Peter and Yvonne were arriving in Los Angeles (from Sydney) on the morning of June 18th. Although one can drive from Seattle to Los Angeles in two days, I planned on three, to catch up with friends along the way, and have a bit of slack available if needed.
After 9AM Mass, I came home to pack and then headed south along I-5. Leaving about 10AM means the worst of the morning traffic has dissipated. Apart from the regular urban slow spots, there was one other delay - a stop/go slow period of about an hour just south of Albany in Oregon. The cause was an accident involving a death. Not being all that familiar with the area (even though I had the GPS), and not knowing the cause of the delay, I stuck with the traffic. And then it cleared up and although there was an area with emergency vehicles, it was not clear exactly what happened. Other than (most likely) somebody doing something stupid.
After the delay I pulled in to a rest area and called Marilyn to let her know of the delay, and an estimate of when I'd be there. I arrived at a still reasonable time. We then went out for a delightful dinner at an Italian restaurant in Ashland, where the eating is pretty good because of the tourists coming to see the plays.
Then it was on to Yreka, where fortunately I had reservations, as the motel was pretty full. Well, I guess it's summer...
After a catching up session with Jeff, his brother Mike came over and we headed off to dinner. I didn't note where we went, but I'm sure it was enjoyable! Afterwards we did a little stuffing around with wireless networks, but failed to solve the sometimes connectivity problems.
After checking email, Jeff and I went to Central Computer to buy some USB disk enclosures which I wanted. I planned to use these as backup devices to take several copies of my files with me when I moved back to Sydney. I have also noted "photographing sessions", but I have no idea what that was, and I have no photos from that day. Whatever.
I took Jeff to lunch before departing for Los Angeles. I-5 all the way to Los Angeles, where I managed to arrive in the thick of Los Angeles Friday night traffic. Which meant about 10 miles (15km) of stop and slow traffic on I-405. Not being at all familiar with the area, and figuring that all roads are likely as bad, I stuck it out. Never did see an accident, so I presume this was "just normal". Not something I could stand.
Anyway, I had a reservation, so wasn't concerned about having a place to stay. And so I was ready to head of to the airport in time to meet Peter and Yvonne in the morning.