the Welcome Center. When we come out, the first man is gone, the second man is now sitting at another table with the chess board all set up he has a book and he is moving the pieces, no one is anywhere near him. He is playing chess at a Rest Area along I-5 all by himself. 

Moving right along. . . . The scenery is just spectacular; rolling hills, mountains, trees, rivers and creeks is pretty much all you see. Then we get a glimpse of Mt. Shasta. Oh it is so beautiful with it's snow cover top, a cloudless blue sky, and green hills at it's feet. So although it is slow going between construction, detours, speed limitations, and steep hills giving Steve fits, I am enchanted. 

Aug 27, 2013, 5:16 PM

Oh it just gets better and better, we have to boil water here at Parkway RV Resort. Not so "resorty"!!!! Oh well, we are only here for the night.