Maupin Day one

I've missed the Maupin River RendezVW for the past two years, and decided I really needed to head up this year. So, off I went.

Thursday, around 2:00pm, and I'm out the door. I've adjusted the valves, changed the oil, and I'm bringing the tent of awesome for the first time. The tent of awesome is the only name I can come up with, if anyone has a better name, I'm interested. Tent of Doom is taken (along with annex of despair, and my favorite - house of falling water).

I'm on the bridge a little after 2:00pm

at the Vallejo interchange a little after 3:00pm

and up almost at the 505-5 interchange around 4:00

Around 4:30 the freeway is a parking lot near Arbuckle

And the exploded semi that caused the back up is both tragic and an amazing thing to see. I'd suggest checking your fuel lines for those of you who know what I mean.

The rest of the ride up was uneventful. I stopped in Redding for food and to visit my grandparents resting place. This blog is partially named for them. Ellen, Clement, Elizabeth, and Louis. Clement and Elizabeth were my moms parents, they spent a big chunk of their lives in Redding. I'm not there very long, but the smell of the hot manzanita, and the fresh cut grass at the cemetery turns me into a 16 year old boy spending a summer with his grandmother. I wish I had my grandfathers Studebaker Hawk, it was such a cool car.

I'm back on the road around 6:30 and heading up to Weed.

The Summer solstice is a few days away and the long sunsets give me a painted mountain to admire all the way into Oregon. I zig-zag through Dorris, and find out the both my horn and highlights are not working. My intention to camp just north of Klamath Falls gets reexamined as deer and other wildlife are common on those roads. So I pull into the cheap motel off the freeway at Klamath and sleep in "not-a-bus".

I'll get up early tomorrow.