Road Trip!!

Today I set off on a sort of road trip, I was off to see my son. The only drawback to this trip was I had to travel by myself. My solution to my impending boredom while making a five hour drive? A camera.

Yes, I took almost all of the pictures that are about to follow while driving. Yes, I know that seems a little dangerous. Yes, I was as careful as I could be.

This is the start of the drive. Anyone familiar with the Northern Coast of Califonia will recognize US 101. There isn't much more to say about that.

My first stop took me to the Dyreville Overlook. This area, once the town of Dyreville, is now nothing more that a popular place to hit the river in the summer. As it turns out, Dyreville was named after a guy named Charles Dyer (go figure) in 1890. The town prospered for a while but was wiped out by a flooded Eel River in 1955. Then, whatever was left of the town was burried with the construction of Hiway 101.

The next portion of my journey found me staring into the maw of the redwood forrest. This particular portion of roadway is known as the Avenue of the Giants. This is a very windy portion of road, and quite scenic. I would have loved to have stayed on it, but I ran in to a snag at the Dyreville lookout. When I got out of the car I realized that I would be needing a men's room sometime in the near future, or I would be in trouble. So the Avenue of the Giants was not to be today. A quest for a reasonably clean crapper took precedence.

This picture, taken mid quest, conveys a couple of feelings. One, there is a certain amount of nervousness that arises when you drive a very windy road and decid that you need to be in at least one picture for the day.

Second, there is a certain amount of urgency that a man feels when he is on a long stretch of Hiway, not sure when the next rest stop is, and wonders if he is going to make it. Yes, that's me in the driver's seat, and yeah, its urgent.

I can honestly say I have never fealt the urge to take a photo of a rest stop bathroom, but this was a special circumstance. As I pulled in to the rest stop, unsure of what lay ahead of me, I entered the toilet stall. Much to my surprise, I found the stall clean and fresh smelling. It was a pleasure to be there. I also found a full roll of quilted toilet paper, not the sandpaper-like version one comes to expect. I left a happy man, felt a picture was in order.

I just want to make it known that if you are on a two lane hiway, and passing is not an option (even though the broken yellow line makes it legal), this is not the view you want to have through your windsheild. The hind end of a semi is an eye sore at best, and watching as the driver passes turn out after turn out is grating on the nerves.

This gentleman here, holding the slow sign and dressed in a very fashionable yellow jumpsuit, is quite arguably one of the most powerful men on the planet. This guy can shut down the interstate and put anyone's and everyone's travel plans on hold with the flip of a sign. And who does he have to answer to? We, the motoring community, have to answer to the CHP officer who seems to also answer to the Slow Sign Guy. Where are priorities in this world?

You can tell you are near the end of the trip by change in the scenery.

Gone are the towering redwoods and winding rivers. All that is left are endless fields of green stuff. Yeah, I am almost there, and things look pretty good. I'll post more tomorrow.