That day we left Napa at about 2pm, made a stop in San Francisco and got to Orange County at about 10pm. I was expecting a really boring road but found some gorgeous sculptural landscape that, like our journey went on for miles. I can say that this was an experience.
The experience started as we joined the i5 near San Fran. The gps suggested the next turn would be in 250miles and that was a turn, not a road change. We then drove through smoothly moulded hills covered in fresh green complemented by the gorgeous blue sky. If you look at your Windows XP desktop, that’s what these hills looked like. Although these hills had miles and miles of windmill electricity turbines on them!
To our immediate right and west lay 200 miles of hills. To the east and left, flat land for hundreds of miles into the distance. We passed, not just acres, but millions of acres of orange groves. All delicately planted in straight lines, no doubt each miles long. Imagine being able to plant huge patterns of orange groves, only visible from space! The first thing I think about is how many oranges are produced. What is the number of oranges per US citizen? Then I wonder who has to pick them all! And on the 6th day the US invented cheap Mexican workers.
The land is all really fertile, yet in Europe, every spot of land has an attribute and purpose. Here it seems that nobody has got around to it yet. It all seems untapped and waiting to be savaged. Later in the journey we crossed a concrete banked canal transporting irrigation to an otherwise dusty land. The massive structure signifying the influence it has on the local landscape.
We chased the sunset and watched the eta on the gps change in our favour. If only by a minute every 20 miles. We stopped for gas in the absolute middle of nowhere, about an hours drive north of Bakersfield; which is in the middle of nowhere. We watched the sun drop below the desert covered horizon and the golden colours in the sky matched that of the dusty landscape beyond.
Our gas station was one of three and complimented by a variety of chain diners advertising full meals for $5 to weary truckers stopping for the night. The gas station shop had a choice of 2ft high plastic animals such as German Shepherds. I was very tempted to capture the amusement of cheapness, but felt that my amusement maybe of offence to other’s livelihood. We found tumbleweed and realised that it is a plant that gets up and relocates with the wind when it gets bored of being in the middle of nowhere!
The gas stations and diners was a small village of enterprise in an otherwise barren landscape. A road which spans the State to make communities closer makes communities to support the traffic. I almost expect to meet “Napoleon Dynamite” a character in a film of the same name, probably set in Idaho. This is the real Midwest, well kinda! The only turns we make on the road are to dodge traffic and with few obstacles I am very tempted to add an extra 20miles to the speedo; my wrists get slapped when I do!
As our mp3 repeats for the umpteenth time, I calculate how many James Bond films we could watch in the time it will take to do this journey. Despite the scenery, some proper entertainment would go a long way right now. The first bend is just south of Bakersfield. I remember an urban myth about a guy who, whilst driving his RV on the freeway, put it on cruise control then went into the back to make himself a cup of coffee. He inevitably flew off the freeway and successfully sued for not understanding the meaning of cruise control.
The cover of night lowers and the i5 widens to 6 lanes as our journey stretches up-hill. This is more than a hill, it is huge! Our ears pop several times on our ascent and the top is met with a sign alerting us to our elevation of 4400ft. In perspective, that is the same height as Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the UK, which astounds me! I have visions of hikers in red cagoules coping with the windy, cold and exposed climate of the Scottish Highlands. This, being America, why shouldn’t there be a 12 lane road up a little hill!
We are in pitch black and I wish we were here in daytime. I can imagine the scenery being spectacular, but more frustratingly, I cant see the road. I look forward and can make out the shape of the road based on the slower moving vehicles but am unable to see the outline or lanes of the road. There are several drivers who have particularly bad lights and one cuts in front necessitating the uncomfortable application of the anchors.
The onward traffic is strong and each passing vehicle has lights directed straight at my eyes incidentally struggling to focus on the invisible road. I expect to see a glow of light pollution escaping the approaching Los Angeles. Likewise I am disappointed in the hopes of seeing the urban sprawl of city lights transverse as far as the eye can see. We return home and as we sit in the car port, we take a deep breath considering the distance covered and how our bottoms had moulded to the seats. The eta on the gps was within a couple of minutes of what it suggested 300 miles earlier.
