Once I admitted to myself that my dream of writing in the Napa was going to have to be shelved for now, there seemed to be little point in staying in one place. Since I had toothbrush and car, continuous travel seemed the most logical choice.
I left the great Danes at Vegas airport’s car rental center where they were going to continue their trip on to Phoenix. You can follow their travels at: http://danesontour.com/ They are much better at posting regular updates and photos than I am so in case you want to up your arm-chair travel dosage, I recommend their site.
Meanwhile I drove back towards northern California. As we had stumbled back to the hotel rather late ...er...early in the morning on Sunday (we had been at XS in the Wynn Casino complex dancing along with Will.I.AM) I didn’t get all that far. Last time I did Vegas, I made the trip in one hit but this time I had to stop en route for personal safety reasons (to be read falling asleep at the wheel).
In one of his books, Bill Bryson laments the creation of the US highway system and the resultant death of small town, family-run diners and motels. He has a point. The services along the interstates are lamentably cookie-cutter varieties of eateries and sleeperies. The most any of them aspire to is mediocrity, which is lamentable beyond words. That said, there is something comforting about having your expectations, however average, met. While some of those mom-and-pop diners and motels no doubt had their charm, there were also probably some abject disasters along the way run by people who hated guests and didn’t believe in hygiene. As I discovered on my journey, Best Westerns and Holiday Inns may be charm-challenged but at least I know I’m going to get friendly service and a clean bed. And frankly, when you’re tired after a long drive, your needs are very simple. A gourmet dinner and ruffled pillows are not high on the list of priorities. The other thing worthy of mention about the highway services is their abundance. Thankfully, there is no shortage of food and accommodation stops, which is excellent news when you are driving long distances and are not investing a lot in forward planning.
When I returned to Santa Rosa, I had one night to recover before hitting the road again, this time north to Portland, Oregon. My purpose in driving another 12 hours was to deliver a package on behalf of my sister and to see Bobby Long play. I am collecting good karma like its going out of fashion.
The scenery heading north was a lot more interesting than south, although both have their beauty. Down south is desert, while up north are coniferous forests, lakes and snow-capped mountains peppered with pastoral valleys (where you imagine bunnies frolic with butterflies and badgers wear spectacles and smoke pipes while giving out sage advice). There are also some interesting towns along the way - some of which have not seen any contributions of new genetic material for quite a few generations. I thought banjos only dueled out in the wilds of Georgia but some of the places I saw along my northerly route made me wonder.
Portland was a quick stop so I can’t give you much information about the city. It appeared to be a pretty city from what I could see although the one-way streets were doing my head in (and causing the GPS to emit smoke). After another round of 12 hours (which by now was causing serious cabin fever), I arrived back in Santa Rosa where I had one more day to spend in my beloved town of St Helena with my very good friend Laura. On Friday, I drove (sigh, once again) to San Francisco to see a friend I had made in Brazil and then on to the airport to fly back to the welcoming arms of stunningly hospitable friends in Dallas. More to the point, I was heading back to the company of Aussies for that very important sporting fixture - the AFL Grand Final. As it is a Collingwood house, the night did not end as well as it started. Still, over several bottles of red, Adrian and I did manage to solve most of the world's problems and worked out that Collingwood would win the next two flags. I'd love to tell you about all our solutions, but strangely, I seem to have forgotten most of them...
The most interesting thing about these road trips has been to give me a sense of just how big this country is. Of course, I knew it was big but it’s not until you drive and drive and drive and drive that you get a sense of its real size. And the differences in landscapes contained within it are quite extraordinary too. From mega-cities to tiny towns, from deserts to alpine lakes to tropical bayous, the USA has it all.
I pity those who say they don’t want to come to America because it holds nothing of interest - they are either misinformed or they lack the ability to appreciate anything at all. America has long since been accused by other parts of the world of being arrogant and self-absorbed. Well, you know, the more times I visit and the more I see, the more I can see that if they do have a slightly over-developed sense of self-worth, it is not entirely without justification. This country is quite extraordinary in many ways. I recommend you see it for yourself.
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