I’m exhausted. The drive from Burbank to San Jose took longer than expected. We took US 101, the scenic route. It was in maximal contrast to the route we took down there: The 5.  Interstate 5 is as straight as an arrow for ‘over 200 miles’, according to Pinky, the voice of our Global Positioning System. (My granddaughter Sidra named her). It was a wonderful drive for the first couple of hours. The Pacific ocean was to our left. It was beautiful: green water close in, turning blue further out. We stopped and had brunch. Then back on the road. We made one pit stop.

About 40 miles from home (4 hours after our stop) there was a traffic jam. It was bumper to bumper. There was no accident, no road construction, nothing that could explain this phenomenon. It turned a bit cloudy after having been clear the whole way, but I don’t see that as being a reason for the  backup. I stayed in line for nearly 20 miles before I tried an alternate route. After four and a half hours in a row behind the wheel (about 7 hours total), we made it home.

I did not know at the time, but the rest stop photograph below turned out to be a fitting icon for the trip home.

All Uphill From Here