The Bay And Points North...

Moving is, I think, never an easy thing.

 

This move, for instance, includes a drive of some 1,100 miles up the west coast, from San Diego, California to Portland Oregon.

 

My truck is packed.

 

I left southern California really early. Even though it was Veteran's Day (well, the Monday holiday for it), I was worried about hitting traffic in Los Angeles. I ended up hitting the road, finally, around 5:00am, with a full tank of gas and a full cup of coffee. I'd gotten a whopping three hours of sleep the night before, and I was a bit wary as to whether or not I would actually make it to Lafayette (north of San Francisco) or not.

 

As it turned out, though, I pulled into my buddy's driveway about 7-1/2 hours after pulling out of my own. It was a good drive, if not a relatively boring one. Let's face it, man, the northbound I-5 isn't exactly renowned for its photographic offerings:

 

Long, flat and straight. I give you Interstate 5...

 

Despite the boring nature of the drive, I managed to keep myself awake long enough to get to Chris' house in Lafayette. Now, ordinarily, the first night I'm in town is when we'd go down into Danville and have a few cocktails. The decision to stay in, though, was one which I welcomed. We ordered a pizza (Chicago style, and it was good) and spent the evening watching television.

 

Tuesday morning, we hit Millie's for breakfast. Millie's is no joke. It is, without a doubt, one of the best breakfasts I've ever had. Now, I'm a big breakfast fan, and I tend to take breakfast seriously. It's nice to know that Millie's does, as well:

 

Eggs, sausage, hash browns and sourdough toast. Also known as "The most important meal of the day"...

 

After breakfast, Chris and I parted ways. He was heading home, and I had a solid seven hours on the road in front of me, and wanted to get started. I'm pretty sure this is the only time I've visited Chris and not sat in at a gig with him. Then again, this was a one-night stop. Still, it felt weird to be saying our goodbyes without having strummed even a single chord.

 

So, I began my trip north.

 

I'd never driven north of the Bay Area before, and I've been looking forward to it. It would've been nice had the weather been nicer but, hey, some things you just can't control, and you make the best of it. 

 

The drive was pretty uneventful until I got into the Lake Shasta area. The topography seemed to change in a blink of an eye. What had been rolling fields of brown grass suddenly turned into mountains of redwood lined roads:

A quiet road leading to Lake Shasta...

A river runs along an Interstate 5 rest area...

 

But it's not just serene, bucolic scenes of tall trees and rivers. It's also rocky crags and mountains. And we're talking some big mountains:

 

 

The base of Mount Shasta. The top was obscured...

 

Part of Castle Crags State Park...

 

Not that anyone asked me, but that's one Hell of a place to put a mountain...

 

At around 4:45pm, I finally crossed into Oregon. It was a long time coming:

 

I felt welcomed, too...

 

Now, I don't know why, but as soon as I passed into Oregon, the fog rolled in. Bad. It was either fog or, at 4,500 feet, perhaps a cloud, but it was thick as soup, and made driving a rather dicey affair:

 

 

 

 

After a while, though, the fog lifted and driving became much, much safer. There were a few times during the drive, when the camera wasn't rolling, that were nerve-wracking, and pretty "white knuckle" all the way around. I was pretty relieved to get the fog behind me.

 

One thing I have to say is that the truck has been performing pretty flawlessly. I was a bit concerned as to whether or not she'd handle the trip, but she has, and famously. I got the oil changed and some new skids put on last week, and it seems as though that's all that was needed:

 

The truck at Lake Shasta. I like the black and white shot...

I decided to stop in Medford, Oregon for the night. Truth be told, I could've muscled my way through all the way to Portland, but I'm pretty certain I'd have felt like Hell when I got there. So, I've opted to get a suite at the Holiday Inn for the evening. I'll push off early tomorrow (9:30am is early, isn't it?) and start heading north. I'm hoping the weather is okay, as I'm hoping to stop in Grant's Pass for an hour or so and do some shooting.

 

We shall see. In the meantime, this adventure continues...