Thursday night, I realized I had nothing planned for the long weekend at all other than rotting at Ice Oasis and watching Peter play hockey. So, out came the maps and books, and I decided on a spontaneous trip to the Oregon Outback.
I left just before 8:30 this morning, and slabbed it up to Antioch. The freeway wasn’t kind to my shoulder, but at least the traffic was good. I met a new friend in the 7-11 parking lot in Antioch, a homeless crazy-but-pleasant tweaker, who called me “doll”, promised to pray for my safety, and taught me the “secret meth handshake” (which I’m sure will come in handy on my travels). After showing off his veins and track marks, he claimed to be off heroin now — “now I’m just on alcohol!” — which is admirable but frankly probably not true. I felt bad for the guy and gave him half of a Clif bar. We exchanged mutual sincere wishes that the other would take care of themselves, and I headed towards the Delta.
I took Highway 160 north to Sacramento, through the Sacramento River Delta. I’ve never been on 160 before, and I really liked it. There was almost no traffic, allowing me to pull over to photograph the river, bridges (of which there were many), and other cool stuff. I fell in love with a building in Isleton, and took a few pictures — much to the apparent entertainment of the local sheriff, who was driving past at the time.
So, now I’m at a McDonald’s in Sacramento, having a Diet Coke and stretching out my shoulder. Next stop, Yuba City, then to Red Bluff for the unfortunate inevitable stint on I-5.