Arriving in Oakland, California and Getting Settled

February 1

With a short day of driving - about 200 miles ahead of us, we checked out of the Best Western after breakfast at 7:15 AM PST, temperature 45 F, and headed for I-5 N again. The highway runs through California's heavily agricultural Central Valley. 

Almond groves with bees ready to pollenate the trees

One of the many Parking areas that the trucks use on 1-5

At 8:30 AM, we stopped to look at pumping station along the California aqueduct where there is a wetlands restoration project.

We saw many signs protesting state and federal water policy.
Drought has hit hard.

We left I-5 for I-580 which would take us into Oakland. 

Livermore along I-580

At 9:46 AM, we entered Alameda County – our new home county. 

Approaching Oakland, California

By 10:40 AM PST, we were unloading the Prius and getting our temporary home set up for a two month stay. We were welcomed by sunshine, a bright blue sky and mild temperatures – sweater weather.

The afternoon of the 1^st, we headed to Trader Joe's to stock up. I made a sauteed pork tenderloin with onions and mushrooms dish, steamed red skin potatoes and green beans for our first dinner in the “urban cottage” where we'll be staying for a couple of months.

February 2 (Ground Hog Day)

We woke up to the sound of rain – much needed here. After breakfast we made an inventory of household items we needed in order to make our stay more comfortable. Around 10 AM, we headed for the IKEA store nearby to acquire a couple of chairs, lamps and other items.

A couple of hours later we got a call from Erika suggesting we take a look at a house on Amito Drive. So, we hopped in the car and toured that one plus one on Rydal Court. Both are a bit to high in the hills to suit us; but they are both worth keeping in mind.

We returned and assembled the IKEA items and got the cat feeding stations ready. Erika and Michael invited us over for dinner to piggy-back on our plans to come fetch Ziggy & Sunny from them. By 8 PM, our “urban cottage” household was complete. The cats explored their new temporary home thoroughly before settling in.

This ends the travel portion of the blog.  I'll continue to post periodically as we settle in and get down to serious house hunting. 

From Tolleson, Arizona to Kettleman City, California - January 31

We traveled 536 miles today, entering our new home state of California at 7:45 AM PST.  (We got an early start, leaving Tolleson - near Phoenix - at 6:50 AM  MST.)

The 6:50 MST start was our earliest of the trip - pre-dawn. We took I-10 W toward LA. (The distance to LA is 366 miles, but our route would pick up 1-210 N outside the city.)

As we traveled through Arizona, we saw named “washes” where in Texas we saw named “draws”.  Wash refers an Arroyo (creek), a dry creek bed or gulch that temporarily fills with water after a heavy rain.   Draw is a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them.  We also saw named ditches in California - I think I know what a ditch is. 

Some sights along the way included: miles of flat open desert land advertised as “prime solar property”, the Arizona project canal around mile marker 54, huge RV parks at Quarzsite which is about 20 miles from the California border.

Entering California via an agriculture inspection station

We entered California, and 8:45 AM MST became 7:45 AM PST. I sent Erika a text message to let her know that her parents were now in the same state as she – our new home state. We stopped for breakfast and gas in Blythe, CA.

At 9:35 AM PST, we stopped at the Cactus City rest stop to change drivers. We stretched our legs and enjoyed the small garden and nature guides there.

Around Desert Hills, we drove through an area with thousands of wind turbines – large and small. It was 10:25 AM, 59 F with a tiny bit of rain.

By 11:30 AM, we were on I-210 headed for 1-5 N. At 1:30 PM, both Erick and I felt the need to get out of the car and walk for awhile. So, we made a short side trip to Pico Canyon Park (LA County). We walked the trails, snacked, and Erick took a short nap. It was sunny and 63 F, but windy enough to make it seem a bit chilly in the shade.

A trail not taken

The elevation got increasingly higher – a 2000 ft marker near Santa Clara and when we stopped for gas at Gorman at 2 PM, one that read 4000 ft.

Less than a half hour later, we got on I-5 N toward San Francisco. We were in California's Central Valley.  At that point the elevation was a much lower 250 ft above sea level.

At 3:50 PM PST, we were ready to call it a day. We pulled into the Best Western at Kettleman City and crashed. Erick found a few things at a nearby convenience store to add to our light supper stash. We'd had enough driving (about 500 miles) for one day. The Prius is on the verge of turning over 77,000 miles on the odometer (having already hit 75K and 76K on the trip). Since leaving Fredericksburg on Wednesday, we've covered 1500 miles.