Tag: Chico

On the Road, Part I

I have no idea how many parts this little saga will contain. At least two based on the title.

Last year we started what was supposed to be a three week road trip, or maybe a two week road trip, through California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, before returning to California. However, post-vaccination Covid caught up with us, and we were grounded until declared “safe.” I felt like a naughty child!

Somewhere on Hwy 395

So, we are back on the road, and it is an odd experience. Travel actually requires a certain mindset, a patience with developing new routines while daily ones at home vanish. A road trip means sitting in a car for hours at a time. Josh the Esposo loves to drive, so I sit casually by, and observe the world flying by me. My camera is at hand, set to a fast exposure to catch things as they fly by on the roadside. Sometimes I get good ones. Sometimes I don’t get good ones. In between I am knitting mindlessly on a circular sweater that will be steeked upon my return.

What I do get are memories of places that are beautiful or unreal in my current reality. The big one is water on the ground! As our water vanishes in the Southwest, it just hangs out in places like Oregon and Wisconsin and Montana. Rivers, creeks, lakes, ponds. The luxury of a 10 minute shower as opposed to the Navy shower.

The Goodman House B&B in Chico, CA

This trip is one to Wisconsin to visit my younger brother, Kevin, and his wife Suzi. We have driven about 2500 miles (4025 km) to go half way across the country along a northern route. We started in the Los Angeles area, where we live, and drove 8.5 hours to Chico in Northern California. Perhaps a last stay in our beloved Goodman House B&B as the owners plan to sell – time to retire from the business. Dinner at the Sierra Nevada Brewery.

Local Beer is Good!

You can look up all these places if you want, but suffice it to say that Chico is a beautiful town, with new sections and old, trees and such that make it a charming place to visit and a pleasant place to walk around.

Street Scene in Chico – Trees and Shade

I did walk around the morning we were to leave for Bend, Oregon, where one of my oldest friends lives.

Morning Flowers

Travelin’

First View of Mt. Shasta

We are off on a road trip for the next few weeks!  It is so exciting to “get out of Dodge” and see other parts of the world, familiar and new.  The morning of the 6th is when we slid out of town, stopping for a fast food breakfast just because we could.  And then out to the I-5 to head up to Chico to stay at our favorite place there, the Goodman House Bed & Breakfast.

I always enjoy the drive up to Chico.  There are so many changes in the landscape on the trip.  Where we live, in the suburbs, we move into the congestion of Los Angeles to connect to the I-5, and from there drive through the craziness of the Grapevine, only to end up in the vast expanses of the Central Valley.  This valley is one of the most productive areas in the country for crops, ranging from rice and cotton to stone fruits and nuts.  Unfortunately, with the drought of the last few years, irrigation has become a problem as water is becoming more scarce and more stringently rationed by the state to farmers.  Some crops require more water than others, which means some farmers suffer more than others.  Fruit and nut trees take time to grow, as do vines, while other crops may be seasonal.  I wonder, though, what the future holds for us as the planet continues to warm – what can we do as far as sustainable food production with more drought-tolerant crops?  Some farmers are blaming it on Congress and the Democrats – there were signs posted along the roadside saying “Thank Obama and Congress for another dust bowl” or something like that.  These days, water is power.

That said, the San Joaquin (another name for the Central Valley) is impressive!  The closer we got to Chico, the closer the hills came, and the more the crops became fruits and nuts.  Orchards never cease to draw my eye; I love trees, and lines of trees are endlessly fascinating to me.  Chico is a college town, with a state university in its midst, as well as the famous Sierra Nevada Brewery.  Walking around Chico is very pleasant as there are tall, old trees lining so many of the streets.  It was rather sticky and muggy, but still worth the bit of sweat we worked up just to be able to enjoy another city.

At the very top of the Central Valley along the I-5, you move into mountains formed by volcanos, the most famous of which is Mt. Shasta.  To me, that first look at that snow-covered ancient volcano is awesome – snow in the middle of summer, pointed, and unlike everything else around it.  That, to me, tells me I am moving into new territory.