Anniversary - Day 4 - A New Home

This was going to be the day. A couple hours after rising, I was in Reno and the California border lay just ahead of me. The wandering in the Wilderness was nearly over.

Bella by this time was decidedly grumpy. My loving little hair ball nearly bit me that morning. She has no idea how close she came to riding in the trunk of the car that was being towed behind the U-Haul. But I forgave her, and she assumed her place in her carrier on the passenger seat beside me, belted in of course.

Reno is a bit of a mess on I-80. Perhaps it was just the fact that the interstate was under construction. Or perhaps it was because the town was in fact a mess. I weathered the orange barrels and the traffic and eventually cleared the city.

Then there they were, the Sierras!

And the climb to Donner Pass began. In the 1800s a band of pioneers led by a fellow named Donner met ruin here. They had timed their passage just a hair to late in the season. Near the top of the pass they were caught in a blizzard. It was not pretty scene as the party was reduced to cannibalism before the survivors were eventually rescued.

A blizzard seemed to be a low risk proposition in late July, so I merrily found, crept, my way up these beautiful mountains. Each mile was a thrill, not because I was nearly at my destination, but because of the intensely beautiful place in which I found myself.

I descended the mountains toward Sacramento where Will, my eldest son, lives. I spent a few hours with him and then was heading down the central valley on I-5 150 miles or so to Pacheco Pass. That pass would take me over the coastal range to Monterey County.

I was home. I was bone tired from the long four day drive, but I had made it. Once over the pass and into the San Juan Valley I began to smell the ocean and feel the sea breeze. God had seen me through.

I was too tired to even think by the time I got to Anita Mason's home.

Irony of ironies; when I got into her neighborhood, which is snuggled into the hills near Toro Mountain, for the first time in 2500 miles, I got lost! I did such a good job of it, I got the truck into a place from which I could not maneuver at all. I was totally stuck and could not even get the car of its trailer in the position in which I found myself.

Fortunately a fellow came along, and with a lot of patience and hand signals on his part, we were able to get the truck to where I could free the car. Once the car was free, the rest was easy. A cell phone call to Anita, and I was out of there.

Home at last, home at last, great God almighty, home at last.