Heading for Home
Monday, March 28, 2022
Doug and Janis are early risers, Val and I not so much, but this morning we all got up early as we didn’t want to get a too late of a start for home. After getting some breakfast, we packed everything up and loaded up the cars and except for getting the house ready for departure, we were ready to go.
We really enjoyed our stay here with Doug and Janis, but it was time to say our goodbyes and hit the road. We have had excellent weather on this trip, but this morning it was quite windy and there were ominous black clouds moving in over the Sierras. We knew rain was predicted for California, and we hoped to get home before it arrived, but it didn’t look like that would be the case.
Doug and Janis hit the road and after doing a last minute check of the house and locking up, we left about 20 minutes later around 9:30. There was very little traffic as we traveled down US395, but there were already a few drops of rain starting to fall. By the time we got near highway 58 it stared to rain in earnest.
The last time we took this route was back in October of last year when we returned from Utah and the Grand Staircases and it rained really hard making driving difficult. As we drove up 58 towards Tehachapi it started to rain really hard with even a few snowflakes mixed and once again, it was a difficult drive. As we passed through Tehachapi it started to let up a bit, but then we came to a stop due to an accident up ahead. For about half an hour we barely crept along until we came to a smashed up semi-truck and trailer that looked like it had hit the center divider. Thankfully, it didn’t look like anyone was injured, but it sure slowed down our journey home.
Except for a brief stop in Arvin for gas and lunch, we drove the rest of the way home with little rain and no problems. We were home with everything put away by 3:30 and even though we enjoy traveling, it always feels good to get home.
Final Thoughts
This was a short trip, but it sure felt great to get away. It was even better that Doug and Janis joined as we always have a good time with them. Except for the drive home, the weather was near perfect with daytime temperatures in the seventies to the low eighties.
The Eastern Sierras have always been a favorite place to visit for my family going back to when we first moved to California back in 1958. My parents are no longer with us, but I have great memories of the times we spent with them in the area. Luckily, Val and Janis share my family’s love of the area and have been part of many trips here.
The Alabama Hills are a very unique and beautiful place, and we had a great time exploring them over the time we were here. This is the most time we have actually spent doing that as usually we only have a day or less to do our exploring. A real bonus was renting a house that was actually in the Alabama Hills.
As much as I liked the Alabama Hills, my favorite part of the trip besides the time spent with Doug, Janis and Val, was our visit to Manzanar. We have driven by there so many times and said we have to stop and visit it sometime and on this trip we finally did it. Seeing it with Janis who had a personal family connection with Manzanar made it even more special.
Thanks to Doug and Janis for joining us and providing two delicious meals and also picking up the tab at the Copper Top BBQ, much appreciated.
We hope to do some more road trips this fall and summer, but the big event will be our 71 day cruise to Africa and back. It has been postponed twice, but hopefully this year it will go as planned. So as always, we’ll see you on down the road.
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