1st February 2006

Well, we are still at home right now as the car had to go in to get new brakes before the trip. We knew it would need them in a couple of thousand miles, but when we added up where we want to go in the next few weeks, it came to far too many and may jeapordize the trip, so we sent it in. it should be out by the end of the day and then we can be on our way tomorrow. First stop Death Valley to see how the flowers are doing this year.

Last year they were spectacular. We spent quite a while in the valley looking at them and photographing them. There's a write up al about it here and lots of photographs here.

2nd February 2006

Well we finally got away, though later than we expected. As usual there were a host of chores that had to be done before we left including Sylvia getting an updated epi-pen in case she has an allergic reaction. This is particularly if she gets stung by a bee or a wasp. And then we had to go drop off some pictures for my friend Toni. Actually she is my dental hygienist and her real name is Antoinette. We call her Toni because they have another Antoinette at my dentist office. Imagine this, in my over 50 years I have never before met anyone called Antoinette, and now here are two in the same office. Makes me wonder. So we headed out just in time to be greeted by rush hour. Luckily we seemed to be going in the opposite direction to most others.

Of course we weren’t sure where we would end up. But here we are, finally, in Bakersfeld, That’s about 280 miles from Santa Cruz, most of it driving in the dark so not much to see except the headlights of other cars.

However, as we crossed from 101 to I-5, we had to drive past the San Luis Reservoir which looked so natural as the sun set. Not the most spectacular sunset, no great streaks of crimson, just a subtle pink tinge to the sky. The surface of the water was almost mirror like and you could see Monet like reflections of the surrounding hills. Just before you get to the reservoir you pass through rolling hills that come to a sudden stop when craggy rock peaks thrust themselves up through the otherwise gentle landscape. It is like seeing part of a skeleton sticking out from an otherwise perfect soft rounded body. This must be erosion or maybe the topsoil never quite made it up to the tips of these hills. Whichever, it is quite startling to see.

Can you answer me this? Why are there so many cars on I-5 towing other cars? I am used to seeing the odd small car being towed behind a big RV but these are much more equal in size. There was a flat bed truck towing a Jeep Wrangler. A large SUV towing a small SUV and a couple of other small trucks towing saloon cars.

If they were all going to the same place then why not have a transporter? If not, why are there so many vehicle being towed like this? Does it save gas?

We finally decided what to do tomorrow. Originally we had planned to go to through Death Valley on our way out and back, but because we are running so late, we decided to go straight to Zion and Bryce Parks. So first thing tomorrow we plan to head out, slip past Las Vegas and head into darkest Utah. Oh, so many “interesting” memories.