The Vacation That Almost Wasn’t (Continued 3) Sorry I posted out of order

In our drives, the dryness of the grasses along the highways left an impression on me. Hayfields in Pennsylvania look like an oasis. Only once, I saw a cut field and stack of hay bales in about 20 feet cube. I was also impressed with the tall graceful palm trees and spire-like junipers. Oleander bushes often filled the median between highways. We stopped at the northern end of Lake Tahoe to relax and eat a snack before continuing. A man seemed very disturbed when he saw we were wearing out Trump hats. I think he was disturbed mentally before he saw our hats, but he wandered away and all was fine. He refused to believe Biden suffered from dementia. Nearly everyone we met said, “Love your hats” and some stopped to talk with us. One lady we spoke to said she and her sister were moving out of state. The sister had a real estate business. It and her home were broken into several times. The man behind her house worked for the FBI. Cameras were set up in several places in her home. That would be reason enough for me to move as well.

We stopped at Donner’s Pass Historical site. It was the location where the Donner party became snowed in for much of the winter where it was reported that the survivors resorted to cannibalism to stay alive until rescue. We saw several places where the hillsides were blackened by the fires and smoke often hung in the air as a light haze. The boulders in jumbles lined the roads. Some were rounded and mossy, while others looked like dunes of the beach.

My neck became sore, playing snap, crackle, pop and became difficult to turn my head. It did ease after several days. I had difficulty adjusting to the three hour time difference in Sacramento. Friday became a day of rest. No jaunts, hiking, or sightseeing.

Saturday the drive was our trip to San Francisco. Not a business day, the traffic would be lighter and less people in the streets. Smoke clung to the hills like a cat draped over the arm of a chair and curling into the valleys. Governor Newsome, for a green idea state, the amount of trash strewn along the interstate was unbelievable. I did see one electric car charging station on the drive. The white cables of one bridge reminded me of the whale’s ribcage I’d seen in Labrador. We also saw the Golden Gate Bridge, spanning the bay.

I heard my first street preacher and we walked to Fisherman’s Warf to photograph the seals. The boat ride and tour of Alcatraz Island was a letdown. None of the buildings were open to tour.

There were only two disparaging responses to our Trump hats. One guy heard the remarks, walked over to me, and said, “I have your back if you need me.” He was from Texas. He and his wife were in the Navy. The wife was a corpsman as was I. It made me feel good. (To be continued)