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Glad you had a good day (except for that darn truck…but sounds like you took it in stride). Hope you have a nice weekend of exploring before you turn into a copilot for your son.
I admire your tenacity to keep on “truckin” despite your medical challenges. Good for you and sounds like you’re having a trip with many beautiful moments!!
DAY 14 - Decision made to meet my son in Eugene Mon AM, so with no set destination and time to play, started the day with a detour:
About 30 911 miles with a little scenery along the way. One pass needed to the “old ski area” of Mt Shasta.
I try to hit the National Parks on any trip & realized Crater Lake is not out of reach north on to half, 5, of the interstate miles day.
The road & scenery varied, but all two lane with little traffic. For this bayou boy, I am driving in heaven.
You have to be ready for just about anything on these long trips, road closures, construction, etc., and adding a Nat’l Park in the mix adds delays. Joined the line for park entry & reached the pass gate one hour later, only to find out less than 20% of the park rods were open :-( Worth the wait and every mile.
Unable to drive through to the north exit of the park, circled the parl to the west thinking I could surely find a small lake town for a laid back evening before heading to Eugene.Wrong! I rarely miss on those but had to keep going, striking out and found myself in Eugene. That’s fine, except it did not cross my Ming that the Olympic Trials are here. The city is booked, at Super Bowl prices, but I got lucky, depending upon perspective, & landed at the Graduate. So maybe I can get the bugs off the car & see if I can find a ticket for an event tomorrow:-)
A day like today is why I keep going. Really cannot ask for more. With the 7K’ + decrease in elevation, all should be easier.
From Crater to Eugene. The whole day was like this.
Thanks so much for sharing your trip, can do attitude, and beautiful photos with your gorgeous Targa in the foreground. My silver bar Targa arrives this fall. So excited. Please keep these posts coming!
WEEK 3 - DAY 15 - A second “leisure”, depending upon perspective again, is a first, but meeting a lot of nice folks & coaches/athletes competing in the Olympic Trials. Cloudy with a little mist, but explored the surrounding area early morning; cannot go a day without turning the key :-) Up to a couple of the Buttes looking a a pic over the city, but the weather killed that. Returned for a late breakfast.
EDIT: Enjoying Eugene, such a contrast from NOLA; old French culture/architecture compared to a more contemporary community. The homeless have skateboards :-)
FYI - somewhere along the line, I picked up a $6 visor mount the iPhone. Coming down from Mt Shasta yesterday, tried it out & successfully got some great video of the road down :-) Shocked at how good the iPhone stabilization is; NO shake or jitter. I do not need a Dash-cam like I thought I did.
The car - what can I say; the Energizer bunny has nothing on the car :-) Six, seven, eight hour road days, day after day & it never hiccups regardless of what I ask of it. Approaching 85K miles without a rattle, squeak or leak. Anyone needing a reason to endure life’s curve ***** should go straight to Dr. Porsche.
Merting my son late morning. Think we will head west for a little 101 :-)
EDIT: The sun returned! A pleasant early evening enjoying a little sun.
DAY 16 - A few “chores”to take care of before picking up Jordy at the A/P; fuel, Firestone checked the air pressure & found a local to get the bugs off. Had to clean it up before the A/P. $ 30 & about equal to a hundred I spend at home :-) Sat back on the “patio” with the morning coffee :-)
In & out of A/P without getting out of the seat :-) Will give it up tomorrow :-( I didn’t scare him to badly heading west to the coast & Florence, CA. Turned south with a couple of detours. One stop at the Umpqua Lighhouse:
Jordy found an Airbnb with a view for the evening, not bad for $125. Having a few cold ones & dinner at a small out of the way spot we found.Seafood close to the water is always good.
Been a long time with real one on one time with him (4 little ones below 10), so I could not ask for more of the day. NWill look at a map at some
point tonight, or maybe the AM to pick a direction.
Sounds like a great day! You look relaxed The car is shiny clean! Glad you and your son are having quality time. Looks like your weather is cooperating.
Thanks for sharing and keep ‘em coming as time permits.
DAY 17 - A last pic from last night; rarely does a single pic offer the good news & bad news, but here it is:
The good news is the scene from the Airbnb deck. The bad news is I could not stay awake for the sunset!
When the day begins with 20 miles on a road named Seven Devil’s Rd, the coffee cools a bit before the end. Great side road to 101 south. Mother Nature did not cooperate with fog & mist. Had to pass dozens of view points & pics. An example from the start:
Ya learn to just deal with it knowing there will be opportunities down the road:
Redwood National Park was such a great drive. Even my NOLA oaks cannot compare. This is NOT St. Charles Ave. :-)
Jordy was a little college QB & still athletic. He needed a little workout (and maybe some alone time), so we stopped a a trailhead in the park. Two miles on the trail “down” to the ocean & back up, with a dip in the 50* water. Thirty years ago, I would have joined him. I found a great spot to lie in the grass against a giant & took a rare nap & meditation time. We have not had this much solo time together since he left for IU, which seems like a lifetime ago. The thought & conversation has been warming & rewarding. Even a little business mixed in. This is probably the last time, so both are soaking it in.
He drove a couple of hours today, starting very conservatively, but quickly remembering his Atlanta Porsche Experience time that opened Pandora’s Box of Copilot in the right seat :-) The more he drove, the more comfortable I became, but I may never be a good companion on the right side.
I took over & we called it a day in Eureka, CA. Enjoyed a great meal, even if the western seafood chefs have yet to find seasoning including white pepper, cayenne or a roux :-)
DAY 18 - Wow! What a day. Heading south out of Eureka, looking forward to 101 & Hwy 1 south the the coast.
It turned into maybe the best continuous 215 miles in my 50+ years of 911. I enjoyed the Tail, but no comparison. The trees here have been around a while.
Had to tolerate a little interstate, but today’s detour was worth it.
Jordy to a short run on a trail to the Point Bonita Lighthouse while I “tried” to wind down. :-) Over the Golden Gate we decided to get a few more southerly miles, so made it through San Fran rush hour & stopped in San Jose for the night. Need to get him on a plane to Dallas on Friday, so we’ll look at the maps tonight.
DAY 19- Out early headed south, we decided to try to do Kings Canyon & Sequoria Nat’l Parks. Nice run on 101 & turned east. Well down the road, we learned that our route was closed because of wildfires.
Having a little tech issue uploading pics; will try to resolve tonight.
Kings Canyon was off the list, but Sequoria was spectacular. Fun road except for a little traffic, (that should be horrendous later in 5e summer). Smoke from the fires spoiled any distant views, but that is Mother Nature. Late afternoon, headed south & called it a day in Bakersfield, CA. We will have a leisurely morning & I will drop Jordy in Burbank for his flight home. It was a very special few days with him…….
Was able to get in touch with an old parachuting buddy from the late 60’s n Perris/Lake Elsinore, so plan to head that way for the night. I cannot remember a single time we have been together that we did not end up in the air, so who knows what to expect?
DAY 20 - It was the expected day; A couple of hours on Interstate to the Burbank A/P to drop off my son. It was a great one on one visit for a few days. His time in the left seat was better each day. Don’t think I have to be concerned about the future of the car.
I forgot how the traffic can be, so played southern Californian for the next 2.5 hours getting to Perris,CA. I really do not understand how folks can deal with long commutes :-)
Was able to touch base with a friend from the USMC days. I was stationed in San Diego before Vietnam & El Toro after. Went to Lakeside for skydiving every weekend. We made a LOT of jumps together in the 60’s. Probably been 30 years since we were last together. It was a warm, touching visit; we shared a very special time in our journeys. He dug these out of the archives:
DAY 21 - About as far south as I am going. The spirit asked, “Ya had enough fun yet”? Haven’t decided where I am going to be for the 4th, so just driving east & see what happens. Not ready for interstate after yesterday, found one more fun time. Took 74 from Perris to Pal Desert. Got lucky :-) Once past Hemit, it quickly turned into 911 road, climbing 6K’ & descending to the desert floor. At one stretch, lost count of the tight switchbacks. Of you are ever in the area, this is a “must drive”?
Decided it was time to make a dent toward home base, so hooked it up on I-10 towards Phoenix. Miserable traffic to the AZ border & things improve. In a different way, the high desert has its own beauty. Once in SZ, was able to get up to “cruising” speed & enjoy the rest of the drive.
WEEK 4 - DAY 22 - On each of these little jaunts, I try to stay in an upscale, resort hotel. Last night was it. Great facility at the Marriott resort in Scottsdale. Was moving very slow this A.M., leaving after 10. Morni;gs are getting difficult so best to head for the bayou. :-)
North on 87, scenic & fast at times.
Took the back roads from Payson up,to the interstate. Two lane that varied from fast to 911 type; a pleasant surprise.
Crossing into New Mexico, this is one of the few interstates worth driving :-) There are many tight, fast curves if above the limit, G’s on the interstate! That’s a rarity for this southern boy. The various colors of the rock formations & earth colors offer marvelous scenery.
Decided to stop in Albuquerque for the evening. Not looking forward to the last leg through west TX.
Hope all are not to bored with this little journal. Maybe my bit of occasional humor helps :-) Have a great close to your weekend.
06-21-2024, 11:44 PM
The car is shiny clean! Glad you and your son are having quality time. Looks like your weather is cooperating. 
