Detours (May 24, 25)

Google Maps provides excellent directions, but it doesn't necessarily know about construction, delays, detours, traffic, or road closures. Heading north from San Luis Obispo, we intended to drive up Highway 1 along the coast. We got as far as Cambria (about 30 miles?) only to see a flashing sign that the road was closed ahead. We didn't know where or why, but after verifying at a gas station, we backtracked a few miles and headed west to Highway 101. The interesting part of that route is the acres and acres and acres of grape vines. Wine is definitely big business in California!! We also saw vegetables growing and being shipped on the trucks we passed along the way.

We stopped in Gilroy which claims to be the Garlic Capital of the World, but we all know that Hills holds that title. Jerry's Hills Garlic Festival hat sparked some interest; I think he was hoping to trade it for one from Gilroy's Festival that takes place at the end of July, but no one offered. We did get to sample a variety of products, and brought home some barbecue sauce and jelly as well as some hot Mexican garlic that we will give to our neighbors to grow. Our immediate gratification purchase was a bag of garlic pistachios. They are in the back of the car, and we have a handful each time we stop at a rest area.

Our Google Maps directions competently led us to Frank's (Jerry's brother's) house in San Anselmo via Oakland/Berkley/Richmond. This route avoids the city of San Francisco, but also skips the opportunity for photos of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I had never been to Frank's before, but Jerry stayed there on one of his solo trips to California a few years ago. Frank is a musician as well as a buyer, seller, collector of stuff. His passion is native American art and artifacts, and his house is filled with Navajo, Hopi, Pueblo, and other tribes' pottery, rugs, baskets, silver work, and carvings.

After a great Indian (east not American) dinner with Frank, we continued our journey north. We only made it as far as Ukiah for our overnight stop, then another long day of driving through wine country and the redwoods on our way to Oregon.



Sequoias are older and bigger around than redwoods, but the redwoods are taller and far more abundant. We followed the Avenue of Giants, a scenic alternative to 101, for 30 miles that took us through some beautiful groves with a variety of wildflowers, ferns, and trees.

We did finally get some views of the Pacific Ocean, but no stops for photos before we headed inland. The weather had been rainy in the morning, then showers off and on late in the day. The ocean and sky were almost the same color grey rather than blue, so not really as beautiful as they can be.

Alongside the winding roads were many different plants, flowers, and shrubs. We passed through many small towns that had all manner of weird things to attract tourists, but we easily skipped those, and finally at Grants Pass, OR, we joined Interstate 5. I had wanted to drive along the Oregon coast, but we are starting to feel pressed for time to get to Seattle by Thursday night, so opted for the zoom, zoom, zoom of the Interstate. We stopped for the night in Springfield, OR, which is part of Eugene in the same way Burnaby is part of Vancouver.



Detours make life interesting. They can take you off the beaten path, to the road not taken, somewhere unexpected. We have detoured, revamped our itinerary, found interesting byways, and eaten up a lot of miles in the last two days. Now it's straight on 'til we reach Seattle (well, Kirkland).