Outta LA...........

Thur, 8/16

Left Aunt Nan's and headed north! Guess what, the traffic was as bad as every other time we got on 405.................. It's like the sun shining there, if you drive, there's traffic.

Once we got on I-5, traffic thinned out and it was a pleasant drive. At Lost Hills, where we cut off to go to the coast and US1, this is the shot we saw. I've never seen so many oil wells crammed so tightly together! It was almost like you couldn't park anymore in there. The area was probably 1/2 mile wide and a mile long. Did see any wells outside this grouping. Strange.

Had a chance to photograph us going down the road. We were behind this shiny tanker truck. That's us in the semi-clean white burb.

The drive across to the water was WIDE OPEN.

We arrived at highway 1 near the Hearst Castle. We've been there before--a wonderful place to visit, so we drove on by.

Chari got to try her luck at para-surfing. Here's a shot of her catching air! She didn't stay at it very long, saying the water was too cold.

The drive up 1 was TIRING, pretty, but TIRING. Rarely did you have a stretch more than 1/4 mile without hairpin turns.

At one point, we were stopped for about 30 minutes while they cleaned up a rock slide--the whole road was blocked.

We drove straight to Fisherman's Wharf, where we'd been a few time previously. When we stopped at the visitor's center (which appears to be open from 11AM-1PM weekdays), Chari was looking at the map in the window--and met another recently RETIRED teacher from DERBY! Small world.

We were searching for a motel (both tired), and kept getting stuck on 1 north, then 1 south, then 1 north, etc. Finally found a travelodge--and they had one room left for $250. No thanks! So we headed on toward San Jose, and stayed in Gilroy, a nice little town. As it turned out, this morning, Chari called our friend Mary, the Nurse Coordinator for the Stanford Doctors, and we could meet her at 2. Worked out great, since we drove around the Stanford campus lost for an hour. As many trips as I've been here, we were lost! Ended up entering from the ER side--where I'd not been--but we found it. Mary is going to retire someday (2 kids to get through KOLLIGG yet), and plans a trip across the US meeting up with patients they have treated.

Found a reasonably price motel in town, and it has internet (motel 6 last night didn't), so can catch up. Chari's studying the maps/travel guides for tomorrow's journeys.

Time for a quick nap for me, then it's Grilled Salmon at our favorite fish market in Palo Alto.

Miles driven: About 400

Fuel used: Unsure right now.

House prices here: Out of 10 listing in Palo Alto from one broker, 8 were $1M PLUS. Top one was 6BR, 5Bath, on 1/2 acre for $5.5M. A 2BR, 2Bath condo was ONLY $750,000.

Most interesting sightings: The twin cubiczarconi diamonds in the cheek of the night clerk at Motel 6, one on each side, near where her wisdom teeth would be--don't think she had wisdom, let alone wisdom teeth.

Misc:

Morale: EXCELLENT!

Ron