[cahc] California or Bust

[ROBERT A WESTCOTT]

Hi Ron & Cascade members,

We started on our journey South from Bellevue to Monterey a few days early.  ( knowing that the “ chase crew “ was not far behind ).

We delayed a bit because of holiday traffic along with the heat and the smoke from the forest fires..  
Needless to say the fire situation has only gotten worse.  

We thought we would head South on I-5 and make a decision at Grants Pass  wether to keep on I-5 where it is hot and smokey
or head to the coast and highway 1 where it might be cooler and even smokier.  
It looks like the highway from GP to Brookings is actually closed due to active fires and the smoke on the coast is terrible.
I heard ( this afternoon Wednesday ) that the fires near Brookings have been made the top priority in the entire US.  

Others thinking of heading down US 1  might want to check ahead on  both road conditions and hotel accommodations .

We stopped for fuel in Portland and then stopped again in Rosburg.  Odometer is not working.  

The Shell station on the East side of the highway has non-ethanol gas.  
The attendant said that Roseburg was a better place to stay rather than heading down to Grants Pass.   

It’s the Douglass County Farmers Co-op.  3171 NE Stephens   ( 541)  572-1228  

 The Sleep Inn & Suites on the West side of the highway is very accommodating and only $89 for us seniors.  We didn’t have a reservation.
They have a pool and free breakfast !

So we shut down an hour early to get rested up for the next phase of the trip that will hopefully get us somewhere North of San Francisco.
This will leave us with a shorter ( but hotter ) trip down to Carmel where we will be hiding out for a few days before the Monterey meet.

I also suggest buying a very good respirator if you are traveling in an open car.

I like the green ones at Harbor Freight ( the flat ones, not the ones with canister filters ) ( for about $21 ). 
They have a carbon filter, fit tight to your face ( even with a beard ) and are good for both dust particles ( ash ) and smoke.  

Bring lots of water with you and don’t forget a spray bottle to mist yourself to keep a bit cooler.  
You should have seen Carol trying hose down to my accelerator pedal foot while I had my leg propped up on the transmission tunnel.

122 degrees in my footwell, only 100 in Carol’s,  98 ambient degrees outside.

Start early when it’s cool and stop early when it gets hot.

Happy Trails to You…

Rob & Carol