Our Plan A, was to drive from California to Bend, Oregon, to spend Thanksgiving with sister-in-law and family (and show off Alpine to them). But the weather in that part of the world was not particularly cooperative with an early snowfall and icy conditions. Having experienced a snowy pass in the Appalachians, we did not want to risk a repeat adventure.
So, Plan B evolved, which was to leave Pismo tomorrow, head to the Bay area where brother-in-law lives and have Thanksgiving dinner with him and his wife (and show off Alpine to them), then start the home bound trek the next morning.
Instead, it appears that Mother Nature has potentially dramatic plans for the upcoming holiday weekend. The forecast for heavy rains and snow in the Siskiyous and southern Cascades, beginning late Friday, will definitely disrupt travel plans for many folks making their way home after the Thanksgiving weekend. And with the mention of "snow", it was a good reason to implement avoidance tactics yet again. So with Plan C in place, we decided to leave Pismo today and cross the mountains ahead of the storm.
Leaving the glorious California sunshine, warm temps, and the beach was certainly not easy.
The route home is straightforward: north on
I-5 all the way to Bellevue. To get to I-5, we re-traced our
route north along 101 to Paso Robles, connected to Route 46, then 41.
After that it was a straight run all the way up the
valley, flanked on either side by mountains, the Diablos to the west and the Sierras
to the east. We have traveled this corridor numerous times now.
Paso Robles was a picture of vineyards, and
wine tasting rooms inviting folks to stop by. The vines looked pretty in their fall colors.
Past Paso Robles, the hills ahead were hazy, the surrounding landscape
becoming increasingly dry.
The stretch along Route 41 took us through a desert landscape, barren and dry.
In the middle of nowhere, a set of traffic lights
materialized at an intersection. There
was literally nothing else other than the gas station and store on the corner.
The stretch of I-5 where we connected is equally dry and desert-like. However, it is also
the stretch that sustains citrus groves, nut trees, several orchards, and
vineyards. The California
aqueduct makes this all possible.
For a short spell, cattle farms appeared - possibly thousands of the beasts jammed in
together, their smell lingering for several minutes after we passed them. Poor creatures, I felt sorry for them.
Today
the drive was comfortable. Last year, driving this same route in June was
intolerable with temperatures over 100F. It's difficult to imagine how anything can thrive in this heat, plant or animal.
We
drove past Sacramento.
We crossed the Sacramento River.
We passed a train pulled by a red, white, and blue locomotive.
We passed more fields and large silos.
We finally made it to the RV Park at the Rolling Hills Casino just after sundown. It had been a long day of driving, 410 miles, and we treated ourselves to a buffet dinner at the
Casino.