Road Trip - Day 1
A little different journey than I typically write about . . .
Scott and I are doing an extensive (2-week!) road trip around the Pacific Northwest to visit family and friends.
Day one started with news that the 5 freeway was closed in both directions because of a brush fire near Gorman. That necessitated a detour, driving northeast to Mojave (as in the Mojave Desert), northwest to Bakersfield, and then lots of miles northbound on highway 99 through Bakersfield, Fresno, Stockton and Sacramento before joining the 5. (FYI, we Californians don’t say I5, just “the” 5, or “the” 405, etc!)
We stopped for the night in Redding, after 10 hours on the road. The drive wasn’t as horrible as it sounds, as I made some interesting observations along the route:
We stopped for lunch at this vintage spot in McFarland, CA
We passed miles and miles of wind farms, citrus orchards, cornfields and gigantic billboards hawking injury attorneys. Plus one billboard for “Guided Goose Hunts.”
We chuckled as we passed an exit in the middle of nowhere for "Avenue 21½”. (They couldn’t have rounded it up or down?)
I learned that Selma (CA) is the “Raisin Capital of the World”! (I wonder if they have a statue in the center of town?)
We passed a few construction sites for the California High Speed Rail Project which will link San Francisco and Los Angeles. (Ground was broken more than 10 years ago for this ambitious project, but by the time it’s finished we’ll probably have flying cars!)
An overcrossing on the 99 (again - in the middle of nowhere) was decorated with mastodons. (Is this where they crossed the highway?)
Map observations: Sour Grass Road, and a town in California called Minnesota!
Next time I want to buy a bulldozer, I know where to shop!
This inland area of central California grows an enormous amount of produce, including rice, almonds, and olives