It took 39 years for me to get back to California and after 41 hours of driving and 2,700 miles I have returned. I had a lot to do and a bunch of things to see. It's important to have plans and also to make adjustments when they are necessary.
The Golden Gate bridge and the Walt Disney museum I will blog about separately since I have plenty to say and a number of pictures also. Here are the other highlights:
SCENERY: Some spectacular mountain and valley views and I stopped a few times to take pictures. Frequently, mountains were different colors on both sides of the road. Every mountain had hundreds or thousands of bushes and trees. I did drive a few hours in the dark on a few mornings and I missed some of the majestic views.
I did get to drive on the highway early one morning through Las Vegas with the hotels and casinos glittering in the darkness. I did see some of the west coast ocean views mixed in with some of the mountain scenery.
FRIENDS: Thirty-nine years ago our friends Rob and Jill were married and our trip out to California included their wedding and an incredible ride down the coast to Disneyland and San Diego. I've know Rob since grammar school and we played tennis and worked a summer job together in high school. We haven't seen each other in fifteen years and we got to hang our for a couple days this past week.
We went to a beer garden and I had a sip of beer. We ate at a Mexican Restaurant and I ate Mexican food which was pretty good since it was chicken. We spent both days taking a long hike with great conversation.
ENTERTAINMENT: I drove with Sirius X radio on and heard a lot of great music, some comedy, some baseball and also basketball. Rob and Jill took me to see my first Alfred Hitchcock movie, "North by Northwest which was made in 1959. I thought the plot was pretty complicated and I had to look up a synopsis of it when I got home. It played in a beautiful refurbished cinema and the crowd really enjoyed it.
GAS STATIONS: One of the things that really stood out 39 years ago was that California has a lot less gas stations than I'm used to seeing. That has not changed and it was still very surprising that they were not all over. Pictured below is the one near their house with gas prices close to $8. I did not buy any gas there, but there were some others over $8 per gallon. The most I paid on the trip was $5.99.
ICE CREAM AND SODA DIET: I decided at the end of last year I would go one hundred days without soda and ice cream and I broke my diet on the trip. It was 103 days without soda and 108 days without ice cream. I got a small cone for $1 and it tasted pretty good.
MY CAR: Rob and Jill had both read my book and she gave the book to her dad who enjoyed reading it also. I suggested we go over and give her mom and dad a tour of the car which turned out to be a lot of fun. Her dad is 95 and I told him he's the oldest person to ride in my car and offered to put his picture up in the car, He loved the idea and it's in the car already.
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