It's early in California

It may not be that early where you are - but in California it's 5:30am and it's our first day here in...what do they call California? Florida is the Sunshine State, Georgia is the Peach State...anyway, it's early!

We made it in late yesterday afternoon and are staying in Santa Rosa for a couple of nights till we can get moved into the apartment in Bodega Bay. The next couple of days are all paperwork - bankers, insurance, driver's licenses, cable, etc. We're driving out to the shop this afternoon to see it, say hello and probably have a glass of wine on the deck!

We had a nice little drive across the US and can't say that we aren't glad that it's over. The planned 23 hour leg from Louisville to Park City, UT didn't happen - no excuses. We were tired of being in the car and wanted out. So did Mo! We stopped in Ogallala, NE for the night. We highly recommend staying at The Days Inn there the next time you happen to be driving across Nebraska. The owner was very nice and very dog friendly!

Anyway, we decided a good nights sleep and sleeping in a little would go a long way. It probably didn't go long enough. The rest of the drive to Park City was a grind. You've already seen the highlights from the last post - the Snowy Mountain Range. On the drive we were listening to the radio and they were talking about the oil guy that wants to put up windmills everywhere for energy. After driving through Wyoming, we totally agree!!! There is nothing out there folks. We only saw one true wind farm:




But we also saw a 18 wheeler whose haul was one arm of a windmill....HUGE!

We got into Park City on Wednesday night and had a nice relaxing 4 day stay. Sissy got some orders pulled and shipped and we worked on all the loose ends. Our friend Mark Clements loaned us the use of his condo there and it's a fun little town with great food and weather! THANK YOU MARK! By the way, great hair in Utah!!

The aspen trees were Sissy's fav...this shot from the lift was not in focus, but still lovely:


View from the town lift:


We got in a short round of golf before we left. Sissy had the drive of her life and a nice trick shot directed by Bob. But apparently, it has something to do with the thin air and can probably never be replicated on a regular basis. Dad, this pic is especially for you:


Several of the towns out here put the initials their town on the mountainside. This is the Park City one from the golf course. This trend is really big in Nevada, where there is apparently nothing to do but arrange giant letters on the sides of mountains.


Another thing we noticed about the west - they really like their tacos (Taco Johns, Jimboy's Tacos, Taco Time, Taco Maker, etc) and they like to have tater tots with them. A little strange, but very tasty!

On Sunday early - seriously early - we got on the road to California. Bob started off in the drivers seat. Here is a shot of the sun coming up over Salt Lake City:


And this is not snow - it's salt!! This is basically what you see for miles on I-80 after Salt Lake City:


Nevada was a little disappointing for two reasons. It's currently under attack from the smoke coming out of California and we got stopped for speeding! After we left the state trooper we wished we had asked him for a photo op for the blog!! He was super nice and just cited us for speeding in a rural zone - no points and a $67 mail in fine. It's that innocent look Bob has...

Anyway, we think that under normal weather conditions, Nevada must be absolutely gorgeous, you just can see it right now. Our route took us through Reno, so we never have to go back!

We got to the California line and the smoke vanished, there wasn't a cloud in the sky - beautiful! We had dinner last night at a local chain called Mary's Pizza Shack. This is the restaurant we loved when we honeymooned here a few years ago - fantastic.

Just because our drive is over, doesn't mean the journey ends - stay tuned for more from Bodega Bay!