Thursday, July 19, 2012

Day 43

Day 43 – Thursday – July 19, 2012

0640 Wake up.  Darn! I was hoping to sleep in a bit today.  Oh well.  Guess I’m excited to get home.  Today is the final day of Big Trip 7 – the longest one yet.
0730 Kids wake up.
0740 Felisa says that today is Buddy’s birthday – it’s the day the elves made him before he was delivered on Christmas.
0808 Breakfast
0845 Leave hotel.
0850 Cloudy this morning.
0852 Cows – lots of cows!
0913 Spooner Summit, 7146 feet
0925 Lake Tahoe, Sand Harbor.
1015 Brr! It is freezing out there today!  Not good beach weather at all.  It is very windy and starting to sprinkle.  Current temperature is 65 degrees.
1035 Construction stop.  One-lane road ahead.
1042 California!
1046 Golf ball just hit the side of the van!  At first we thought maybe it was the pine cone that the kids accidentally left on the roof but since we are driving past a driving range I’m pretty sure it was somebody’s really bad shot that hit us. Ouch!
1108 Donner Memorial and Emigrant Trail Museum
12:11 p.m. McDs for a snack and coffee
12:25 p.m. Jo has our ETA for home to be 6:23 p.m.  Lake Tahoe was pretty but overall I felt the area was just too crowded to be able to enjoy the nature.
12:26 p.m. Donner Summit, 7239 feet.
1:19 p.m. Wienerschnitzel drive-thru.
1:29 p.m. Gas, $3.79/gallon
1:42 p.m. Is it a drought year?  There is lots of dead grass, trees, and leaves around. Or maybe this is normal California summer scenery?
1:50 p.m. Approaching Sacramento. So much traffic.
2:45 p.m. A car is speeding and weaving through traffic. Ugh.
3:09 p.m. I just realized that there was no agriculture inspection station today when we came into California. I wonder why.
3:12 p.m. Rest stop.
3:46 p.m. Sheep.  They are very camoflaged in the brown grass.
3:55 p.m. We must be in California.  Half of the radio stations are Spanish.
3:56 p.m. Dead orchard.  Sign says “Congress Created Dust Bowl”
4:50 p.m. Stinky cows on a feedlot.  This a good reminder to buy organic beef and buy it from small local farmers if possible.  Seeing these feedlots is always a good reminder since I have a tendency to stray away from the good beef during the year.  Time to get back on the right path to good food!
4:58 p.m. Pleasant Valley State Prison. Interesting name for a prison…
5:17 p.m. Off of I-5 onto Highway 41. The gas prices are insane at this exit - $4.22/gallon.  Should’ve stopped somewhere else but didn’t want to make an extra stop.
5:23 p.m. Carls Jr for dinner.  The bathroom here is huge for a fast food place.  I wonder if they get a lot of traffic here because of the highway junction.
5:59 p.m. Pomar Junction at highways 33 and 41.  There is a nice, new gas station here that even has a playground.  Current temperature, 95 degrees.
6:12 p.m. Carmax commercial makes a slur against scrapbooking.  Grr!
6:13 p.m. San Luis Obispo County! Getting closer!
6:21 p.m. Antelope
6:46 p.m. Passing the mid-state fair in Paso Robles.
7:19 p.m. Look! It’s the ocean!
7:25 p.m. Arroyo Grande, CA.  Elevation 114 feet.
7:30 p.m. Stop at Albertsons for milk.  The kids want to go home first but I don’t want to have to make another trip out tonight.  Once I’m home, I want to stay there.
7:46 p.m. Home sweet home!
 
Total Miles for the trip this year: 9,127
Total words blogged: 17,337

No comments: