Dreaming of being on the road = AGAIN 05-17-20

This week I should be on the road to Washington State to visit my friends Mabel and Mac Huseby and several people along I-5 on the way up or down.  But the Virus has canceled all our travel plans.  I'm going to try for September now.  And maybe I will try driving up Highway 395 again.  It was a very nice drive several years ago and I didn't go all the way up into WA, instead turning west to visit Sisters, Oregon, though not during their quilt week.   385 can be a very lonely road, but it takes me through familiar country - Bishop, Mono Lake, Reno, and beyond.  Part of the decision would depend on how much time I have, right now I have endless time!  But no place to stay or eat or visit or....   The Virus is in charge. 

Highway 395 follows the east slope of the Sierra.  This image is from May 2018.

Looking south from from the pass north of Mono Lake.  Love the stickers on the guard rail, there must be thousands. 

Here is the Starbuck's in Alturas, CA., which is located in the far northeast corner of California.  Notice that it is not a drive in, I didn't need to stand in line either.  The hotel is open for guests. 

A very common sight in northern CA, OR, and WA.  I well remember log trucks in my childhood that had only one huge fallen tree on the back.  There were still virgin forests being logged back then.  Now the logs are usually about the same diameter because they were all planted at the same time. 

It would be fun to drive this route again.  Soon! 

#   #   #

Placentia to San Juan Bautista, CA 02-19-20

On Feb 1st I drove home from my last trip to San Juan Bautista and there were very few almond trees in bloom.  Today, driving the same route north all the trees are in bloom.  Didn't see many wildflowers, but some uncultivated areas had swaths of tiny yellow flowers growing very low on the ground.  Unfortunately the photos from the moving car did not turn out well.  Traffic was not bad and the trip was just about six hours with two stops, one at a rest stop near Buttonwillow and the other for gas in Santa Nella.  I usually have about 30 miles of gas left when I arrive there so it is prudent to fill up.  And nice to pay $2.099/gal.  

It is nice to be with Mary again, in her lovely new house.  And tomorrow we will go to Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove to hang quilts from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection.  Lunch is, of course, in order before driving back to SJBautista. 

Always traffic getting anywhere in Orange County.  This is where two freeways slip together and then apart in different directions.  Always lots of trucks.  Dare I drive between these to bemouths?

Over the Grapevine and into the miles of orchards, mostly almonds, blooming wildly.  Notice the tumbleweeds piled against the fence and the white beehives on the right.  Many farmers rent the beehives to fertilize their trees.  

Where there aren't orchards there are pastures which are GREEN now.  The bare area behind the fence posts is a dirt road for farm access. 

 More almonds blooming and another stack of beehives on the right. 

Here is a fallow field that used to have almond trees.  Once the land is prepared another crop will be planted  Maybe more almonds. 

Untilled land with sagebrush and weeds.  I thought that I might be seeing the Sierra in the distance, but looking  closely at the picture, I think it is just the clouds over the Sierra.  

#   #   #