I can't say that I ever liked that song "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" nor can I even claim to know what inspired it, but I know it and used my knowledge to get here on the morning of the 18th. I woke up in Buttonwillow at 2ish, showered, and then it was back on the road under cover of darkness along I-5.
The early morning hours are when it's best to be on I-5. It used to be that it wasn't bad during the daylight hours but that was back in the mid-70s. California's population has grown a great deal since 1976 when I first saw I-5, but I-5 is still two lanes in each direction in the San Joaquin Valley and you really don't want to be on it at certain times during the year.
On one of these trips, I left San Jose on the 26th of December, and I-5 was sluggish all the way down to Buttonwillow. The maximum speed possible seemed to be 50, and that's because there were lots of RVs doing one inch per hour than the trucks they were trying to pass, and all of them wanted to pass the trucks. I wanted to jump off at CA46 and go inland, but the junction in those days did not have a stoplight and the long line waiting to turn left to get to Bakersfield had backed up into I-5 itself.
Since then, I never start the return home on the 26th. This year, like the last, will be on the 28th. I am having lunch with a group of friends of mine on the 27th that I know online from one of the websites dedicated to a hobby we all share.
Meantime, I have been busy here. I have some really good friends here and I've been spending time with them. I've also been treasuring an interesting situation in my heart that I can't divulge right now. All I can say about that is that I'm in for some interesting times next month, once the holidaze are behind us.
In years past I have dreaded this time of year. Right now I'm enjoying it. I really am.
However, when I wake up on the morning of the 1st of next month, I will be saying "Whew! Made it thru another one!"
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