Monday, September 14
On our last day in Ventura, we lounged around beachfront pool in the morning then went back to our hotel and packed up. We made a one last stop for food along the main drag at Blenders & Nature’s Grill for lunch before leaving town. I had booked us a campsite at Yosemite then decided to stay elsewhere due to a couple recent incidents of the plague. Yes, apparently that is still around. And while it was incredibly unlikely that we would get it, we didn’t want to spend our time sketching out at potentially disease-infected squirrels.
So we turned north and tried to devise a plan on the way. It was hard to find campsites that were close to the I5 and had definitive availability. It got dark and still we were driving. Finally, at close to midnight I just said let’s pull off at “Happy Time RV” and crash there. There was a crappy tent spot available so we filled out the registration envelope with $10 inside and dropped it in the mailbox. We went back to the site to set up and when I turned my headlamp on I saw a cockroach right in the middle of the spot. Then I looked around I noticed a few more. I’m not a fan of those huge bugs and made it very clear to Jesse, who was tired and indifferent to the whole situation, that we were NOT going to stay there.
Again, we kept driving. I googled hotels in the area of Williams, CA. There was a Ramada right off the I5 so we went inside and were told no vacancy. That’s weird, it’s such a small town in the middle of nowhere. Who is staying here? I quickly looked up hotels and reviews and found a Travelodge that was recently renovated and no reviews indicating cockroaches. They were full up too. The guy there told us that a lot of crews working on the the wildfires nearby were staying in town and suggested we drive up to the next town, Willows. I searched hotels or Trip Advisor and found that the Holiday Inn Express was reasonably priced and had amazing reviews … and one really long, confusing review that had me in tears as I read it to Jesse, both of us delirious from a full day of driving.
We arrived at the Holiday Inn Express at 1am and they offered us a special rate and a late check out which was much appreciated. It was paradise after a long day: new clean rooms, amenities such as wifi and a pool, plus a delicious continental breakfast included.
Tuesday, September 15
We slept in and recovered from the previous day then hit up the free breakfast. There was a cool pancake machine that was just a box with a button you could press and out popped golden brown pancakes a minute later – like magic!
As we left the hotel I spotted a couple small lizards (or geckos?) on the side of the building. They were pretty cute (much better than cockroaches)!
We drove just across the border into Oregon and then turned off the I5 and headed east along picturesque, winding farm roads to the Hyatt Lake is Recreation Area where I had very needlessly reserved a campsite. It was a huge campground that was practically deserted. We only saw one other group of campers who were clearly hunters.
It was freezing cold there but really beautiful and quiet. We didn’t explore much but the washroom facilities were nice (and even heated) and there was a playground for kids. There was no cell phone reception so I was pretty sure we were either going to be murdered in our sleep by deranged hunters or eaten by a bear. The fact that we heard gunshots as we set up camp didn’t exactly help.
We made dinner and then promptly crawled into bed to stay warm and get a good nights sleep. At the recommendation of my brother and his girlfriend, I had downloaded some podcasts by My Brother, My Brother, and Me (MBMBaM). We fell asleep laughing our asses off to The McElroy Family Fun Hour Brought to You by Totino’s episode. Enjoy.
Wednesday, September 16
In the morning we packed up and drove back down the winding road to the I5. We decided to go back to the first campground at Silver Falls State Park, OR, which we really liked. During the car ride, we listened to more MBMBaM – this time The Ballad of Tit Liquid. We were in tears from laughing so hard. We stopped at Applebees on the way, which was disappointingly not great.
Thursday, September 17
This was the last day of our honeymoon. We drove left Silver Falls in the morning and drove back across the border by evening. It was a great trip, although a little rushed, but it was nice to be home and have a couple days to relax before going back to work.
