Electric Road Trip

With a full tank of electricity, I headed south.

Past Mt. Shasta, with a lump of cloud on its head so that it looked like it was wearing a beret, stopping in Dunsmuir for the smoked trout pizza at the charming cafe recommended by TripAdviser. The cafe however was closed Mondays, so I scurried over the mountain past the shores of down-in-the-mouth Lake Shasta where Merle Haggard’s glass-bottom fishing boat had reached bottom in search of lost time.

Next stop Redding, named for its founder Pierson B. Reading, recipient of a Rancho Buena Ventura Mexican land grant of 27,000 duty-free acres in 1844. But I didn’t stop in Redding, disliking its politics.

Orland beckoned, a paradisiacal bend in the 16-wheeler river that Interstate 5 has become. The truck stop there was renowned for its its chicken-fried 3-egg omelet with Motel 6 fries. Salivating, I sat at the counter watching the chef out of the corner of my eye as he whipped two eggs into a frenzy. Two eggs? I’d clearly ordered a 3-egg omelet and said so to the waitress.

I left in a huff, still hungry, having found a hair in my coffee. A small hair, but a hair nonetheless.

Onward south, to the exit at Arbuckle, Ca. Population 3,484. Hotdogs were turning on the grill at Poppy, the newest, nicest gas station cum food emporium in the world. A hot dog at 11 am? A mite early perhaps, but I was hungry and the hotdogs looked as hungry as I felt. I ate two and washed them down with a Snickers bar.

By the time I got to Vacaville my little car was low on electricity. A pit stop was required. With any luck and one more full battery charge and I’d be in San Francisco. The little car was holding steady, buffeted from time-to-time by passing semi-trailer trucks, traveling at the comfortable clip of 58 mph.

Home at last, arm weary, the car in the barn munching on a fresh bale of electricity, I showered and laid down for a short nap while reading The Mayor of Casterbridge. I set my alarm for 7 pm—The Celtics were playing the Warriors.

Mt. Shasta with beret, road trip south, late January, 2023.