All I can say about "marthon" driving is that it "sucks". But, I understand the why tho. My sons wanted to have a lot of thier vacations, so of course, we did 1508 miles in 2 days.
We started out from Bellingham, Washington at 12:45 pm July 5th. The truck was packed. And oh ya, I managed to get Josh to throw in a couple of bigger rocks for my garden. I found the "cutest" tuffet looking rock for a stepping stone!! Also, a "green stone, which when Josh threw it it broke and the most wonderful looking designs came out. I also found a few other things my hubby had forgotten when he had been up there cleaning out before Josh bought the place too.
anyway, off we went. We started at milemarker 250 going south! Traffic even thru Seattle was full of 18 wheelers. Over the Colombia river all the overpasess were filled with semi's.
Josh really gets into his drive. Now, imagine sitting in a Tacoma truck for this long. I gotta say, leg room isn't great! My butt got "numb" a lot. It's really hard to find a comfortable position for 12 hours of driving. Except for gas stops and a couple of "rest areas", it was all drive. Josh did the Oregon mountains at night. Now that is sometime. One can make out the tops of the forest trees against the dark sky. Only other thing is the snaking red tail lights and the brightness of the white headlights going North.
We did stop in one little town and had a great Mexican dinner. Family run, homemade salsa, very hot plates. and just a really big "YUM" factor. !! At about 12:45 am, I managed to get Josh to stop in Yreka to get a room and grab some ZZzzzzz. Not bad for 3-$85. Hey, showers, toilet and a place to get horizontal for a few hours. Josh was out before his head hit the pillow. Robert and I at least got to the pillow before sliding into a sleep coma. I set the alarm for 4:30 and was up, showered, went out for "more coffee" and milk, before the other 2 arose. Tipical Mommie. We left at 5:45 as we were in California and had the skillet run thru the central valley. After Sacremento, the temps were 103 degrees, the drive is fairly flat, and tons of 18 wheelers everywhere. Central California is the "bread basket". Just about everything grown comes from the central valley. Finally, going over the grapvine. The grapevine is the last mountain pass before dropping down into the L.A. basin. And even more traffic. Hey, it was Fri, during a "holiday" week. Those that had to come back to work on Thursday, now wanted to leave for the lakes and such!!! Down the 5 to the 405 cutoff. The 405 makes it easier to make the trek to Orange county. One doesn't have to go thru L.A. The sight of exit signs that I knew were such a relief!! We arrived at the house about 6pm! A bit over the time limit, but with the traffic, especially all those 18 wheelers, we did pretty good.

You know when you plan for "travel" you hope that you've everything "taken care" of. I can honestly say, I've never had planning that just worked. It's kind of funny in a lot of ways. First, I managed to talk my sons into driving me back. In payment for their services, I offered to pay for all the gas and food for their "round-trip" driving. I also went ahead and got both guys vehicles tuned up, even tho we are only taking one vehicles. If you got more than one kid, you understand this. If one gets, they all get!! No strange feelings floating around, if you know what I mean. I also got a "Motel 6, for 2 of the 3 nights that I am here. My youngest was a bit "overly protective" about that. But, hey, Josh has 2 room mates and well, I didn't want them feeling uncomfortable with a female around. And a Mother to boot. I told him that hey, I've stayed in much worse places. Try "tent camping" in the back of your pick-up during an all night rain storm in the desert, in the middle of "nowhere"!!!! Ah the joys of being an amateur astronomers wife. But, these are just a speck of what the travel has been like so far.


So, I booked Amtrak, and for the first time I got a sleeper. Usually, I go coach. After getting off the commuter to the Starlight, one now has to have a boarding pass. So, down the ramp all the way to Union station proper. No really good signs ether. I waited in the line that said Sleepers to discover, wrong line. Over to another shorter line and get a boarding pass. I'm "OK-ed" and all the way back and up the ramp to the other side of the tracks all the way up to the 3rd car from the Engine. The tiny rooms are great. 2 beds, upper and lower. The lower is also 2 seats. The porter, takes care of making up the beds if you request and putting them back in the morning. Free coffee, tea and juice. All meals are included in your ticket, plus the parlor car where wine tasting and other fun things for sleeper car passengers. Sure was nice. Tho the dinning car was 6 cars back. Due to holiday they put on an extra sleeper! It's ok as I don't really eat dinner. 2 meals and maybe a piece of fruit in the evening. Great scenery, private space, slept most of the time!! I really needed the rest and 37 hours on a train is a great way to get it. But, I really stress that I GOT A SLEEPER. My own tiny space!! Coach doesn't get that. Sleepers also have showers down the hall also.


Arrive in Seattle at 11 pm, about 2 hours late. This train is never on time! I hail a taxi and go to my hotel for the night. Commuter doesn't leave till the next morning. I'm getting my ticket then. Great room, little pampering touches. Great nights sleep after I let everyone know I was safe and sound via text messaging. I check out at 6am and request a taxi back to the train Depot. Get in line, up to the counter and "REALLY" was the response I gave to finding out that train was full and the next one wasn't until 6ish that night. Out the glass doors, hail a taxi, off to the bus Depot. You just gotta love the "doggy bus". Plus we were leaving the same time as the commuter. What a breath of fresh air in stepping off the bus into Bellingham's Alaska Ferry/Amtrak/ buses depot! Went pee, had a smoke, and voila, the city bus arrived. $.75 cents got me to the top of the hill and into Haggens market I went to surprise my sons who work there. Josh was doing produce and turned his head and "MoM!!!! He was waiting for my call from the bus depot. I said, I just caught the bus. I told him to just do what he needed to do, and I would be in the mini-cafe. Good coffee. The water up here tastes great, plus no bitter tasting coffee. Saw Rob, my other son. He wasn't having a great day. 2 cookies and a cup of coffee later, Josh comes around the the cafe, we're off to the house. He would later that day take me to the Motel 6. Tho, I would catch the bus during the mornings and check in on the Internet. I mean how much more perfect could this be. REALLY alone time to see what and how one handles things that come up. I plan and save over my budget for travel. Then if I don't need to use that extra, "SHOPPING". I love the handmade glass, wood and pottery up here. Most things down south are just to much alike. But, I will describe those later in another blog with photos!!


I also, got Josh to let me take a couple of the smaller rocks I liked. A "tuffet" looking one round with a smooth flat top. Weighs about 30 pounds. Then some of the greet granite broken ones for accent. It's nice to have a few memories, and "only the rocks live forever"


So, today, when Josh gets home, we're going for some "man-meat" (Steak) for him to cook on his monster grill!!!Watch some fireworks, then leave about O dark 30 in the morning!!! So, we should be on the road for 2 days. I am making Josh stop at night to get some rest. Not really to good to be over tired when doing L.A. traffic on a Fri. Tho, with he holiday, most won't be leaving for home till Sat. Cross your fingers the traffic isn't to bad. We are going a tad over 1500 miles south, thru that record heat in the central valley and over the grapefine in to the L.A. basin, a touch west, down the shore line to Newport Beach and up the mesa to Costa Mesa.