A Week on the Move

I can't believe it was just a week ago that we watched holiday weekenders arrive in Fort Bragg. We've enjoyed four relaxing nights on the coast and traveled nearly 1000 miles since then!

It's been quite a week.

Bullwinkle's blog has yet to catch up with our most recent travels. Starting tomorrow, we'll enjoy a month in one peaceful place. Bringing our other blog up to date is on the list of our to-dos for the month.

Meanwhile, here's a highlight or two.

Tuesday we traversed very curvy, two-lane California Highway 20 from the coast to I-5. That's more than 100 miles of white knuckle driving! We've never before been so glad to see a wide and straight interstate. Once we were straightened out, we stopped in Sacramento for a couple of special meetings.

We parked the moose right behind the "mothership", which is home to Sandy and John. This very fun couple started their fulltiming adventures in January, and have spent the last three months in the Golden State. It was a real treat to catch up with them and get to know each other a bit beyond our blog pages.

Wednesday we all piled into Sandy and John's toad and ventured east just a bit to visit Gypsy in her new digs. It was wonderful to see her again and introduce her to Sandy and John. We enjoyed a tasty lunch filled with stories and laughter. (Thanks, Sandy and John!) Gypsy is getting settled in here in Sacramento and developing a healthy case of hitch itch. We look forward to seeing Gypsy again on the road soon!

Yesterday we fired up the moose early (but not too early, since our new friends were sleeping just feet away from our big diesel engine). We said our "so longs" to Sandy and John and look forward to seeing them again this fall in Tennessee. Thanks so much for making time in your California adventures to hook up with us!

With many miles to cover in not so many days, the chief navigator in our crew gave our route considerable consideration. (Yes, I obsessed about it!) My first challenge was to figure out how to get out of California. The most direct, and our most familiar, option was I-80 up and over the Sierra Nevada. On a good day, this stretch of highway looks like Swiss cheese. I read recent reports of miles of narrow lane closures near the summit featuring skinny jersey barriers on both sides and roads rough enough to reduce a motorhome to rubble. That's not exactly how we like to tackle a 7,000 ft. climb!

So, we opted for the scenic route, taking US-50 through South Lake Tahoe, catching I-80 well east of the mountains. It added 40 miles or so to our route for the day. But, more importantly it took us an extra hour or two. (I lost track!) When we arrived in Elko, NV for the night, we had traveled 440 miles at an average speed of 48 mph, making yesterday our longest travel day ever, in more ways than one.

This morning we were up early and on the road by 7:00. Today's route included a 100-mile stretch on US-93. Between road construction, wind and rain, we covered that ground at about the same speed as yesterday's average! (Why does this stuff happen on days when you really need to make tracks?) The three interstates we took across southern Idaho let us finally travel at freeway speeds, but kept us in steady rain the entire way. The silver lining of the day was that the increasing winds were on our tail! Immediately upon our arrival in Idaho Falls, the winds were really gusting. We were happy to be off the road, with 324 miles under our collective belts for the day. (Our "typical" travel day mileage is somewhere around 200 miles!)

Tonight we're looking forward to a good night's rest. We're both sleep deprived, and the cats are stressed. (You don't want to know how cats manifest stress!) We'll all be better in the morning, and the weather is supposed to be much improved for our last travel day for a month.

And, how far are we going on this third travel day in a row? A mere 94 miles separates us from a glorious month of peace and quiet with dear friends in what we hear is a stunningly beautiful place.

After the week we've just had, we can definitely handle that.