Day 56 -Dec. 30 Wine country

Welcome to northern California!!

It's off to San Francisco and up the California coast!!!

WOW! Look at the green grass!! I now have a clear understanding of what it must be like for people who visit the Northwest that have never been here before. After spending weeks in the desert where a tree is out of the ordinary and grass doesn't exist, I can smell the plush, moisture in the air.
As I worked my way towards San Francisco, I passed a city all of its own. A windmill city. Blow wind blow!! I am such a huge fan of wind energy. It intrigues me for some reason and I would love to see us use it more. What about using it in cars? I have a design in my head that would allow a car to start on gas and run off the wind generated as the vehicle moved forward. Hmmm... Oh, I think I'm getting close to the city...


Yep, not only through this sign but through the driving techniques. I am from a state where old lady driving is the norm, and I was way out of my comfort zone here.

Let's go over a few techniques I learned while driving in California:

1- Speedometer? What speedometer? Throw that thing out the window. It's useless!!!

2- Maintaining a speed of 4 mph over the speed limit will only get you killed. Just keep up with traffic and make sure not to be the fastest one on the road.

3- Blinkers? Who needs those? Simply push your way in. A blinker only gives the neighbor driver the signal to speed up so you don't get in their way.

4- Whatever you do, don't drive in the left lane. Speed demons don't like you very much and will flash their lights at you and honk to make you move quickly!!

5- know your lane before you get close to your exit because you will have to refer to the pushing your way in technique at 70 mph. Easier said than done!!! And yelling, "Aaaaaaaaaa, help me!!!!" Doesn't make them want to let you in!

After sitting in traffic for what seemed like days, I reached the toll booth. I don't have fond memories of toll booths, so I was praying this was not going to become a norm. I asked the toll lady how many of these things were left and she spoke music to my ears, "This is the only one!"

YEA!!!

Typically, when you leave a toll booth, the traffic opens up and picks right back up to speed in no time. Not the case here...

Look at all those stop lights!!! Each lane had one and it was like a dance of cars as the lights would flash green in a sequence that allowed each car to blend in with another. A musician must time these things.

And you must be a musician to read these signs and know where to go...

I pulled up to the intersection right after this sign and had to get the attention of the neighbor car to find out which lane to be in. (The sign I saw said stay in the middle lane, but in my mind the middle lane both went straight and turned left, so which did I want?) At first, they ignored me, but I have a nice, healthy horn so I made myself well known until they rolled down their window.

In an short voice, the man in the passenger seat said, "Can I help you?"

"YES!! What lane do I want to be in to go north on 101?"

They proved to be really nice and we ended up getting a whole conversation in while waiting for traffic to move. They were my new traffic friends that got me all straightened out and headed in the right direction!!!

You know you are in a large city when the Goodwill is designed like Gap...

And the houses are in a row without one inch between them...

and you come to a sight like no other...

Welcome to the Golden Gate Bridge!!

This place was a zoo filled with people from every country, culture and society!!!

The wait to get into the parking lot was about 30 minutes and the bathroom line was just as long.
There were tour buses and people from all nations crammed into a parking lot that totaled maybe 3 acres!!

Silly me, put 50 cents in the meter at my parking space assuming I would only be there a few minutes. WELL, I used up 20 in the bathroom line and then had to wait another 20 to get this picture. Goodness gracious alive, it's time to get out of here. While the people watching is wonderful, lines don't soothe the soul when you have 300 miles to drive and the clock just passed 1:00.

I headed north on hwy 101, thinking this would get me out of traffic and into some beautiful country.

Well, it got me into some beautiful country...

but the traffic didn't let up and the bathroom lines got longer!! After stopping to use the restroom about 20 miles north of town and having to wait another 20 minutes at a KFC, I whipped out my two-foot atlas and looked for plan B!!

Ah-ha!! Highway 128 cut over to the coast and looked like a nice red road on the map. I'll take that!!

So I hung a left at Cloverdale and headed for the ocean.

This placed me on the windiest road I have ever seen in my life. Usually, my technique for not getting car sick is I drive. BUT this road would prove to be a challenge even with me driving!!
That's some curves.

But it was worth every turn. The scene changed each mile from a canopy of moss covered trees...

to vineyards tucked into the hills...

I passed quite a few vineyards and got to thinking that maybe I should actually stop at one. People come from all over the world to see wine country and I was just whizzing by like it was nothing because I wanted to see the sun set over the ocean. I put my sunset desires to rest and decided that the next one I came to, I would stop...

What a great decision! This led me to the Meyer Family Cellars where I met the most wonderful people!! Here I am with my new found friends!! They were traveling too and had stopped in to taste the wine. These were some Louisiana folk and back when I was in that state, I passed right through their area!! Those Louisiana people really are a delight!! I love their energy!!! Next road trip, I have more people to visit. That means I will have to take more time!!!

And the gal that worked there had traveled our nation quite a bit and we had fun talking about where we had been and the unexpected places we loved the most. You didn't think I was going to leave without tasting what the talk is all about, did you?

I learned to hold the glass properly by the stem so it doesn't break and my hands don't warm the wine, and took a sip.

That was some pretty good wine!! I recommend buying a bottle!! Their website is http://www.mfcellars.com/ if you would like to check them out!

Here is just a little bit that I found interesting about making wine:

The wine they made here was called cool climate Syrah. The cool climate part means it is not as peppery as hot climate.

I see red wines and white wines, but I had no clue where the color came from. The nice lady said that they leave the peels in during the first fermenting stage and that creates the red color. She said the longer you leave the peels in, the more dry the wine will become. Huh!!!

For some reason, I thought the grapes were only picked by hand in movies. I figured there was a machine that did it in real life. I was wrong!! People actually pick every grape and the average crew of 6-10 men will pick about 20 tons a day!! WOW!! That's a lot of grapes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My favorite tid bit of information I learned was about the bungs (corks) in the large wood barrels the wine ages in. She said that so much pressure builds up in the barrels that the bungs shoot out. They have to allow enough room for them to fling about and then they go along and pick them up and replace them.

What a new world to me. I just love learning new stuff. That brings me to think of another road trip I must take to learn about how things are made and created!!!

For now, it's time for this tired body to sleep!!! Good night!!!

Day 55- Dec 29 Headed for CA

I have been driving for 10 hours, so bear with me. I'm a bit tired writing this.

Leaving Las Vegas...

GET ME OUT OF HERE!!! This place is a freaking mad house!! More claustrophobic than that pen full of cows. I went to get some breakfast and there was an hour wait everywhere I stopped so I just got a class of milk and had instant breakfast in the car.

My path out led me down wedding chapel lane and I couldn't help but notice what this sign said. "24-hour drive up wedding window!?!"


Can you imagine!!!!!? A drive through for weddings? What has our world come to?

I couldn't manage to get my way out of the state of Nevada. I was so focused on leaving that I never looked at the gas gauge. OOPS!! I had just crossed the California border when I looked down to see I was on the red. As I looked ahead, there was nothing but a sign that said, "Next services 47 miles."

Oh, I can't make that for sure. Gotta go back to Nevada. I took the next exit with no services and made a u-turn. It was about 5 miles back and I didn't know if I would make it.


I had to exercise my gas conservation techniques I had heard about from my grandfather years ago.

-Put the lead foot away and don't accelerate quickly. Get up to speed at a gentle and steady pace.

-Only go 55mph. This is when you get your best fuel economy, so there I was traveling on the freeway at 55mph, when the speed limit is 70. Too bad I didn't have a gray wig.


When I went to make the u-turn at the exit with no services, I had to stop and take a picture of the little bunny that looked like he was waiting for his bus...
Cute, huh!

Now that I had some gas...

Welcome to California!!! I don't know why I was wearing my jacket. It was hot and I had the air conditioner on in the car to stay cool. I think it is because I had so far to walk to get out of the hotel that I wore all that I could so I didn't have to carry it over my arm.

This next sign brought me to wonder if there is a requirement that they use all the letters in the alphabet on the exits and these were the unused ones!!

Welcome to the Mojave Desert. I was only on the edge, but still some amazing landscape. It was like a beach without water...

Then there were miles of NOTHING until I reached my favorite sight of all...

The sunset!!!

When I went to take this next picture, I merrily stepped out, walked over to the tree without looking down in detail and started snapping away. I was probably 50 feet from the car when I looked down and noticed the ground was cut like swiss cheese with snake holes. OH MY GOSH!!!!!!! Aaaaa... Ok, how do I get back to the car and not get bit!?! There were thousands of holes! The only thing I could think to do was stomp hard, thinking the vibration would keep them at bay and dance on my toes like the ground was on fire all the way back. I'm sure the people on the freeway could see me and wondered what in the world was that nut case doing out there.

I don't know if that kept them away or not, but I was happy to be back in my car without getting bit!! Now I see why nobody lives out here!!! The rest of the pictures were taken from INSIDE the car.

Ahhhh...

I had some vision that California would be crowded and populated with plenty of places to stop! WRONG!!! There was nothing all day!!! Gas stations were 150 miles apart and hotels were as rare as grass.

This gave me plenty of time to perfect my singing voice and learn the words to all the popular country songs. When I left on this trip, I only listened to country music every now and then, but now that I have experienced the lands they sing about, I love it!! Go figure!!!

I also had time to reflect on all the people I have met and the dating advice I have received.

Somehow, everyone knows I am single. I didn't say anything to most but I must have a single aura or something. Hmmm...

I have decided that I will only take dating advice from men because other women just see it like me, but men can give me some true insight.

I got a great deal of advice from everyone on the perfect man and these all came from men, so here's some tips for all you single ladies out there...

1- Teeth are a good thing!

2- Dad says if they have a house, car and job. That's a great start! He scrunched his nose at the idea of a cowboy!

3- Make sure they see you as a lady and do gentlemen things like open doors.

4- Tell the guy you want to sign up for a self improvement seminar and that you want him to come. If he goes, keep him.

5- Take him on a road trip, and if he lets you stop 500 times for pictures without getting upset, you're in good shape.

But my favorite is...

6- If he wags like a dog when he sees you, he's a keeper.

I am now settled about 90 miles south of San Francisco and find it rather strange that there is nothing for hundreds of miles and all jammed on one corner there is a Denny's, McDonalds, gas station, the hotel I'm in, and a truck parking lot.

Notice I added the truck parking lot! That's because it is next to my window and the walls are vibrating from the trucks engines running.

Good thing I sleep like a rock!! Good night!! :)

Day 54- Dec. 28- VEGAS!!!

Vegas, here I come...

I pulled out of Phoenix at the ripe ole hour of 11:00 am with a large handful of my dad's maps he had printed for me to find my way!! By leaving at 11:00, I should be in Vegas by 5:00, right!?!

Not far after I began my drive, I came to a town called Wickenburg, AZ. This is a must stop if you are in the area. What a cute place with character.

As I approached the city, I found a family after my own heart...

They were having a picnic at the Shell station. How cool is that!? You know, gas station mini marts are great to eat at and they usually have a microwave so you can heat things up.

Being from the Northwest, nature's beauty has always been defined by trees, lakes, and mountains, but here in the desert southwest, beauty is defined in a whole new way.

Cactus... I was making a classic Dana u-turn in a driveway, when I noticed that these three cactus bushes were different colors all in a row. It's a view that deserves me getting out the camera because this defines the landscaping in every yard.

I didn't get far past the cactus plants, when out of the corner of my eye, I noticed another u-turn worthy place. It was getting to be lunch time and I am a sucker for local restaurants? It is called The New Frontier Restaurant in Wickenburg, AZ and was the type of place you would come with grandma. As I walked through the door, it felt like a home with a country mother's touch...

Even in the bathroom...

Where each table was covered with unique designs and the chairs were covered by hand with a different piece of fabric on each section...

The wait for the food flew by because I spent my time reading the signs that hung from the ceilings and walls.

Here are some of the fun ones I read...

-Never underestimate the power of stupid people in a large group.

- A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.

-This is not Burger King. You don't get it your way- You take it my way, or you don't get the damn thing.

-Housework never killed anyone but why take the chance.

The thing that amazed me the most was the fact that the room was about the size of my living room and there were about 15 people eating but yet the room was as quiet as if only two people were there and had a soft feel to it. The food was the best I have had in a long time and there was enough for me to have two full meals. Bless the owner's heart; he brought my plate and said he had them cook some more fries for me because they didn't get enough at first. I said, "Oh, my goodness, don't waste the food. I have plenty!!" So arrive at this place hungry.

The entire town of Wickenburg had this cute, cozy feel. If you are anywhere near Phoenix, this is a place to come.

Each building had character...

and the people seemed so relaxed. This is outside a local store where a couple was just enjoying themselves...

When you don't travel on the Interstates, you will notice there are no rest areas. This makes stopping in towns to use the restroom a must, but what do you do if you want to have a bite to eat away from the local Shell station?You stop at the roadside table. Go figure. There in the middle of nowhere are a few tables for you to have lunch at, but you had best use the restroom before you leave town because the cactus is the only option out here.

Around the picnic area there were the most unique trees I think I have ever seen. When I was told I would go through the forest, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind...

I always pictured Western Arizona and Southern Nevada as flat with some brush, but I was totally wrong. It was mountainous and the road was carved through the hills.

And traveling through the hills not only showed me new landscape but it led me to a little town called Wikieup. This was a two gas station town. (As defined in an earlier posting as a town with about 600-900 people) It was what I might describe as a dust hole. Some scrub, but mostly dirt and road. That's it!!! Oh, and a tourist wall that made the perfect photo op...

Here is my tourist face...

And here is my crazy person, "Let me out of here," face...

While the landscape proved to be incredible in a desert way, this sight was really neat. Out of nowhere, the hills formed plateaus much like those found in the Grand Canyon.

The cost of living must be fairly cheap since there is nothing around for miles and the properties clearly demonstrated affordable living...
Do you think anyone is going to tell this guy that particle board falls apart in the rain?

And his neighbor up about a mile...

I think Dan's auto repair has a few cars left to fix...

And then my favorite moment of the day...

Sunset...

Not far after sunset, I was about 40 miles outside of Las Vegas. It was 6:00 and I was excited to see the lights of the city. Hoover Dam was only 10 miles away, so I thought I would get to see the dam before the sky was totally black.

Then, I saw this...

Construction. Hmm... That shouldn't be bad. It's evening and there aren't that many people on the road...

Oh, contraire...

I knew I was headed to see the lights of Las Vegas, but I didn't know these would be the lights I would see into and through the night. We sat and sat and sat with our cars in park. After two hours, I had traveled 4 miles. Certainly not breaking any speed records here. Now, if you think of the amount of time all the other travelers and I sat, there was one thing missing...

A bathroom!!!

There was not a town in sight, so there was only one logical option. It's time to find a rock and hope it's dark enough not to be seen. Well, that is for us women at least. After completing my duty, I got back in my car on the driver's side and looked out the passenger window only to see a line of about 7 men standing in a row against the guard rail.

I had to laugh as I listened to them making typical guy jokes as they all stood there with not a care in the world that everyone could see them.

Finally, after about 7 miles, the traffic started to move at about 5 mph. At least we were making progress. Then I saw this sign... Oh, you think. huh? Reduced to what?

You must be kidding me. How much do you think the state had to pay to get a sign made that says you can only go 5 mph just because there is no such sign ANYWHERE else!!

It turns out, we didn't travel 10 miles in 3.5 hours due to construction; it was due to a security checkpoint set up at the dam where they are inspecting every single car. As I approached, I had visions of having to unpack the entire house I have but the guy ended up being really nice and I went straight through.

Success!!! There is Hoover Dam... and when I stopped to take the last picture, I met a new friend...

How cute is he!!?! I think he was a bit perturbed at me for taking his picture, but he was really cute. Like a mix between a cat, a raccoon and a rat.

Welcome to Nevada...

Now, only 30 miles to Vegas!

At the early hour, in Vegas time, of 10:00, I pulled into my home for the night...
This is where the real fun began. I have a recommendation for everyone...

Don't go to Vegas as a female alone. I have never felt so unsafe in my life. Do you think I would get arrested if I wore a can of bear mace on my belt?

I decided not to take the chance.

I don't know how many rooms they have at Circus Circus, but they were sold out and the place was a total zoo...

Since I spent my dinner hours sitting on the highway, it was time to eat a healthy, 10:00 dinner.

I began my search for a place in the hotel.

What happened to the days of cheap buffets? I found a $13 hamburger and a $7 hot dog. What in the world kind of meat do they use? How could chicken butts and beaks be worth $7?

I asked where other food was within the hotel so I didn't have to brave the strip alone at 10:00 at night. The security guy told me to go upstairs and there was a restaurant.

Oh, perfect...

After swimming my way through the heard of people, I found the only other restaurant open that late! YES!! Then the hostess told me it was a 40 minute wait but I could eat at the bar.

Oh, I can do that.

As I walked through the very small bar looking for a place to sit among the 10 tables, a couple of greasy, gross guys started waving and smiling at me and were inviting me over. EEEEEE... Get me out of here!!!

And that led me out to the strip...

My master plan was to get food and McDonalds was only one block down. I decided I could make it safely that far so off I went. Once at McDonalds, I spotted a Denny's down about another two blocks. Oooo...

They have a chicken breast and rice - my favorite- So can I make it there? hmmm...

I came up with a master plan. I waited for people to walk by so I could latch to a group as if I belonged and didn't look alone, but there were only couples walking by and very few at that. SO the next couple that passed me, I latched to as if I was part of their group. I was their third wheel they didn't know they brought. You should have seen the looks on their faces as they kept looking over at me, probably thinking, "This entire block is empty, why are you next to us?" They didn't speak English, so I couldn't explain. I just smiled and kept walking next to them until I reached Denny's.

I had a delicious dinner and then it was time to brave the streets again. This time there was no one and I started alone. There were guys whistling and yelling at me from across the street. I practiced looking strong and walked with purpose until I found another couple to latch onto.

But this time, things didn't go as planned. We were about halfway down the second block and the woman started throwing up in the middle of the sidewalk right in our walking path. OOPS!! Poor choice of companions.

Now, I was alone again but only had one block left to conquer. Again, I lifted my shoulders high and beefed myself up. I had my keys between my middle fingers, just in case.

Whew... I made it back to the hotel.

All that stress needs some relieving at the roulette table...

I had a ball and played about an hour with $20. Once I lost that, it was time for bed.

I don't know what I was thinking by going to Vegas alone!! Clearly it is time to re-evaluate my decision making skills. My mind must have been stuck in Oklahoma!!