The Beginning of the "non" Adventure

The morning of January 3rd had us up at 5am and racing southward an hour later in an attempt to beat a storm sytem that was closing in on the Siskiyous in southern Oregon. The National Weather Service issued a storm warning for 4pm that day and a blizzard warning for Friday. Over 4 feet of snow was expected with winds of over 50mph. Needless to say we wanted to make it over the pass before the full brunt of the storm hit. Being responsible travelers we checked the Oregon chain laws on the DOT website and found we would have to chain the Jeep (Jerome, perhaps the people you encountered on your trip back from Christmas were Oregonians) but not the trailer, because it had no brake, so we packed our chains and were off.

As we neared the pass the signs read, "chains required" so we pulled off and put on our chains, however we were turned back at the checkpoint because we did not have chains on the trailer. It appears as if the State Patrol has not read the Oregon chain law posted on the DOT website. We then had to take the chains off the Jeep and drive back to the nearest town and buy chains for the trailer. With chains in hand we headed back up the pass only to find that the chain requirement had been lifted and the pass was bare and wet. ARRGH!!

Once in California we were stopped again and had to put chains on the trailer only. We ground along on bare and wet pavement for about 20 miles before deciding to pull over and take off the chains. Welcome to California!

As we neared Sacramento, our destination for the day, the rain began to relent a little but only to be replaced by a strong headwind. The wind was so strong that even on level road we were forced to shift down to 4th gear just to maintain 50mph. We pulled into the KOA in Sacramento at about 12:30am exhausted, (thanks for the espresso beans Santa Fred!) crawled into the pod and went to sleep. 760 miles and still no sun.

We woke to the pod rocking from side to side (not us this time) and the sound of the rain slamming aginst the side driven by the howling wind. The power was out at the campsite so the hot shower we had hoped for was out of the question. Instead it was Starbucks for a cup of Joe and we were headed south like a sun seeking cruise missle. We had vowed not to stop until we reached San Diego or outran the storm. A decision we would later regret.

Pulling out of the Starbucks parking lot Dana asked, "Won't the pod tip over in the wind?" My only reply was "I don't know, but we are not staying here." To give you an idea of the severity of the storm at its height over 1 million people in Sacramento were without power. The Sacramento paper reported that the winds were sustained 50 mph with gusts up to 80 mph, and that flights were grounded at all the airports in Northern California.

Buffeted, but undeterred, we struck out across the San Joaquin Valley. About halfway we passed a semi-truck that had lost control and spun completely around before coming to rest on its side. 900 miles and still no sun. Toward the southern end of the valley the rain finally began to relent, although we were still fighting strong headwinds. Passing a sign that read next gas 35 miles and with the needle indicating 1/4 tank we decided to pull off and fuel up. At this point we were unaware of the severity of the power outages and all of the gas stations at this exit were blacked out. Normally 35 miles on a quarter tank would be no problem, but with two Yakima roof boxes, towing a trailer and fighting a 50mph headwind in 4th gear we were only averaging about 10mpg and to top it all off we hit stop and go traffic with 15 miles to go. We pulled off the exit with the needle pointed at E and were relieved to see the lights were on.

The storm still had one surprise in store before letting us cross the mountains into Southern California, where we hoped to finally be rid of it. A dust storm, luckily not the blinding zero visibility kind that cause huge multi-car pile ups, but the kind that periodically slows traffic to a crawl and fills the car with dust if you don't turn the heater off in time. Lovely!

At the very south end of the valley we stopped for fuel and the wind had died to a about 20 mph and the rains had stopped. We were looking forward to crossing the mountains and seeing the clear skies of Southern California. Mother Nature however had different plans. As we began to climb the rain started again. The kind of rain that is usually associated with biblical events. It was like driving with a fire hose pointed at the windshield. Oh yeah, and the wind was back at full force. To make matters worse, because we were pulling a trailer, we were restricted to the right two lanes with the semi-trucks. Now I know what people mean when they say "white knuckle driving." We pushed on, cresting Tejon pass and dropping into Southern California. Finally, about 7pm, we had reached L.A. 1100 miles and still no sun.

Slogging through L.A.'s flooded freeways we hit the outskirts of San Diego at about 10pm, the rain finally stopped and the roads were dry. We arrived at the campground in Chula Vista at 10:30 only to find the gates locked. Fortunately the night caretaker let us in and we were not forced to camp at the gate. He informed us that the rain was supposed to start any time so we hurriedly set up camp and as we were getting the tent on the side of the pod the rain began to fall. We fell into bed completely exhausted, but relieved that we had made it and with the knowledge that we had two days to rest before we had to move on again. 1300 miles and still no sun.