"Do you have any fruit on board?"

The first time I ever became enamoured of San Francisco was while reading Jack London's "Tales of the Fish Patrol" when I was a teenager. This town really is beautiful. I just wish it wasn't that expensive.

My mirror held up over the 11 hours it took me to get to San Francisco. I'm sitting right now at Scott's desk as he prepares for bed. Scott and I shared a disastrous road trip in New Mexico; it was his car that I managed to upend back in 2002. I am glad that we remained friends after that. I try not to mention it every time I see him.

I somehow got gas at non-major gas stations both times I stopped. The first one was at the Country Junction, 3 miles outside of Glendale, Oregon. They also had a greasy spoon where I ate lunch and I think, I'm not sure, but I think I was hit on by an older woman. I'd passed her on the freeway and we both ended up at the same gas station and she came over and chatted with me a little bit while I ate at the bar. I hemmed at her with my mouth full, smooth as always.

The second stop was on I-505, the little shortcut freeway that connects I-5 to I-80. That freeway really has nothing around it and I remembered stopping at this gas station on my last trip down here because I always make the mistake of not stopping for gas on I-5 before I hit the emptiness of I-505. I think this gas station is near the town of Madison and shares a bathroom with the bar of the Mexican restaurant that's behind it. I was a bit spooked on I-5 before I-505 by a big wreck near Artois that stopped traffic for about an hour. I saw only one truck already loaded onto a tow-truck with plenty of debris on the road.

I was quite touched last night with the people that came by the Bonfire to bid me farewell. Of course it went on a little longer than I wanted and I still feel a little hurried and unprepared. My packing was very haphazard and I don't quite know where what is. I do think I got everything that I needed.

California is an odd state. They love their laws over here. This must be a new thing for this year because it wasn't there when I drove down back in August of last year. Soon after entering California, I came to an inspection station which at first I thought was only for trucks but turned out to be for all vehicles. I stopped, unsure of what this was all about, fearing some kind of Homeland Security clear out of my car. When I did stop, the bored-looking lady in the booth asked me whether I had any fresh fruit "on board". I'm sure some of you would say that yes, there was one fresh fruit on board, but I just replied no and almost laughed at the question. And she said have a good day. I looked it up and apparently California doesn't allow any fruit from outside the state to come in.

Big Sur tomorrow. Excited.


View Leg 1: San Francisco in a larger map