It's the good life

The sun was strong when we woke. Had a good breakast here at the Villa Royale (included) and set out to see Palm Springs. Our first stop was the Twin Palms Estates neighborhood just a few blocks from the Villa Royale. These houses were built in 1957-59 and many share the same floor plan, though the builder varied the rooflines to make them all look different.

We then drove south to Rancho Mirage looking for second hand stores, but found nothing special. Came back and at at the Kings Highway restaurant by the Ace Hotel, again one block from the Villa Royale. As we were about to leave the hostess, a slender lady of uncertain age in black leggings, a silk blouse, ample makeup and huge glasses, announced to the room that because we were all special people, we had a special treat in store. She proceeded to belt out a quite credible rendition of Sinatra's Trolley Song: "Clang Clang went the Trolley." Much applause.

Next stop was the Moorten Botanical Garden, a small, privately-owned display of cacti and other desert plants, many from Mexico. Fascinating stuff that we sure don't see in the Northwest. I guess after you've toughed it out to gain some size and presence in the desert environment, you join the survival game fully armed. Rest? Forget about it. Sit down or lean on anything at Moorten and you're skewered.

We then toured another neighborhood, this somewhat more upscale and right at the foot of the mountains that dominate the western landscape here (sun goes behind the hills about 3:30).

Here are some pix. Top: Elvis "honeymoon hideaway" house. Middle: Pamela escapes Moorten's giant agave plant. Bottom: cool cars go with cool houses.

Fabulous run to Palm Springs

Last evening the run to Bakersfield seemed to take forever. We left I5 to head east on Rt. 46 through Wasco, Calif. It's a two-lane road that runs almost dead straight through immense fields of . . . something agricultural. We couldn't see a thing, though the moon was almost full and bright. Some orchards, some other stuff. There were virtually no houses (unlike most farm country) and only the town of Wasco on the way.

Headlights in the distance, switch off your brights, they pass, brights back on. Of course there was also the SMELL. We passed through what must have been the biggest FEED LOT ZONE in the hemisphere. Phew.

We then hit US 99, which is a freeway here, and barreled south to Bakersfield. Arrived about 9:30, found the Marriott Springhill Suites and crashed. Nice place, almost new, neat and clean and cheap enough at $64. Plus breakfast. Outside, still some feedlot odor.

We left on Rt 58 up over the Sierra Nevadas toward Tehachapi. Parts of the mountains are truly spectacular, and reminded us of the country where they used to shoot Hollywood westerns. Head 'em off at the pass, boys! Trees, rocks and hills. Then we crossed into the desert. Lots of power-generating windmills, and the oaks gave way to Joshua trees, then to scrub growth. We rolled on to Kramer Junction and turned south on 395, which is two lanes and almost no passing. Had some of the whoop-de-doo hills I remember my dad zooming over in the old Nash.

This was desolate country. Nothing grew but the desert brush. Approaching Adelanto we spotted a sign that said "Coy -- gold fish. Small-medium-large. They need a home!"

A few miles south we merged onto I15, then climbed a gentle grade (the Astro does not enjoy pulling hills, especially with the trailer) until we crossed El Cajon Pass and headed down. This is a spectacular piece of highway.

Traffic tightened up as we got into the San Bernardino area but cleared out as we rolled toward Palm Springs. We got here around 3 p.m. Stopped at the visitor center, a great midcentury icon that used to be the Tramway gas station. But let's talk about the lodging!

From the road you would never know the Villa Royale was here. It takes up almost a block but the whole place is surrounded by walls and hedges. You park on the outside, walk through the gate and enter a kind of hidden paradise. There are two swimming pools, fountains, a four-diamond restaurant and perfect 10 martinis. Our room is comfortable and faces one of the pools, and has a private patio behind. We really lucked into this one. And breakfast is included!

Here are some pictures: the view of the mountains to the west, and the scene by the pool outside our room.

Moon over the Central Valley

It's six p.m. and to the west the skh is faintly pink above the cloud back that tops the Diablo Range. In the east over Fresno an immense, bright full moon follows us south. We just found a Spanish language station at 88.7 FM that's playing some really cool music: a kind of Mexican reggae tune, followed by another in a mix of Spanish and English.

Yesterday we arrived at the Hersey House B&B in Ashland about 7 p.m. and walked downtown for dinner. I'd asked the host for a dining recommendation. She said Ashland has lots of restaurants and they're all good. I was immediately on guard. We passed a couple places that were closed (January is not high season in Ashland, which lives on the summertime theatre productions.) Others didn't look so attractive. But we finally happened on the Standing Stone Brewery, which turned out to be a higher-end brew pub. We split a garlic chicken pizza which had a crust so good they could have buttered it and sold it just like that.

At the B&B our room proved to be noisy (right on the street) but the inkeeper said she was going to soundproof it. Otherwise things were fine. Breakfast was good and filling. The scones were especially tasty and Pamela bought a cookbook from the hosteler.

The freeway south from Ashland climbs immediately toward the Siskiyou Pass, the highest point on Interstate 5 at 4310 feet. There was snow on the hills but not a bit of precip as we crossed. In fact the weather all day has been great--hazy but mostly not overcast.

Bit of drama: the check engine light came on north of Sacramento, and we lost about 45 minutes driving into Woodland to buy an OBD II code reader. The problem turned out to be low voltage to an oxygen sensor, which we don't really care about. And now we have the code reader. All to the good: it was on sale.

So we have 134 miles to go before we sleep. We're stopping at McDonald's to cram some stuff down for the final run to Bakersfield. The Buck Owens CD is at the ready.

Filtered sunshine

It's 2 p.m. and we just passed Salem, Oregon. A bit of tension this morning as we wrapped things up at home and crammed the last few items in the van, but by 8:45 we were rolling. The van, never exactly a spritely or powerful vehicle, is manning-up nicely wth this load. Just kick it down to third on the steeper hills and all is well.

Yesterday was all about packing. Got the motorcycle in OK but there are only two D-rings in the box. The rub rails along the inside are set up for straps, not ropes or hooks. I had to bend some coat hangers into hoops and slip them through the slots to provide a place to hook onto. The motorcycle, mountain bike, toolbox, loading ramp and riding gear appear to be traveling well. We are working our way through a bag of Werthers candies and I can see the nine pounds I've lost since I laid off the Costco peanuts and McDoubles coming back.

Trailer is here

I picked up the 5x8 U-Haul early today. My pal Glen helped load the Triumph this evening. There's not a ton of room left beside the bike. Might be able to fit the mountain bike. I just don't want a bunch of stuff rattling around loose in there.

We screwed the Harbor Freight wheel chock to a slab of plywood and stuck it in to help stabilize the front wheel. A couple of tiedowns and she's secure. I'll add a pair of tiedowns to the rear package rack to secure the tail.

Indoors we're approaching panic mode. I copied files to my laptop and counted prescription pills to ensure I have a month's supply. Tomorrow, our last day here for a month, will be a circus.

Cats are getting nervous with all the unusual activity. They know something's up.

That's done

Progress today: wrapped up an 1100-word case study for one client, handled a customer interview for another and added waypoints to the TomTom for our trip south. Clearing the decks for takeoff.

I figure we can wedge the motorcycle (33 inches wide at the bags) and mountain bike into a 5x8 U-Haul trailer, and maybe even a few other items. If all is tied down well they shouldn't fight with each other.

When you travel together with your hobbies AND your job, there is sure a lot of stuff to drag along.

Getting ready for the road

The snow and cold we battled through in December 2008 left me thinking two words: Snow . . . and Bird.

So since late last summer, Pamela and I have been actively planning our snowbird escape. For several years we've wanted to check out Arizona, so we scouted out condo rentals in Phoenix and settled on a place in Artisan Village, a relatively new block of units in the downtown.

The immediate neighborhood looks quite lively, though there are a couple of forlorn looking bungalows left across the street that will no doubt disappear in the next wave of building. Lots of places to eat (http://www.mattsbigbreakfast.com/), drink and eat cupcakes (http://www.tammiecoecakes.com/). Art galleries, midcentury modern furniture spots not too far off and the light rail is close.

The condo has tandem parking so I'm U-Hauling the Triumph Sprint and Cannondale down in hopes of doing some riding. Major flea market action in Phoenix during the winter, which is all the more important since it seems the Puget Park drive-in in Everett, home of the flea market here, will be turned into faceless office buildings. This will please the Chamber of Commerce and City of Everett, the same crowd that sanitized the interesting boatyard area down on the waterfront.

Van is ready with transmission cooler, fresh fluid, new tires, new stereo with Bluetooth and USB inputs, new BASS600 subwoofer and 400-watt inverter to keep the laptops fresh. We head out first thing Thursday, with our stop at a B&B in Ashland, Oregon.

For a guy who commuted from Virginia to Oregon through college, there's nothing like a roadtrip!