Travelogue: 10/19-10/20

Headed down to USCF Medical Center again Sunday. Left just before 11 in the morning. Stopped by Taco Bell to get my traditional XL iced tea. Took ten minutes, or more, to get my tea.

A mexican(?) couple were trying to order something. The order is supposedly ready. The guy was getting some drinks but the lady is telling the cashier dude something is wrong with the order. She doesn't speak english. He goes back and forth with her and her hubby, after he comes back.

Finally the cash guy says something about needing somebody who speaks spanish. He goes to the door and yells outside at someone. Some guy, not in a Taco Bell uniform, comes in and goes behind the register. He knows spanish. Still, it takes another five minutes or so for him to figure out the problem.

The cash guy thought they just wanted six tacos. What they wanted was six tacos for the guy and five for the gal. Good thing they had someone to translate available.

I finally make it to the counter and ask for just an XL iced tea. The guy says, "Thanks for the wait. Have it on the house". Cool. Now we're on our way.

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Run into a light drizzle right away. Just enough that it makes it hard to adjust the wiper speed so the wipers don't squeek. Annoying.

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Finally get away from the drizzle around Piercy. Nice. Make our usual stop at the One Log House for a sandwich. Great sandwich, as usual.

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Made the traditional stop at the Willits Safeway for gas- that being the cheapest gas we'd found, so far. Safeway has it for something like $3.51, after the 3 or 4 cent discount for using our Safeway card.

Driving through Hopland we're surprised to see the Valero station with gas at $3.39/gal and the Freedom station, or whatever it's called (on the right) offering at $3.29/gal. Wow. They've never beat Safeway before that we remembered. We buy gas at the Hopland Valero on the way back.

Gas was something like $3.41 at the Chevron at 19th and Irving in San Francisco. No surprise anymore they beat Humboldt prices but what explains the prices being so topsy- turvy?

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Still congested on 101 at Santa Rosa, but didn't slow us down too bad. Same as on the way back. Looks like the freeway construction is almost done. I have a feeling: I hope I'm wrong but I get the feeling the new expanded lanes aren't going to relieve congestion as much as we hope.

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Stayed at the Novato Day's Inn, as usual. Nice in that it was so cool we didn't need to use the air conditioner and the room was just about the perfect temperature for a change. Not so nice when we went to the breakfast room in the morning and they didn't have hard boiled eggs available for some reason. I just had toast and orange juice. No biggie.

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As usual, worrier that I am, I'm anticipating having trouble finding parking at the UCSF parking garage. This, despite the fact we've only been there one time in almost three years where we absolutely couldn't find parking there.

I thought my fears might be well founded when we enter the first level: no empty spaces except for a few small ones reserved for compacts. Tight next one up, too. Then we see some openings. We decide to check out the Orange Level (D?) as we can use the better elevators on that level.

Amazing. 9 out of ten of the parking spots on our favorite level are open. There were still empty spots on that level when we left. If this keeps up, I might have to get rid of my constant fear of UCSF parking problems.

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Left UCSF around 2:30ish after starting a 1:30 appointment a bit late. Not bad, considering.

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Made the traditional stop at Willits Taco Bell for some dinner. The wife having a seven layer burrito and myself two bean burritos. I held up the cup I bought iced tea with in Eureka and said I also wanted a refill. The guy says, "No charge for refills..". Cool, another freebie. Full meal cost $4.50. Can't beat that.

Only problem with Taco Bell is the bathrooms. In particular, the lady's bathroom.

All the while I'm ordering I figure Connie's in the bathroom. I head back to the truck and see her still standing by the bathroom. Someone apparently has been in there the whole time. This is not the first time this has happened. Not sure what the problem is there.

We head out of town and stop at the Irvine Lodge Rest Stop, between Willits and Laytonville. Thank god for those government provided rest stops.

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Finally make it to Rio Dell area and hit the drizzle again. This time the wipers are making an awful squeek unless I let the window get so wet I can hardly see. Eases off after we get over Tompkins Hill.

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Make it home at almost 8:30 to the minute- roughly 6 hours. Takes a half hour longer making the trip going 55mph, but I think it's worth it.