Sunnyvale to Ventura

Highway 101 ---El Camino Real --- runs from Northern California to the Mexican border. The highway is marked approximately every mile with a reproduction of the mission bell.

The section between the San Francisco bay area and Ventura passes thru the Salinas Valley, home to numerous strawberry, asparagus, wine grape farms, packers, and shippers. This was the childhood home of John Steinbeck. This valley is surrounded by oak covered rolling hills. Fog covers the valley floor most spring mornings and today was no exception. As the morning gave way to noontime, the fog cleared and the green covered hills became visible.

Further south, Highway 101 meets the pacific shoreline at San Luis Obispo. We stopped at the Costco for gas. At $3.259 per gallon, I thought the pump would never shut off as the total reached more than $70.

Mary and I stopped at a funky little hamburger stand in Carpinteria called The Spot. They make a good old fashion hamburger served with crisp lettuce leafs and a thick slice of tomato.

The beach looks wonderful but we didn’t take much time to enjoy it.

Redding to Sunnyvale, CA

Since we have travel this route many times its difficult for us to describe interesting features. Quick and painless are the features we wish for and this time our wishes were granted.

We stopped at Costco in Vacaville, CA for gas and to stretch our legs with a walk around the store hoping the demo-dollies would be handing out tasty samples. Gas was $3.089 and samples were lacking in both quantity and quality.

As we approach Silicon Valley, we always wonder which will be the thickest --- traffic or smog. Luckily for us neither was unbearable this time.

The fan belt, make that serpentine belt, is starting to make noise. I’ll look into that when we reach San Diego. I carry a spare just in case it decides it doesn't want to make it to San Diego.

I’ve been doing simple chores around Toni’s house while She and Mary are running errands and doing a little shopping. Four knob sets installed on the hallway doors, clock repaired, and a new sprinkler controller installed.

Tonight, we are having a small dinner party here for a few friends. We are both looking forward to seeing these old friends.

Tomorrow morning, Friday, we head to Ventura for a night with Alice and Wayne. After that, we will spend a week in San Diego visiting friends, old college buddies, and going to the zoo, harbor, and Balboa Park.

Our Roadtrek

Our Roadtrek is a 1997 - 190 Popular model built on a Dodge chassis. That makes it relatively easy to maneuver in city traffic. We don’t celebrate 15-mpg gas mileage but compared to those large RV beasties, it’s appetite isn’t too bad.

It has a King size bed in the back that can be converted to a dinette.

The kitchen area has a stove, refrigerator, sink, pantry, and even a microwave (if plugged in to a power source). It even has running water if I keep the water tank full.

The front seats swivel and a pullout table provides a combination living /dining room. Add the toilet and you have 150 square feet compact mobile condo.

Who are we

We thought it would be interesting to have a“before” picture that we all can use for comparison after our 4 months of travel. For me, hair is trimmed, as is the beard, my cloths are relative neat, clean, and without large stains, and of course my shoes are almost presentable in most circumstances. Let’s see how 4 months will impact that picture.

As for Mary, some friends refer to her as “Immaculate Mary”, no use trying to come up with comparison criteria. She can be on the road for years and you wouldn’t be able to notice even the slightest change. She is the only person I known that can keep a crease in her blouse without using an iron.
We have been married for more than 19-years. We share one view of the world, hardly ever disagree, and enjoy each other’s company. We’ll see if 4-months solitary confinement will have an impact.

Our Itinerary

This map shows our planned route. Click on the map to see an expanded view.



Our Roadtrek has an APRS tracker installed. Click on the "Realtime Location" link on the right to see our latest reported location.

Click on the "Track We've Followed" link on the right to see our track. The Red Star shows our current location and green dots show past locations.

We never make wrong turns, we just open new opportunities.