On The Road (Again)

18 October 2018

We've been having a beautiful autumn in the Pacific Northwest, with sunny warm days (if you can call the mid 60s F, or about 15-17 C, warm) and very chilly nights (at about 40 F, or 5 C).  Golden sun, golden leaves, and a snow white Mt Baker keeping eye on the city of Bellingham.

In fact, it has been so warm the rhododendrons have started flowering again!  This is the state flower, you'd think they'd be used to the occasional warm spell in October and not confuse it with the spring!

But those cold nights mean the cold days are coming.  And in this corner of the country, cold days include cold rain.  Grey skies.  Early sunsets.  Actually, not so much sunset as just a slow fading of the daylight.

So we're outta here!

We bought a lightly used car, and we've hit the road.  We're actually on the trip as I type, at our first stop - the Village Inn in Marysville, Washington, a family favorite.  This is the famous pie place we kids loved, and where I introduced Richard to bumbleberry pie.  It's a good stop on the way south.

And like migratory birds, we're heading south for the winter.

Our final destination is Tucson, Arizona.  Not for any particular reason, just that it isn't a huge city.  And because it's warm without being hot all winter.  And, well, why not?

But this is a Richard and Phebe trip, which means we'll meander our way south.  The vague plan is to head south on Interstate 5 (I-5) to Olympia, at the southernmost tip of Puget Sound.  Then we'll head west to the coast, and catch Highway 101.  We can take 101 south along the Washington and Oregon coasts, and then in California the same road eventually becomes the Pacific Highway, or Pacific 101, or something.

We're planning to make this a slow and easy drive.  We have 1800 or so miles (roughly 2900 km) from Bellingham to Tucson, and no time limit.  We figure if we make 200 or so miles a day, we're doing fine.  Something like 3 to 5 hours of driving time.

We even bought a US road atlas!

The restaurant music system is playing Janis Joplin's "Me & Bobbie McGee," the perfect song for a road trip for two people of the '60s!

So that's the plan.  Slow travel exploring the coast, revisiting some places and seeing new places.  We're taking our time, singing our way south.

Hopefully without the windshield wipers slappin' time.