Happy Tuesday! Ed and I are on day three of our trek across the U.S. to move onto our boat for good! We have elected to take a day off while we stay with our friends and former neighbors (gosh, that seems weird to say) at their awesome house in Palm Springs, CA. Although we are only two states in out of a total of nine we must traverse, we have already found ourselves changing routes and plans because of winter weather on the west coast.
We left Portland two days ahead of schedule because the Siskiyou Pass (along with most of the West in higher elevations) was forecast to get snow. Snow usually means road closures in the pass, and I-5 is really the only viable option to get into California from Oregon during winter…especially when towing a trailer. We got an afternoon start because we still had quite a bit to wrap up in the house, but we did get on the road with plenty of daylight to spare.
Leaving for the last time was a bitter-sweet moment and also a bit of a relief. Ed and I spent a good portion of our drive that day sharing memories and processing how big of a change this really is! I think because we have been so busy these last months we really hadn’t had a chance to think about it much.
We made it to Ashland, OR, and spent the night a cool, old hotel called the Ashland Springs Hotel.
I always find it really fun to stay in unique places when traveling rather than the usual chain hotel if possible.
We got a fairly early start on Sunday morning just as snow flurries were starting to fall. We made it over the pass without any problems and continued to Vacaville which was originally supposed to be our first stop. Nick was able to meet us there so we could have a quick visit, and give him a few pieces that go to tools Ed gave him a few months ago. It was nice that he could meet us there because there is NO way we could have driven in San Francisco (where he lives) with that trailer. We then picked up Ian at his Dad’s house, dropped off a couple of items there for him, and had a nice little sleep-over pizza party. I’m bummed our visit had to be short, but we enjoyed every minute of it.
With weather coming in on Monday, I spent some of the evening looking at weather forecasts for getting into Tehachapi so we could have a quick visit with my brother and family. Unfortunately, it was showing 4-8″ of snow. There was no way we’d be able to haul the trailer up the mountain to get there. I let my family know we wouldn’t be able to make it which was a bummer. The grapevine was also showing weather, although less than going through Tehachapi. I figured our best, and now only, bet was to get south via U.S. 101. It’s a longer drive, but it was either that or stop in Bakersfield and wait for the weather and roads to clear. This also meant we had to get an early start on the day since it would be a long drive to Palm Springs.
We woke up early to start getting everything packed and Ian back to his Dad’s house. We also saw that the uphill lanes for both I-5 and highway 58 were closed. Hmmmm…how many other people are going to be on 101 now? We had some concerns that we’d hit some heavy traffic with others having to reroute so we hustled to get on the road. I had also planned to drop off a few items to my niece which now wasn’t possible. Luckily, our new route took us through Santa Barbara where my mother has a duplex, and I was able to drop the box off there. My niece will have to wait a bit for her delivery, but sometimes weather throws a wrench in things.
After many hours on the road, and having to drive through the entire width of the Los Angeles basin during rush hour, we arrived tired and hungry at our friends’ house. They had the yummiest dinner of chicken tacos which I had been craving ALL DAY. Man it hit the spot to have a home cooked meal on the road!
We are looking forward to our down day, and then the journey continues tomorrow!
Sailing Serenity 