Marathon Driving!!

I for one, am NOT a marathon driver.  Two hours is a nice drive ... three if I have to.  There's too much you miss along the way if you drive for hours on end.  I broke my cardinal rule yesterday however, and drove way, WAY too long!!  

I do have to backtrack one day .... I drove from Bandon RV Park to Eureka California, kind of bleary eyed.  Traffic continued all throughout the night, unlike my previous stay, but again, the Owners there were wonderful!!

It was cool, overcast and foggy most of the way to Eureka.  Little did I know this would be the last of COOL!!  There was no problem, finding a site at the Elks ... it was practically empty.  I pretty much stayed inside, trying to gather up all the energy I could for the trip home yesterday.

Fate had something else in mind however, as I started the engine and immediately got a check engine light.  OH NO!!!  Course the first thing I thought of was to grab my phone and call Dan Chance ... my personal mechanic/mentor/problem solver guy!!  It's a good thing they get up early!!!

It was apparently nothing, since I turned everything off, waited a few minutes, then restarted the engine.  Thank goodness the light disappeared!!!  Otherwise Dan would have had to hop on a plane!!

At any rate, I took off directly into the morning sun, making driving a real hassle.  Many times when going around corners, you can't see the road at all, especially when I already ran into a ton of bugs!!

It was a pretty nice drive ... no traffic to speak of ... and along the way I just kept thinking about moving to Oregon.  Since my plans are pretty much to spend every summer up here and winter in Arizona, I guess I've become the proverbial snow-bird, a term I never thought would be attributed to me!!

When I got to Richardson's Grove, I had my camera ready.  I love to take pictures of the road going through those trees ..... until this big truck came along.  I panicked, snapped it too soon and dropped it on the floor when I grabbed the wheel with both hands.  He's just getting back on his side of the road!!  Even worse, there was another just behind him that I had to pass right at the trees!!!  I hit the brakes just in time!!  WHEW!!  That was a close one ... literally!!!

I always pull over for cars behind me, so when I saw four of these guys, I stopped to let them pass ... and they passed .... and they passed!!  There were 28 Porches traveling in a group, and none too slow!!

By the time I got to Clear Lake, it was starting to heat up, as evidenced by my engine heat gauge.  At first sight, the lake didn't look too bad.

There's lots of construction here though, causing me to stop and get a good look.  The water level is two feet below the ladder!!  One of those round-de-round people have been through Nice and Clear Lake ... they are building them everywhere!!

This is what had me worried a week ago.  This fire was in full force East of Clear Lake, and I thought I might have to take 101 South to San Francisco.  UGH!!  That's not the way I'd prefer to go.  Luckily, the fire fighters had this one under control ... at least enough to open the road again.

Lots of acres were burned, right down to the roadside on the right.  Apparently it jumped the road and took off North, destroying a huge area.

Unfortunately I finally ended up in Sacramento ... after SEVEN hours of driving with only two short stops for the puppies.  That's when I hit the freeway, which I hate to drive because along with that comes SO MUCH traffic!!  The other thing was the HEAT!  It was supposed to be in the low 90's according to the weatherman ... but of course he was wrong ... 101!!

For a Thursday, it was a horrible drive.  Traffic never let up the entire way and only got worse from accidents all along the highway.  NINE HOURS LATER ... now that's marathon driving ... nine hours later I pulled in to my driveway.

The good news is everything was okie dokie, except for that awful smell of a closed up house.  This morning I opened up every window, turned on every fan and lit every candle I own.  I've already dusted the entire house and will vacuum next, before unloading the rig and getting it ready for another takeoff on Monday to beautiful downtown Hanford!!  

I guess it's nice to be home ... but I'm already planning my trip South this winter!!