Day 2 Nevada to Millbrae

The final day of our rush to the coast was uneventful with two exceptions. One, just after crossing the state line into California we stopped in Truckee for gas. The small town is in the mountains, it was raining and the smell of the trees was wonderful, however it was the first time the gas was over $3.00 a gallon. The next was the only unpleasant part of a most pleasant trip and that was the Bay Bridge, the bridge that gets you into San Francisco proper. There were 12 lanes into the toll booths and we were in the lines for over an hour. Some of the lines were prepay, called Fasttrak and some were cash. We got into one of the cash lines only to have it change to Fastrack after a few minutes, we crowded into another cash line and it changed and a Fastrak line at the other end changed to cash. People kept changing back and forth with much horn honking and finger waving. Finally I said "to hell with it" and stayed in one line. When we got to the boot it was Fastrak only, and I just stuffed my 4 bucks into an opening and said arrest me! Then the fun began. Twelve lanes goes back into 4 lanes to get onto the the bridge. After you pay the toll you move up about 200 yards and stop at a red light along with the vehicles in the other 11 lanes. Then it is a quick green light, red light all the way down the line and it turns into a virtual drag race, and I am stuck in an underpowered 4 cylinder station wagon with Becky, four dogs and completely frayed nerves. I took off like a bat out of hell and figured that the BMW on one side and the Lexus on the other would let me in because of the relative value of the vehicles should a crash occur. I was wrong. It is California you know, so I got squished and I was the first to blink.

Then all of the lane changing began on the bridge. I don't know why if the sign says Chinatown exit right 1 mile that the cars exiting to Chinatown can't start to merge over immediately, but no they wait until the last 400 yards and then make a mad dash for the exit. After the bridge it was easy cruisin' in a light mist from the 101 to the 280 and down the hill. One more thing and it is the most dangerous and amazing thing I have ever witnessed. It is completely legal for motorcycles to travel between lanes! That means when you are travelling in the next to the fast lane at 1o miles over the speed limit as everyone does and the guy next to you in the fast lane is doing the same, here come a motorcycle going 20 miles over the speed limit right between you. With all of the lane changing and crazy driving it had to be the most deadly thing I have witnessed and it is all legal according to everyone I used it as a conversation starter on.

Day one 13 hours to Nevada

Driving up I-25 we encountered the most severe rain/hailstorm I have ever seen. People were actually stopping on the interstate and stacking up 5 deep under the underpasses. I tucked in behind a Wal-Mart semi and rode it out. Later found out that it was the worst hailstorm in Pueblo, Colorado history. No damage to the Saturn. We stopped in Cheyenne to get gas (12 gallon tank) and turned west onto I-80. From there we drove through road construction that lasted for 10 to 15 miles and spread out about 5 miles apart. One lane, 35mph and not a road crew in sight all of the way through Wyoming and Utah. I swore we would not return by the same route and we didn't. 13 hours and 750 miles later we stopped for the night (morning?) in Wendover Utah/West Wendover, Nevada. The only interesting thing about the town was that there is a big Hotel and Casino right on the state line, with the hotel part on the Utah side and the casino on the Nevada side. Interesting. Passed the Bonneville Salt Flats at about midnight or I would have stopped to pick up a t shirt.

3,000 miles in a $1,500 car

Before I begin my diary about our vacation to Northern California I need to bring everyone up to date on a couple of things. First in a much earlier post I spoke of trading my beloved Harley Davidson in for a large used motorhome. While we had planned this trip for a long time, the motorhome was still undergoing some upgrading and refurbishment so we drove instead. During the last few months I began looking into what type of vehicle we should get for our "toad", the vehicle that is towed behind the motorhome to be used for in town driving after arriving at a destination. From my research and reading I knew that I didn't want to have to tow the unit on a trailer or a tow dolly, I wanted to tow with all four wheels on the ground (less resistance and easier to unhook to drive). The number of vehicles that can be towed with all four wheels on the ground is limited. Most require disconnection of the drive shaft or other modifications. We looked at Honda CRV's, Ford Escapes, Saturn Ion's and others, but spending $30,000 for a vehicle that was to be used little was not in the cards. Between the two of us we have eight vehicles and zero car payments and we want to keep it that way. I went back and researched vehicles that were suggested as toads 10 or so years ago and found out the the Saturn was the vehicle most mentioned. After a month of searching we found a 1995 Saturn station wagon, with 135,000 miles on it, 5-speed, airconditioning and a CD player and everything worked. We decided to take it on our vacation because of gas mileage considerations. We drove a total of 2,781 miles, used 84.5 gallons of gas, spent $245.50 for fuel and averaged 32.91 miles per gallon and we had a huge Yakima Sky Box on the roof so our four small dogs would have the entire back of the wagon or our mileage would have been even greater. I could not have been happier with the little car. Other than being a little underpowered with a 1.9L 4 cylinder engine and shifting more often than I liked going over many mountain passes it performed flawlessly. I had not owned a General Motors vehicle since I was aged 12 ( a 1936 Chevrolet pickup that I was allowed to drive in order to muck out horse stalls and drive out on the prairie and dump the stuff). I have never been a GM fan, but I sure have become a 1995 Saturn fan.

Hide your Beagles, Vick's an Eagle

How could Philadelphia, or any team think that they could become a better team by signing Micheal Vick?












I guess this has forced me back into blogging. I will try to keep everyone updated, especially as to my just completed vacation.