Good Roads and Bad Roads

Interesting day. Started with a great breakfast at Embassy Suites and then desolved into a little back and forth between driver and passenger on what route to take. In the end we headed down Highway 49, known as the Golden Chain Highway, through some of the old gold mining towns. Along the way we passed through Drytown, Amador City, Sutter Creek, Jackson, Mokelumne Hill and a few more including the home of the famous Calaveras Frog Jumping contest.

Things were going pretty well until we arrive at Chinese Camp. Green hills, fun road to drive, little traffic and then I decided to head back to Highway 99E. Lost? Not exactly, but traveling off the grid on narrow country roads that hadn't seen maintenance in years led Barb to think otherwise. Eventually, though, my luck continued to hold and 99E was found.

I will say that without a doubt Highway 99E is near the top of my list of roads I'd rather not travel. Lots of traffic. Lots of haze (which I think is polite for smog.) Lots of towns. No matter how fast you drive it's a slow.

Eventually we made it to Bakersfield and spent considerable time looking for a Starbucks. I was sure I deserved a reward for 99E. With mocha in hand we headed East on Highway 58 to our overnight in Tehachapi. Motel was good, dinner not so much.

Tomorrow we are off to Indio to visit neighbors for a few days.

Posted from iPad Air 2