I had decided that I would drive up to Stanford for the long weekend. It would enable me to bring some of the “infrastructure” for the tailgate, e.g., a folding table, couple of camp chairs, and a large cooler for food and drink.
I had made the drive to SoCal from the Bay Area and back several times when we lived in the East Bay a few decades ago. Most recently prior to this drive north, I had done it in 2017, picking up my daughter, son-in-law, and two little granddaughters at SFO and spending a few days showing them where their mother had lived, gone to school, etc.
I left at 7 am Thursday, two days before the game, figuring most of that day would be on the road. The drive was going to be just under 500 miles and GPS said it was going to take about eight hours. I also planned to stop twice at Costco, one just north of LA and the other in Gilroy, for restroom and fuel stops.
GPS also advised me to take the 5 (Interstate 5 to non-Californians) through LA. I knew most of the trip was going to be on the 5, the main north-south highway through California’s Central Valley. Was a little surprised GPS advised getting on it south of LA.
It wasn’t until I was stuck in morning bumper-to-bumper commute traffic that GPS finally advised an alternate route. It took me off the freeway into some of the least attractive areas of LA and then up onto the 210 to the east of LA through Pasadena.
There I was able to see some of the burn scars resulting from the fires back in January, as shown here.
The first stop at Costco was 90 miles from my house. It took me three hours to get there.
Going through “the Grapevine” north of LA on the 5 always seems interesting. Grapevine is not a formal name. There are various local references to grapes and grapevines, but it is where the 5 stretches from Santa Clarita, just north of LA, to California’s Central Valley.
The freeway goes through the Tehachapi Mountains, reaching an elevation of 4,144 feet at the Tejon Pass.
Once through the Grapevine, the Central Valley stretches ahead to the horizon and the 5 is flat and straight.
For more than 100 miles, the only change in direction of any note is changing lanes on occasion.
On my second stop at Costco, in Gilroy, I picked up some of the local produce from the “Garlic Capital of the World.” Just garlic bulbs, not the garlic ice cream.
The weather forecast for Moss Beach and Half Moon Bay had changed significantly just days before. Instead of clear skies and high temperatures in the low 70s, the forecast was for the marine layer to persist throughout and for high temperatures in the low 60s.
From the road just east of the bay, evidence of the marine layer’s “cat’s paws” was pretty strong.
The last of the group to arrive at our Airbnb around 5 pm, I enjoyed the view and the chance to rest.
Day 1 complete.