Santa Barbara to Yuba CityApr 20, 2006
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Leaving Santa Barbara
The Trailer
Jack Ranch Cafe
| April 20, 2006 What a day! Nancy is at a meeting in Utah, so I spent the day alone driving from Santa Barbara to Yuba City. I got a late start because I needed to finish packing a few items. Then, I went to pull the truck behind the Bus (for toad hook-ups) and found that the truck battery was dead. Oh joy! Luckily, I was able to get a "jump" from a guy operating a tractor and finally got underway. The scenic drive from Santa Barbara to Paso Robles seemed unspectacular; probably because I have driven it hundreds of times and now take it for granted. At Paso Robles I decided to take highway 46/41 to I-5. My Co-Pilot didn't map me this way, but I overrode it. It had been many years since I had taken this drive in the springtime. I had forgotten how beautiful the area can be when it gets water (and it got a lot this year). My detour rewarded me with beautiful, green, rolling hills and an abundance of wild flowers in yellow, purple and golden colors. Several miles out highway 46 I passed the Jack Ranch Café; famous for it's James Dean lore (the café is located not far from the location of his fatal accident). I remember stopping to eat at this café several years ago with my son, Brian. We were riding a century (100 miles) on our tandem bicycle. I remember the ride as being strenuous, but beautiful. The century was part of the Great Western Bike Rally, an event that we enjoyed for several years. My memories of the I-5 drive are of a hot, boring road. I drove this route weekly for awhile during the time that I was in college north of Sacramento. I had to stop the weekly commute when the speeding tickets threatened to keep me from entering the Air Force. Anyway, this day was contrary to anything I remembered. Yes! The feed lots (ugh) are still there. But most of the Sacramento River Valley was full of farmland and hundreds of acres of fruit and nut trees. Now I know why my brother-in-law n Iowa calls California the land of "fruits & nuts". At Lodi I was ready to call it a day. I was only 2 hours from my destination, but was tired and hungry. I saw a freeway sign for an RV Park and exited. I followed the road sign that took me about 15 miles off course. My Co-Pilot kept telling me to turn around...I should have listened. I eventually ended up at a dead end at a campground/marina. There were no spots available for the Bus, so I needed to turn around. This is not an easy accomplishment for a 40' Bus pulling a 20' pickup truck. After making the tightest turn I breathed a little easier (it is almost impossible to uncouple the hitch while in a turn). Tired and hungry I drove back to I-5 (my Co-Pilot was thrilled!) and continued north. It was dark by the time I was driving through Sacramento and really dark when I finally arrived in Yuba City. Lack of planning took its toll in Yuba City. I figured I would find a campground or a Wal-Mart and pull in for the night. After about 20 minutes of meandering around I realized that Yuba City was larger than I remembered from my college days 40 years ago. Luckily, I found a spot in a parking lot not far off highway 99 and pulled over for the night. |
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