Day 1

So, away I went. Today was just a whole lot of driving, mostly down I-5. Not scintillating under the best of circumstances, but this wasn’t so bad. Everything was still green from the rain and even the feedlot didn’t smell too bad. Stopped for lunch at Anderson’s Pea Soup- ate pea soup. It seemed like the thing to do. Bakersfield looked like a fine place, but I don’t think I’d recommend it as a vacation destination. I got kind of lost looking for a Starbucks and didn’t find anything that I would want to get out of the car for. (How do you fail to find a Starbucks? Is that even possible?)
One cool thing: As I was leaving Bakersfield, I started to notice a nice smell in the car. Like, a really nice smell. I thought I might have activated some hidden air-freshener module in the Grand Marquis, but then I realized that I was driving though massive orange orchards and the trees were all in bloom. The scent of the orange flowers was so strong it just about saturated the air.
By the way, my xm radio is one of the best purchases I ever made. (And yes, Mom, I know it was your idea. You were right. Now you need one.)
I liked the drive through the high desert, but the whole trip took longer than I thought and it was after dark when I got to Barstow. It turns out I probably should have stopped sooner, because when I got here I found that I was having a lot of trouble finding a hotel room. As in, the first three places I went were booked up, and the fourth was nasty and overpriced. I finally found space at an Econo Lodge (for a not-very-econo $56), where I learned that I have come to town just in time for a big Little League tournament. So I’m sitting in a fairly average motel room, listening to 11-12 year old boys run up and down outside my door. That’s not when I’m posting this though since, shockingly, the Barstow Econo Lodge does not have on site internet access. The Ramada, however, does, which is why I am sitting in their lobby right now, stealing their internet and trying to look like a patron (I would have been, if they hadn't been booked.)