MOVING TO BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON

We left Auburn about 10:00 a.m. hoping to miss  most of the traffic. That didn’t work out, but we did drive part of the way in the HOV lanes. We saw some trucks, in it,  we were two, buses, are fine. Then signage farther down the road made us rethink that and we pulled out of it. The signage isn’t quite clear when it comes to motor homes. It rained most  of the 120 miles to our destination, Bellingham.

Part of the “scenic” drive was in the congested areas as in this flora covered concrete…

…with that ubiquitous scotch broom decorating everything.

The stuff is really heavy in this part of the state. I guess I’m a purist and think there should be a program to eradicate the stuff. Inmate road crews could make short work of the stuff with consistent effort, at least slow the spread.

Roadside art form in concrete.

My own “art form” in the motorhome. I changed pictures in my one and only frame.

Took a nice 30 minute swim before dinner  and fell asleep reading a really good book. I don’t know why Jim gets such a kick out me sleeping while I read. I guess it’s because I don’t drop the book. Anyway, pretty silly.  Today, we’ll explore Bellingham.

ROLLING, ROLLING, ROLLING-

Its true, we're rolling, rolling, rolling. We left friendly Palm Springs, the dates, the palms, the citrus fruit growing everywhere, the morning power walks, the many fun activities,  and are headed for Soledad Canyon Thousand Trails.

We left elevation 18 and climbed up over the pass in the San Bernadino National Forest with our highest point at 4808 feet.  Its high desert and the temperature here is friendlier than the heat wave bouncing into Palm Springs. My weather wimp says, "We left just in time!"

Its pretty country, and as usual, I get to enjoy the view out the window while Jim drives.

The air got noticeably cleaner as we got above the city smog.

In fact, on the way out of town I finally got a good picture of this sign that I had seen several times. It bugged me because I could never read the bottom address to find out what on earth is going on. Enlarging the picture gave me the address. Its a good site for men's health issues. It explains what tests are necessary for men; what studies you can refer to and so on. It kind of annoys me though that the US government has paid for these huge, giant billboards with the address on the bottom so small its unreadable from the road.  So, if you are interested, now you have it.
http://www.ahrq.gov/

Anyone who has read my blog knows I'm a sign freak. When we turned onto Pearblossom Hwy I had to do it. I mean, isn't that a pretty sounding name?  Maybe there's  a female highway engineer lurking in the office who gets a chance to choose a name. Avenue T. Aargh, how unmemorable.

We kicked back, enjoyed the cool, quiet, had dinner,then "Roseanne's Husband" did the dishes and clean-up.

MOVIES, BOOKS AND MAN'S INHUMANITY TO MAN

Goodbye Monroe after 17 days. Bronco repairs delayed us 3 days, but the RV lifestyle accommodates delay. A slower pace, a lovely river, gave me permission to tackle Gary Jennings thousand page, (small print) book, The Journeyer which is historical fiction based on Marco Polo's discoveries, cultures along the silk road; the conquered territories of Genghis Kahn; Tibet, China, India, Persia, Arab cultures and Europe are all accounted for. He delves into the sexual practices of different cultures and tribes; their dress, weapons, transportation, religions, traditions, buildings, animal husbandry, food, medical practices, slavery and cruelty. Man's inhumanity to man never fails to astound me. Jennings goes into detail about torture practices among the various peoples Marco Polo encounters. (Shudder) Its a worthy read despite my revulsion. We then watched Goya's Ghost, which deals with the Inquisition. Again, man's inhumanity to man. The movie is also a compelling historical statement. Whenever we complain about government, it pays to bring to mind how much worse life was in ancient times. (The photo below is from Goya's Ghost.)
On the personal side, I was able to swim freely since my shoulder surgery/therapy, and took advantage of the pool. I so wanted to get on that lazy river, but didn't trust my strength to the current. I even got Jim in the pool.