Road trip

Mr. Gadget and I will be leaving on a road trip bright and early tomorrow morning. The drive will take about 8 hours, and we are hoping to get out of town before the worst of the rush hour. But from what I hear, the rush hour is pretty much all the time here in L.A.

Mr. Gadget has two totes full of tools in the car--for any possible car problems we might encounter--so, of course, we won't have any. Isn't that always the way?

I plan to take some car knitting: a blue garter stitch scarf that I'm close to finishing, and some red yarn for another one. Knitting is a good car project, and garter stitch is the most mindless stitch I know. I'll be in the passenger seat keeping Mr. G. company, and hopefully the knitting will deter me from back-seat driving. And maybe it will distract me from those little things Mr. G does that make it necessary for me to back-seat drive....

We'll be traveling north on I-5--The Tomato Highway. During the summer there are lots of trucks hauling tomatoes along this route. It's easy to assume the big red stains on the road are from multi-car pile-ups, but thankfully they're just the result of tumbling tomatoes.

Our relatives, who have a nice little place at the lake and have graciously agreed to let us free-load, have promised us a tasty dinner of tri-tip roast after we arrive. I've never prepared a tri-tip myself, but I've heard they are excellent. I'm looking forward to sinking my teeth into one and discovering just what all the hoopla is about.

There isn't much to see along the The Tomato Highway but there is plenty to smell. About 3 hours up the road we'll pass the feed lots. These are vast fields packed fence-to-fence and nose-to-tail with cattle destined for grocery stores. So I must remember to pack these:

Otherwise, I won't enjoy my tri-tip.

I'll be back soon with a trip report, but don't hold your nose, uh, I mean breath.