Giving The Windshield Wipers a Workout

I'll be on the road again this weekend. We've had the college girl home for six terrific weeks, but it's time for her second semester to start (on Monday) and we have to get her back to Northern California. Unfortunately, our trip will coincide with one of the strongest and wettest storms of the year.

We'll be leaving out at 5am Saturday morning and I'm hopeful that we'll be able to get over the Grapevine before the next big storm hits. If you're not familiar with the Grapevine, it's the pass where I-5 crosses the mountains between the Los Angeles basin and the San Joaquin Valley. The road tops out at about 4,200 feet and has been closed much of the week due to snow and ice. As I write this it's open and should stay up through the time we'll be traveling through there (about 6:30 am).

Somewhere on our way up north we'll encounter the next big storm and will probably move the girl back into her dorm room in the rain. We'll be heading home Sunday and according to the forecast, we'll get rained on all the way home. We're coming home down the 101 coastal route since it's a more interesting drive and we have to stop in Santa Paula on the way back. Every major city along the 101 has a 100% chance of rain on Sunday. In other words, we're looking at 500 miles of wind and rain. I'm glad I'll be driving an Explorer with full-time four-wheel drive.

Blogging will be intermittent at best. I'm not taking the laptop on this quick trip but will try and catch up using the hotel computer or my cellphone. See you late Sunday (I hope).