Months ago the mister and I decided we would drive to Sacramento to visit friends and attend their son's wedding open house (this was long before I said I would never get in the car with the mister again)...plans were made, end of story, or so I thought. Last month the mister tells me there is NO way he can leave Global Headquarters and take off work for a road trip...the economy of Western Washington depends on him! I immediately booked a flight, end of story...um, not so fast... One WEEK ago, after I had vowed to never ride anywhere with the mister again, he said, "You know, if we leave Thursday, I could go with you and we could drive!" And that was the beginning. I realized that if he drove me to California I could load up the rig with all kinds of wedding stuff for my friend...making it worth risking my life and sanity, knowing full well that every bodily function would be challenged along the way. Our trip began with a promise from the mister that he would not throw tantrums behind the wheel or engage in any road rage antics, and ended four days later with me, choking on my words, eating crow, as the mister drove like Miss Daisy herself was in the car. And...we actually had FUN!
Do you remember the original Willy Wonka movie? The candy store owner told the children about Wonka's newest creation, the Scrumpdiddlyumptious Bar, and their eyes got huge and they began to drool...well, Fabric Depot in Portland, our first stop on our way to Sacramento, was my Scrumpdiddlyumptious Bar! Fabric Depot is a warehouse of fabric/notions...crack for creative creatures...and everything is 40% off with NO sales tax! I had 15 minutes, that's all the mister would allow - but it was enough to grab a 30-yard roll of batting and 10 yards of fabric...with time to spare!
We stopped in Medford, Oregon where I went a bit crazy in the flagship store of Harry and David... along with fabulous fresh fruit, jams and jellies, they have a fun assortment of gifts, (or crap as the mister would say). The pumpkin display out front made me anxious for Fall to arrive - especially since it was about 95 degrees in Medford! The drive down I-5 was really quite pretty - either rolling landscapes or forest - and then out of nowhere Mt. Shasta appeared!
You Only Live Once...I'm sure that's what the little town of Yolo, CA is named for, right? After driving for 14 hours (we did stop a lot) we finally arrived in Sacramento - actually Rocklin. Friday morning we we went to The Hilton's Home...very much like the Hilton Hotel where we stayed...lots of amenities! The mister dropped me off - he returned to the hotel pretending to work but I'm sure the warm weather and sparkling blue water of the pool screamed out to him! I had a great time helping with wedding stuff, doing the flowers and catching up with my dear friend from 7th grade!
Saturday, after a few more wedding details were wrapped up, the mister and I headed for Lake Tahoe - up and over Donner Pass, where I fought the urge to gnaw off the mister's foot. (Joking about Donner Pass is in very poor taste, right? Oops, there I go again - putting my foot in my mouth!) Pictured above left is Donner Lake...above right is Lake Tahoe. We had a lovely lunch at Captain John's on the water - the crystal blue water...it was breath-takingly-beautiful!
It was SO chillaxin' just watching the boats and the clouds float by...tick-tock-tick-tock...we had to be back in Sacramento for the open house, as we headed back to the car the mister said, 'Let's go back the other way so I can see Squaw Valley, it's on my bucket list!" Since when?!? What do you think it is...a valley filled with Indian Squaws waiting for an Indian Chief to come and save them?? (The mister is a quarter Cherokee, and he does think of himself as a Chief so I suppose that is a plausible explanation for why he would want to go there, as he offered up nothing better!)
Squaw Valley was home of the 1960 Winter Olympics...and it should be on everyone's bucket list! Once again, I ate my words. It is beautiful - we practically ran through the resort/village to see as much of it as we could - I can only imagine how wonderful it must be in winter - snow piled high for hard-bodied skiers with tanned faces to schuss their way down the mountain into the lodge where they sit by the fire sipping hot cocoa while wiping creamy foam from their staches...sorry, I digress. It was worth going out of our way to see.
(This is the valley - a short distance from the resort/village - the entire valley is surrounded by mountains...it's pretty spectacular.) We raced down the mountain and made it back to our friends home for their open house, which I'll tell you about in my next post as this one is already way too long!