![\"\"](\"http:\/\/pwoodford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/traffic-jam.jpg\" "\\"traffic-jam\\"")
Home again, winding down from the elevated level of tension that comes with staying alert while driving long distances and dealing with traffic. \u00a0How much distance? \u00a0About 2,500 miles. \u00a0How much traffic? \u00a0Be glad you don’t live or work in Los Angeles. \u00a0Yes, we were there, and yes, it’s that bad. \u00a0It’s that bad in the middle of the day, never mind rush hour (you don’t want to know).<\/p>\n
Where’d we go? \u00a0Tucson to Los Angeles; LA to San Jose; a few days bopping back and forth around San Francisco, Marin County, Bodega Bay, and the East Bay; back to San Jose and a side trip to the redwoods in the mountains above Santa Cruz; back to LA; LA to Tucson.<\/p>\n
Why drive? \u00a0Because we like driving together. \u00a0We listen to audio books, look at the scenery, have long conversations. \u00a0We take all the luggage we want, keep snacks and cold water handy in a cooler behind the front seats, and strap our bicycles to the back. \u00a0We can load up on goodies to bring home, size and weight (almost) no object. \u00a0Sure, gas is expensive, but if you fly you usually wind up renting a car anyway. \u00a0As far as we’re concerned, if we can get there in one or two days by car, it’s better to drive.<\/p>\n
Except for one night in the East Bay, we stayed with friends. \u00a0We visited, went out for coffee and dinner, crawled the pubs in San Francisco’s financial district, hiked in the hills above Petaluma, and just generally slacked off. \u00a0We had a wonderful time (LA traffic excepted). \u00a0That one night in a hotel in the East Bay? \u00a0A welcome interlude of quiet and privacy in the middle of our trip. \u00a0Give me a hotel break once a week, and I can endure six days of tiny, suitcase-strewn spare bedrooms and shared bathrooms!<\/p>\n
I caught up with library books before we left, and that was intentional: I wanted to indulge myself in the second Game of Thrones<\/em> book on the trip, and managed to get halfway through by the time we got home (like the first book, it’s an 800-pager). \u00a0Alas, GOT<\/em> must be set aside — the book club meets next Saturday and Jamrach’s Menagerie<\/em> must be digested by then. \u00a0A backordered library book, Escape from Camp 14<\/em>, came in while we were away; other readers are waiting and I have to finish it next. \u00a0GOT<\/em>, I’ll be back.<\/p>\n Donna’s Aunt Georgie told us about the latest Bay Area scare — a highly infectious, often fatal dog disease — over dinner at an Outback Steakhouse in Pittsburg (bet you didn’t know there was a Pittsburg in California — it’s Donna’s home town). \u00a0According to Aunt G, kennels and pounds are in lockdown mode and dog owners have been cautioned to keep their pets indoors. \u00a0She had our attention, right up until she told us dogs catch the disease by sniffing other dogs. \u00a0At that point I recognized a classic News at Eleven ratings-booster scare story. \u00a0Keep your dog from sniffing other dogs’ butts? \u00a0Yeah, good luck with that. \u00a0I doubt there’s any disease at all. \u00a0While not exactly urban legends, these scare stories are at least closely related.<\/p>\n Speaking of Game of Thrones, an acquaintance on Facebook posted this a few nights ago: “Just watched the season finally of Game of Thrones, and all I can say is wow!” \u00a0A genuine eggcorn<\/a>, spotted in the wild! \u00a0I live for things like this.<\/p>\n