A Road Trip with my Favorite Road Trip Partner
One of the things I've missed most since I moved from Southern California is the ability to be close enough to visit my long time friend, Judi Hussain. Judi and I have known each other for almost half a century... unbelievable as it may seem. We were both newly married when we lived next door to each other on Kamuela Drive in Huntington Beach. We became friends by virtue of each of us being the only working wives in the neighborhood. It was the middle 60's and women didn't work outside the home that much, especially in a new middle-class neighborhood. However we did so we became the oddities in the neighborhood.
And then we had our children. Her girls are just about a year older than my son and daughter. They played together as children and went around together for a while with the same neighborhood kids. Things changed and life continued but not necessarily in the same environment.
We both divorced and Judi moved up to Oakhurst in the Sierra mountains of Southern California. I pretty much stayed in the same area but would visit Judi as time and circumstances permitted. It seemed like each time I would drive up for a weekend, and later took the train up for the weekend, we would wind up taking a short road trip over the weekend. For a while it was just around the home area, then we would do trips up to Tahoe when my son and I owned a condo up there. There were also trips to the coast from Oakhurst and just all around fun times.
On one such trip, I drove up to Oakhurst, stayed at Judi's house for a few days and then we headed up to Tahoe over the Tioga Pass to Route 395 and north to Tahoe. After a few days at the condo, we got ready to head back to Oakhurst. We didn't want to take the same road back so we decided to find some "back roads" to travel. And that is how my blog got its name. We found some back road out of Tahoe that wound around mountain roads, thru small towns and valleys and just a completely different and fun way to get back to Oakhurst. If you were to ask me the roads and directions, I couldn't tell you. All I know is it was one of the fun-est trips we had ever taken.
Part of the planning for my trip to SoCal for the Christmas holidays was that I would have a weekend where Judi and I could take a mini-road trip and spend some time catching up. And so we set out from Tustin to Oakhurst on an early Saturday morning. One of the commonalities of this trip was that I had to get up early in the morning to start the trip. But then again, my body clock was so messed up from traveling and doing things on West Coast time from its usual East Coast time that I'm not sure it was so early in the morning. Out we headed toward the various freeways that would take us to Interstate 5 over the Grapevine and on to Route 99 toward Oakhurst.
Since it was near eating time, we decided to stop in Bakersfield and have late lunch/early dinner at Sizzler. That was always our eating place when I would take the train up but it would be in Fresno rather than Bakersfield. In any case, it was the perfect stopping off place and we both ate to our hearts' and stomachs' content. Since we had one of Judi's little dogs with us, there were a couple of potty stops and Bakersfield was one of them.
As much as I hate to admit it, age may be catching up to us. When we got to Judi's house, all we wanted to do was to relax and get to bed early. We sat around for a couple of hours sipping our wine and then both of us decided it was too relaxing sitting with the fireplace going, drinking wine and chatting so we headed into slumber land.
When we were going over the Grapevine, I was amazed at how brown and dry everything looked. Yes, it's winter in SoCal, but usually you see lots of green trees and shrubs. Not this year, everything is so thirsty and dry/brown looking from lack of rain. I sure hope as the rainy season progresses that SoCal gets at least its normal yearly total of 14 inches of rain. However, they haven't gotten that for the last couple of years, so they are going to need much more to get it normal looking again.
Sunday morning after a late breakfast, we headed into Yosemite. It was just beautiful driving from the south entrance thru Wawona to Yosemite Valley and Curry Village. . Since it was a sunny but cold day, we had planned to walk from Curry Village to the Awanahee Hotel. However one look at the frozen tundra, and the brisk wind, and the fact that we both had on only sneakers and not hiking boots, and it was a unanimous decision to drive to the Awanahee. I still got to see all the scenery. Again I was amazed at how brown and thirsty everything looked. There was just a trickle in the Merced River where at least there used to be a bit of water... not so this year.
There were so many people at the hotel we actually had to stand in line to get into the bar. But we finally made it and ordered a hot winter drink with coffee and some kind of liquor. We did not sit outside, which we had done on previous winter trips, but opted to stay in the warmth of the bar and just look out the cold, a little bit snowy scenery. No matter what time of year, Yosemite is one of the most beautiful places you could visit and definitely on the top tier of my favorite places.
After a leisurely breakfast at Denny's on Sunday morning, we started the car ride from Oakhurst to Fresno where I was to take the train/bus/train back to Irvine. As with almost every trip I ever take, things did not go as planned. To start the train to Bakersfield was about 40 minutes late. But since the buses in Bakersfield are designated to take only the train passengers to Los Angeles, I knew there would be no problem making the bus connection on time. As a matter of fact, the train made up a bit of time and we were only about 25 minutes late with the connection.
The bus from Bakersfield to Union Station in Los Angeles is about a 2 hour ride over the Grapevine of Interstate 5. No matter what time of year or what road conditions may be, there are plenty of nutty, irresponsible, dumb drivers in their cars and SUVs trying to get ahead of anything in front of them. Fortunately I didn't have to worry about them and just watched them pass the bus as I sat in my comfy seat relishing the day I found this route to and from Oakhurst. Due to traffic we arrived at Union Station about 40 minutes before the train to Irvine was to depart. Only it took much longer to depart.
The connection between when the bus gets to Union Station and the Amtrak train leave for Irvine and parts south is usually about an hour to 90 minutes. This Monday evening it turned out to be almost 4 hours due to an accident in Simi Valley about 40 minutes north of Union Station. Sitting around a train station can be lots of fun because the people watching is so fascinating. I wound up meeting two very nice young people, a young man of 18 who went to college in Maine and knew some of the places I knew in Boston.He was heading to his uncle's in Santa Ana. The young lady was 22 and a recent graduate of a design school in L.A. and heading home from her job where she commutes from Fullerton to Union Station Monday thru Friday.
I don't often get a chance to talk to young people, other than my 19 year old grandson, because I live in a retirement community. Believe me I got a good eye-opener of how young people think and act these days. If my two stranded companions are any indication, we've got some delightful, educated and caring individuals coming behind us trying to make a difference in the world. It was an education talking with them and learning from them.
When I finally got to the Irvine train station and my bleary-eyed, sleep deprived grandson picked me up all I wanted to do was get to Carisa's house and get to sleep.
This was a great road trip, in all aspects and I wound up having some wonderful diversions and experiences.
And then we had our children. Her girls are just about a year older than my son and daughter. They played together as children and went around together for a while with the same neighborhood kids. Things changed and life continued but not necessarily in the same environment.
We both divorced and Judi moved up to Oakhurst in the Sierra mountains of Southern California. I pretty much stayed in the same area but would visit Judi as time and circumstances permitted. It seemed like each time I would drive up for a weekend, and later took the train up for the weekend, we would wind up taking a short road trip over the weekend. For a while it was just around the home area, then we would do trips up to Tahoe when my son and I owned a condo up there. There were also trips to the coast from Oakhurst and just all around fun times.
On one such trip, I drove up to Oakhurst, stayed at Judi's house for a few days and then we headed up to Tahoe over the Tioga Pass to Route 395 and north to Tahoe. After a few days at the condo, we got ready to head back to Oakhurst. We didn't want to take the same road back so we decided to find some "back roads" to travel. And that is how my blog got its name. We found some back road out of Tahoe that wound around mountain roads, thru small towns and valleys and just a completely different and fun way to get back to Oakhurst. If you were to ask me the roads and directions, I couldn't tell you. All I know is it was one of the fun-est trips we had ever taken.
Part of the planning for my trip to SoCal for the Christmas holidays was that I would have a weekend where Judi and I could take a mini-road trip and spend some time catching up. And so we set out from Tustin to Oakhurst on an early Saturday morning. One of the commonalities of this trip was that I had to get up early in the morning to start the trip. But then again, my body clock was so messed up from traveling and doing things on West Coast time from its usual East Coast time that I'm not sure it was so early in the morning. Out we headed toward the various freeways that would take us to Interstate 5 over the Grapevine and on to Route 99 toward Oakhurst.
Since it was near eating time, we decided to stop in Bakersfield and have late lunch/early dinner at Sizzler. That was always our eating place when I would take the train up but it would be in Fresno rather than Bakersfield. In any case, it was the perfect stopping off place and we both ate to our hearts' and stomachs' content. Since we had one of Judi's little dogs with us, there were a couple of potty stops and Bakersfield was one of them.
As much as I hate to admit it, age may be catching up to us. When we got to Judi's house, all we wanted to do was to relax and get to bed early. We sat around for a couple of hours sipping our wine and then both of us decided it was too relaxing sitting with the fireplace going, drinking wine and chatting so we headed into slumber land.
When we were going over the Grapevine, I was amazed at how brown and dry everything looked. Yes, it's winter in SoCal, but usually you see lots of green trees and shrubs. Not this year, everything is so thirsty and dry/brown looking from lack of rain. I sure hope as the rainy season progresses that SoCal gets at least its normal yearly total of 14 inches of rain. However, they haven't gotten that for the last couple of years, so they are going to need much more to get it normal looking again.
Sunday morning after a late breakfast, we headed into Yosemite. It was just beautiful driving from the south entrance thru Wawona to Yosemite Valley and Curry Village. . Since it was a sunny but cold day, we had planned to walk from Curry Village to the Awanahee Hotel. However one look at the frozen tundra, and the brisk wind, and the fact that we both had on only sneakers and not hiking boots, and it was a unanimous decision to drive to the Awanahee. I still got to see all the scenery. Again I was amazed at how brown and thirsty everything looked. There was just a trickle in the Merced River where at least there used to be a bit of water... not so this year.
There were so many people at the hotel we actually had to stand in line to get into the bar. But we finally made it and ordered a hot winter drink with coffee and some kind of liquor. We did not sit outside, which we had done on previous winter trips, but opted to stay in the warmth of the bar and just look out the cold, a little bit snowy scenery. No matter what time of year, Yosemite is one of the most beautiful places you could visit and definitely on the top tier of my favorite places.
After a leisurely breakfast at Denny's on Sunday morning, we started the car ride from Oakhurst to Fresno where I was to take the train/bus/train back to Irvine. As with almost every trip I ever take, things did not go as planned. To start the train to Bakersfield was about 40 minutes late. But since the buses in Bakersfield are designated to take only the train passengers to Los Angeles, I knew there would be no problem making the bus connection on time. As a matter of fact, the train made up a bit of time and we were only about 25 minutes late with the connection.
The bus from Bakersfield to Union Station in Los Angeles is about a 2 hour ride over the Grapevine of Interstate 5. No matter what time of year or what road conditions may be, there are plenty of nutty, irresponsible, dumb drivers in their cars and SUVs trying to get ahead of anything in front of them. Fortunately I didn't have to worry about them and just watched them pass the bus as I sat in my comfy seat relishing the day I found this route to and from Oakhurst. Due to traffic we arrived at Union Station about 40 minutes before the train to Irvine was to depart. Only it took much longer to depart.
The connection between when the bus gets to Union Station and the Amtrak train leave for Irvine and parts south is usually about an hour to 90 minutes. This Monday evening it turned out to be almost 4 hours due to an accident in Simi Valley about 40 minutes north of Union Station. Sitting around a train station can be lots of fun because the people watching is so fascinating. I wound up meeting two very nice young people, a young man of 18 who went to college in Maine and knew some of the places I knew in Boston.He was heading to his uncle's in Santa Ana. The young lady was 22 and a recent graduate of a design school in L.A. and heading home from her job where she commutes from Fullerton to Union Station Monday thru Friday.
I don't often get a chance to talk to young people, other than my 19 year old grandson, because I live in a retirement community. Believe me I got a good eye-opener of how young people think and act these days. If my two stranded companions are any indication, we've got some delightful, educated and caring individuals coming behind us trying to make a difference in the world. It was an education talking with them and learning from them.
When I finally got to the Irvine train station and my bleary-eyed, sleep deprived grandson picked me up all I wanted to do was get to Carisa's house and get to sleep.
This was a great road trip, in all aspects and I wound up having some wonderful diversions and experiences.
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