So, how was your trip? Pt. 1

I've been asked that question quite a few times over the last couple of days.... so... here's how it went!

We were suppose to be leaving on Tuesday morning, however my manager decided she wanted to give me more hours so instead, I worked on Tuesday until about 5:15pm. Finally off work, new snow cables in hand, I headed home. The weather reports were making me a bit nervous, we were suppose to head straight down the 5 but danced back and forth because they were calling for a bunch of snow in the passes on the way down. We chose, after much deliberation, that perhaps we should run down the 101 instead. It runs along the coast and therefor doesn't have the pass hazard. So, after filling up with gas at 7 pm, that's the way we started out... and after about 45 minutes of driving... we decided to head back to the 5. Everything was fine until we got to the Siskiyou Pass... the signs began saying that chains were required and the chain up area was ahead. Ok, we thought, that's fine. We have the cables, God has us, we'll be fine. So we pull over and they have multiple trucks along the side of the road with people that help you chain up properly. We were happy about that because neither of us had ever used chains. So the guy takes the cables and starts to put them on... only to find out that they were about 3 inches too short. The size on the box was correct, however the cables were different. He said he'd never seen that size before. A little bummed, but nothing to do about it, we backtracked yet again and cut back over to the 101 using the 199 in Grant's Pass... nice little area there. Driving down the 199 was an adventure in itself though. By now its just past midnight, if I remember correctly. We had been driving for over 5 hours and we were still in Oregon, and the 199 isn't a freeway. It runs through quite a few little towns and over Butcher Knife Creek... which is then followed by creeks that have names like Amanda and Humboldt and Anderson.... we couldn't help but wonder if they were the people that had found themselves in Butcher Knife Creek and decided we didn't want creeks named after us, so the doors got locked and we kept moving.

Blue Skies!

After you cross the border between Oregon and California the 199 runs through Jedediah Smith National Park... this is also a part of the Redwood Forest. So, we crossed the border and got fruit frisked. You aren't allowed to bring fruits or veggies into the state from somewhere else. The next thing we see is a rest stop. Its somewhere between 2 and 3 in the morning so we pull over, feeling safer knowing that its patrolled by state highway police, and stretch for a minute or two. We change seats, and off we go again. Still in the park, we weren't able to get above 50 mph so our arrival time continued to rise. But we just kept driving. The redwoods are amazing... from what we could see. It was quite dark and you can't see past about the 2nd tree in when there is no light so God only knows what was watching us as we were driving through them, but all in all, the worst thing we had to deal with along there was the tightness of the curves and a few people that don't know how to turn off their brights. Finally out of most of it, the 199 meets the 101 in Crescent City, a small but hopping coastal town that has a "Shark Petting Tank." No, we didn't stop. Along the way, not that we could see it for the lack of light, we were supposedly driving right next to the ocean. On the GPS screen you could see how close we were but to look out the windows, there was nothing. This is probably for the best. It was late and I would have started seeing things, I'm afraid. Haha. Anywho... we kept going, stopping for gas when we got to about half a tank, and just talking. I tried to sleep some, having been up since 7am on Tuesday morning, but I don't like to miss things so sleep never came. We wound through a few more redwood areas and on down the 101 until just north of Oakland. Coming out of the redwoods and into the Northern Cali hills, I got to see my first blue skies in at least 2 weeks, thanks the to Oregon rains. We make it into Oakland... and out of Oakland... on the 580. It ran us over to the 5 and we headed south again. Around noon, we decided we needed food and I was able to experience In-n-Out for the first time. And I must say... I now crave it. *grin* They have amazing foods and haven't changed a thing since the opened up in 1948, I believe it was. I ran into the restroom and Chris ordered. He and my moma are the only 2 people that can order for me, without me telling them what I want, and get it perfect. I love it. So we get our food and he's almost drooling before we got to the table and giddy like it was Christmas morning. It was a little busy so we went and sat outside. The sun felt amazing, and it was only 56 degrees but after being in the car for so long, it was just what we needed.
Lunch finished, we climbed back in the car and enjoyed the rest of the drive. It's such a beautiful state, and so many different landscapes. We finally got into Van Nuys and to his mom's house around 6 pm that evening. It was a long drive.. and neither of us had any sleep since we started out but it was fun. There are very few people that I can handle in a car for that long, and that don't make me nervous when they drive, and thankfully Chris is one of them. :)

And now, I have to go shower and get to work but... I'll post more later! And maybe edit this one as I remember things.. lol.