La Paz Part II

The Long Way Down

When we left La Paz last year, the only thing that made it seem even remotely ok was the knowledge that we would be returning for another winter.  Only this time, we would be driving down – all the way from our home on Vancouver Island!  A long drive, for sure, but we wanted to be able to explore the Baja at our leisure, stopping to appreciate the many beaches and sights there are along the way.  So, in late October, the time was right, and we left, just as the “atmospheric rivers” were beginning to arrive – good timing us!

Our intention was to camp in the van all the way down, but these plans were quickly squashed by the Pacific Northwest rain and cold.  So, we compromised.  Our first stop was in a small town south of Tacoma, Washington.  We arrived quite early in the afternoon, which was a bit of a surprise.  The last time we made the trip to this same town last summer, we were on the road for 8 hours (that does include a 2-hour ferry ride from Vancouver Island to the Mainland).  The border was packed, so an hour was wasted there, and then there was the inevitable traffic jams, starting north of Everett and lasting until south of Tacoma.  It doesn’t seem to matter these days, when you head through this corridor – there is always traffic!  So, imagine our complete surprise when our border wait was all of 10 minutes (and they did not even question all the gear we had in and on top of our van) and then we just sailed through Everett, Seattle and Tacoma with minimal traffic – what the heck!  Well, there was rain and wind to contend with and there was plenty of that.  But traffic?  Nope!  It was almost as quiet as it was when we drove north at the beginning of Covid!  So, having arrived nice and early, we checked in at the Fairbridge Inn and Suites in Dupont, where we enjoyed a dry, warm night in a large, comfortable room.  Of course, staying at a hotel meant not cooking dinner, so we were off to a local pub to enjoy their offerings and watch a little Thursday Night Football.  Not a bad start to our trip.

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The following day dawned wet again with more rain in the forecast.  We had one important visit to make before continuing south, and spent a wonderful hour visiting my brother, Tom and his wife MaryAnne.  Leaving them to their own upcoming travels, we popped on the freeway, hoping to sail through Portland the way we had done in Seattle and Tacoma, aiming to reach Medford that night.  Ah well, best laid plans, eh?  What we didn’t find up north, we found in spades going through Portland.  Ugh!  There is really nothing more annoying than driving through a big city in the rain.  I have been to Portland several times, but usually come through a different way and so just staying on I5 was a real eye opener.  I had no idea how big and complicated Portland really is!  I would rather ride my bike through here any time!  We lost quite a lot of time and so had to modify our plans for the night.  We went as far as we felt comfortable, ending up in a Motel 6 in Sutherlin.  I checked on hotel rooms when we stopped earlier, and the choices were Motel 6 and another chain at twice the price.  Since all we needed was a bed, we chose the cheaper option.  We went in and booked the tiniest room we have ever stayed in!  It did have one quite nice feature – a window seat! However, the bed was comfy and there was a family style restaurant right next door, so once again we settled in for the night, hoping this would be our last spendy night for a while. 

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The following morning, we were up and out, enjoying breakfast at the nearby McDonalds.  I know, super healthy right?  But hey, it’s a cheap option and I really love American sausage, so the breakfast sausage muffin fits the bill and the cost for two coffees and two sandwiches?  Eleven dollars – can’t beat that!  On the road once again, we started out in the rain and fog, but by the time we were in California and passing beautiful Mount Shasta, the weather had cleared and so had the traffic.  We enjoyed the views as we drove along, and Jim really enjoyed the drop in traffic! Along the way we stopped in for a coffee break in a town that we just couldn’t resist.  I mean, come on.  Who would not want to stop in Weed, CA?

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After our coffee stop (yes, folks, coffee, not actual Weed) we hopped back on the freeway heading south and out of the mountains. Things were going so well we had time to stop in at Lake Shasta to go for a little hike to stretch our legs.  Wow!  What was supposed to be a giant lake had sure lost a LOT of water!  You can sure tell what the last few months of drought conditions has done to this part of the Pacific Northwest! 

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On our way again, we had planned on camping at a little town just south of the lake.  We stopped in and picked up a few things to have chicken wraps for dinner before heading to the park.  However, once we arrived, we found that we could only register on-line.  No problem.  Having switched our sim cards the day before to our Mexican Telcel cards, we were able to use the internet freely.  Phone plans in Mexico are SO much cheaper than in Canada.  Our plan up there charges $15.00 per day for roaming!  Good grief!  With our Mexican plans, we pay $30.00/month and have 300 gigs of data anywhere in Mexico, the US and Canada!  However, the coverage up in BC is not so great, so we switch back when we are home.  So, having our handy dandy Mexican plan in use, I went to register for the campground only to find that yes, the price per night is a very reasonable $12.00 for us seniors (yay for being seniors!), because it was a weekend, we would have to pay for two nights!  What!  Pay for two nights?  We were not going to stick around for two nights, nor were we going to pay for two nights and only stay for one, so, change of plans.  We went to the day use area of the park and made our wraps, enjoying the view of the river running by and relaxing before hopping back into the van and heading down the highway again to a rest stop.  Here, we found a group of folks all heading south as we were, parked in their big motorhomes for the night.  We snugged up behind another BC licence plate (people from Vancouver as it turned out) and put the window shades up for the night.  The rest stops along the I5 corridor are supposed to be for not more that 8 hours they say, but no one came by checking and we weren’t there for longer than that anyways.  The stop was far enough off the freeway to be quiet and with our earplugs in, we slept well all night long.  In the morning, we continued down the road another 10 miles to find, you guessed it, another McDonalds!  Yum!  Fed and rested, we headed on south.  We had a stop to make in Orange the next day, and so worked our way south to a Petro truck stop south of Bakersfield for the night.  This was a great place for us to stay.  Super quiet and if you needed anything, they had it – showers, laundry, even a barber during the day!  However, we just needed a place to sleep, so once again, we put up the window covers and made ourselves at home.  Boy, we LOVE travelling this way! 

In the morning, after our (you guessed it) quick stop at McD’s, we braved the traffic in the LA area.  Oh my!  We chose to go around downtown, through Pasadena, as it looked like it might be a little less hectic and of course, it wasn’t.  There are a LOT of freeways in the LA area.  There was an ongoing skit on SNL where the Californians would go on and on about what freeway they got on, first this one, then that one, etc. etc.  I never really got the joke until entering this crazy crazy area.  Hat’s off to anyone who lives down there and actually gets around!  At one point, we missed our exit and ended up near the turnoff to the Rose Bowl, home to “The Grandaddy of Them All” – the Rose Bowl Game, held on January 1^st since forever.  Jim and I, of course, being the giant football fans that we are, couldn’t resist this little bit of serendipity, so we pulled in and stretched out legs while gawking at the site of so many historic games.  Maybe one of these days we will actually go to a game here, lol! 

Our one tourist stop done, we continued on to Orange, finally arriving at our destination (I will explain in another post about this one).  After that, we made our escape east, heading for the hills.  No, not Beverly Hills, but the hills leading up into Joshua Tree National Park.  Here we rewarded ourselves with two nights of blissful camping and hiking before the final push into Mexico.  What a great way to finish our rush through the States!

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