Prunedale, California to Medford, Oregon – 7/29/2014 – http://fulltimetimeshare.com/blog

JULY 29, 2014 (Tuesday)

The day started out early for us. We got up and out by 8:00 AM. As we were packing up to leave we saw Rodrigo. Rodrigo is doing work at the neighbor’s house and is the guy who transformed our studio and our mobile last year. He’s a handyman and does it all. He’s great. We’ve adopted him as a family member and just really enjoy him. Was nice to see him, even if just for a few minutes. As usual he handed us a bag filled with some wonderful tamales.

We left and went to the local Valero to get gas and then on to Safeway.

We use the Valero card to get the discount. We were down to one square.

It has a 10 gallon tank. I think they just never want us to run out of gas, so they rig it to make us think we are close to out of gas even though we have one to two gallons left.

Lexi had left a little earlier and was doing her shopping so she would have food while we’re gone. Was surprised she didn’t go overboard. We said our goodbyes to Lexi in the parking lot of Safeway and drove to Santa Clara. Traffic was pretty bad.

I've been retired for over 12 years. I was sad that we were outside the diamond lane hours. Then I shuddered when I thought about the folks hitting it on a regular basis at 5 am. Don't wish your life away, but don't be afraid of retirement either. — I’ve been retired for over 12 years. I was sad that we were outside the diamond lane hours. Then I thought about the folks hitting it on a regular basis at 5 am. Don’t wish your life away, but don’t be afraid of retirement either.

Just before our turn off we saw our exact car, well, what ours would look like if we kept it clean.

We met Aaron and Arla at the AAA on Stevens Creek Boulevard. We had given him a little scooter a year or so ago and he wants to sell it. We put the title in his name and now he can do with it as he wishes (gift given, gift gone).

A big one. Great map dispensing machine in the lobby, like a candy machine, just swipe your AAA card and push the buttons for the map you want.

We left Santa Clara around 10:30 AM and drove.

Edie was driving and declared herself claustrophobic at this point.

Crowded and busy highways, but it kept moving well.

I used to complain about the tolls, but after a little travel on the east coast, they don't seem so bad. This is it, for the day, for 400+ miles — I used to complain about the tolls, but after a little travel on the East coast, they don’t seem so bad. This is it, for the day, for 400+ miles

What little bit is left of the mothball fleet. At one time more than 2,000, now just a hand full. Environmental issues forced their removal.

We didn’t stop until Corning, where we went to The Olive Pit. What a great, fun place. They had so many samples of olives, vinegars, oils, wine, beer. So much fun. Glad we left when we did because I was getting a salt bomb from all the goodies. Michael was hungry (I was pretty full from all the samples) so we went across the street to Taco Bell and got some lunch for him.

So many olive orchards in northern California. They are marketing themselves like wineries. — So many olive orchards in Northern California. They are marketing themselves like wineries.

We bought some Dark Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar. — We bought some Dark Raspberry Balsamic vinegar. Edie discoverd the wine tasting room, 5 tastes for $5. She liked this one.

After Corning we just drove, stopped once for gas at a Valero, and rocked out on the 60’s satellite station.

Still had 3 squares but Edie wanted the tablet out of the computer bag in the back.

Northern end of the great central valley.

Lake Shasta, about as low as we have ever seen it.

Was fun remembering all the great old songs. I so much prefer the songs from the period. I pretty much serenaded Michael for hours (poor thing). I’m sure his ears hurt.

The mountains were capturing some clouds.

Mt Shasta as bare of snow as we have ever seen.

We stopped in Weed at the rest stop and got some pictures of the storm that was coming, and even got rained on as we went over the mountain into Oregon.

Looking back at Mt. Shasta, the clouds escaped.

Northern California has some conservative streaks.

We were shocked to see a dragon lurking alongside the freeway.

Then he looked right at us, we thought we were goners.

And suddenly, he just let us go, must of been full.

When we got into Oregon, we both decided we were tired and stopped in Medford to look for a hotel. We ended up at a McDonald’s (free WiFi) and got a room from Priceline.

Paid way too much (about $75.00) but we were tired and just wanted to stretch out on a bed. We also got a little snack to eat at the McDonald’s while we were getting the room.

Checked in to a Shiloh Inn, standard hotel room, king bed. Hard to take at $75.00. Michael came in with the suitcases and asked, “Where’s the living room? The kitchen?” Especially at about $40 a night that we usually pay at the resorts.

That was our day. Hope yours was great!