ROAD TRIPPING . . .

Wednesday, June 16, 2021 

As I get older, I start to realize that with the years will come unwanted consequences.

One of those is knowing that if I live long enough, I will one day be unable to drive a car safely which will be a shame because I really do love to drive.

When I was growing up, my Mother was the one with this same passion for driving. Whenever my parents were in the car together, it was always my Mother who did the driving.

My Father just never had that same desire but wouldn't you know it, he was the one who taught me how to drive.

A few years ago, my Mother came to the point in her life where it was no longer safe for anybody to have her behind the wheel of a car.

That got me to thinking . . .

This coming Saturday I need to be in Seattle for our friends Mark and Susie Johnson's daughter Mallory's celebratory party in honor of her graduation from the University of Washington.

Laurie can't go as she had promised our friends who flew to Hawaii yesterday to take care of their plants and garden for the next two weeks.

So my decision, given all of these points, was to engage in a one-man, three day road trip to Seattle. The last time I did this was in August of 1969 but I did it in only two days as my stamina levels were a tad higher 52 years ago.

Laurie and I went to breakfast in Camarillo at Eggs and Things and then I shoved off.

The plan was to drive in three segments each day, each of about two to three hours in length. At the conclusion of each segment I planned to stop for about 30 minutes to hydrate and walk a bit

My first segment got me to this

great Central California beach city

I walked to the end of the

Pismo Beach pier

The beach looked inviting . . .

. . . no matter which way I looked

while on the pier

My second segment ended at a mall

in Salinas, this Orange Julius was

TEMPTING!

Thank goodness it was closed this afternoon.

My third and final segment goal city today was Davis, California.

Just before Davis, I got off the

freeway in Vacaville

The Nut Tree is no longer here, it was the Cracker Barrel on PEDs back in the day when Laurie's Dad lived in Vacaville.

We all loved eating and going shopping at the Nut Tree back in the 1980s.

The site of the old Nut Tree is now this outlet mall.

On to Davis . . .

Home of the Agricultural branch of

the University of California system

Artsy campus

UC Davis Victory Bell

in front of the Aggies stadium

Good call Students!

The Tavernetti Bell became

a UCD tradition

Cows across from the Victory Bell

Once again, UCD is an agricultural university.

They play good football

at UCD too

This was a good spot for a half-rack

of BBQ short ribs for dinner

I opted to check out the night life

in downtown Davis before going

back to my motel

Our son Michael likes to

ride his bicycle

Picasso attended UCD?

This scared me and should

keep the people in the house

behind it safe from evil spirits

It was a good first day of my road trip, I'll try to reach Eugene, Oregon tomorrow.

Stay tuned . . .