HEADING DOWN THE INTERSTATE TO WASCO, CALIFORNIA

The highlight of my day came at 9:15 am, when I called Odel with a health report that was the result of the hastily scheduled mammography “call back” appointment this morning: FALSE ALARM.  Everything looked good on the follow-up mammogram and ultrasound; we were cleared for takeoff.  YIPPEE!

By the time I got home, Odel had gathered up our errant forwarded mail (which we had bugged the RV park office about all week), vacuumed, and finished his walk.  I was so wound up from my early (7:45 am) appointment and its happy aftermath that I needed a 30 minute walk to wind down and put my brain into “departure mode”.  It had been a month since we last moved, and I didn’t want my distracted state to result in a problem on the road.

We left Cal Expo RV Park at 11:00 am on a good day for travel: moderate temperatures and no wind.  The views on our drive south on I-5 varied from mundane to desolate – this is about the worst time of year for a trip through the central valley.  Smog hung heavy over the brown fields and vineyards, eclipsing the view of the coastal range and the Sierra.  We fell in line between the semis and watched the miles tick off on the GPS, humming along to old favorites (now called oldies) on Sirius satellite radio.

A short lunch stop.  A break at Love’s Travel Plaza to refill the fuel tank.  We turned into the driveway of the Wasco Elks Lodge just as the sun dropped down to the horizon – wow, these winter days are SHORT.  We pulled into position on the perimeter of their huge, empty gravel lot for an overnight of dry camping – no need to even unhook Jules.  The jacks and slides were deployed in no time, Luna got out to stretch her little legs, and Odel removed bug debris from the windshield while I handled the interior setup.  The football game started, we whipped up some dinner, and kicked back to enjoy what feels like our first night on the road.

A line from one of the oldies we heard today (America’s Ventura Highway) is spinning around my head: “…the free wind is blowing through your hair…”.  I don’t have much hair for it to blow through, but I sure identify with the sentiment – and it feels particularly fine tonight.