Back in the Desert

After leaving Oregon, I journeyed through lots of fog banks. The coastal fog was mostly pleasant, eerie yet magical. I spent a night in Redway (on Route 101, a bit south of Eureka).

The next day I stopped at a little grocery store in Laytonville. It was so wonderful. Filled with everything I like (and more). I got some BBQ tofu nuggets that were so good I had to force myself to stop eating them and save a bit for later. And some very tasty pesto pizza. And some really good coconut date bars. And more. While Eureka is a major city (28,000), Laytonville is more quant (1200) and the feel is total hippie vibe.

I kept going for a while and started heading east and passed through the Clear Lake area. Very nice. If I was in the mood to stop, it would be a nice vacation spot. I decided I wanted to get south of Sacramento for the night and getting past such a major city was not on my fun list. At first I told my GPS app to avoid freeways, but that was much too long a route, so I decided to allow a stretch of I-80 and managed to get through unscathed. I hadn't seen a truly big city in a long while and it was crazy … office buildings, malls, factories, warehouses, stores, and lots and lots of cars.

Once I got near Sacramento, a dark gray foreboding sky and steely fog set in and didn't let up until I was about 30 minutes from Boron.

I spent the night in a little town south of Stockton. The next day brought some easy driving straight south down State Route 99, passing through agricultural and industrial areas of the Central Valley of California.

In Bakersfield I  turned east and started heading up towards the Tehachapi Summit (4700 feet). I went through (and I'm being serious) the most intensely dense fog I have ever experienced. It was insane. I fell into a strategy of putting a car as far in front of me as possible where I could still see its lights. But I had to keep pace, otherwise it would disappear and that was scary. I couldn't stay in the right lane because some of the cars were going dangerously slow. My eyes are still burning. I had to engage my x-ray vision. Discerning the slightest change in fog density … oh, yes! … that is a semi I am passing. Most of the cars were driving very carefully … only a couple assholes who insisted on weaving through traffic. This is one of those cases where I couldn't stop on the shoulder because it would probably be more dangerous and taking an exit would mean I was stuck in the middle of nowhere in a fog bank. So I pressed on. 

Finally, just after the Tehachapi Summit, it started to clear a bit. Then, the fog and clouds vanished and bright sunshine was washing over everything. I started playing the Who song in my head … I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles. It was almost too much. It hurt! And I realized how intense the previous 30-45 minutes were. Wow.

I arrived in Boron, CA and spent the night. The wind was howling and it was rather chilly. Boron is sort of creepy, not in a bad way, but just a little bit odd. It seems very remote. It is "famous" for the world's largest boron mine and for the being the location where the movie Erin Brokovitch was filmed.

Yet another day of driving. Lots of wind and clear skies. I ended up in northwest Arizona. Two weeks at Cattail Cove State Park, about 15 miles south of Lake Havasu City. Nice to get away from the craziness of city life and I was able to enjoy some very scenic walks with Buddha.

Some gentle coastal fog, feeding the redwoods with moisture.

The Eel River in Redway, CA

Lake Havasu is a man-made lake formed by a dam on the Colorado River. The water is clear and blue.

Notice the shadow figures of me & Buddha :)

Desert life. Lots of cactus (and rattle snakes and scorpions, though they are quiet this time of year)