Days 18 - 20: Santa Rosa

The air at the junction had a distinctive aroma -- reminding us of our days near Greeley, Colorado. Soon after heading out north on I-5 we confirmed our suspicions as we passed this huge feed lot that went on for acres and acres. Since the junction where we stopped did not have a name on the map, we dubbed it "Feed Lot Junction."

Soon we started seeing fruit/nut orchards with flowering trees and boxes of bee hives stacked along the last row. Definitely a food-producing valley. Soon we passed the California aqueduct again that snakes through the rolling hills and provides life to this agricultural area.

We took a route to Santa Rosa through Vallejo -- hoping to avoid most of the Bay-area traffic. I noticed a sign announcing that the Bay Bridge (connecting Oakland to SF) would be closed this weekend. That should be interesting. We ran into some traffic, but by the time we got to Vallejo we were back on pleasant country roads.

Teresa was using the GPS and it kept saying we were "off road." She kept taking it out, wiping it off, and putting it back in hoping to get it to recognize where we were. Finally when we got to highway 101, it woke up and we were "on road" again. But when we exited at Santa Rosa, it told us to get back on highway 101. We drove around for a while -- "off road" again. Finally, when Teresa took the CD out she noticed that it was the one for Arizona -- not California. Once we put the correct one in, we were back in business. Don't know why the Arizona CD recognizes highway 101 in California--but that is one of the mysteries of technology.

We made it to our anut's house and had a great visit with her. In the evening we all went over to our cousin's house. Next day we visited and caught up with everybody, drank some California wine and went out to eat at a great local restaurant. Stayed another night and headed out to Redding this morning.

We made a stop at the Olive Pit in Corning for lunch (olive burger) and treats to take home, then landed in Lake California again for a short visit with Conrad. Tomorrow we will head back home (for Teresa) to Bend. It has certainly been a great trip.