Day 2 - PEI or Bust: Bakersfield to Sedona

Day 2 started with a trip to Starbucks for Chai tea (in my case) and carmel apple spice for Jasper and Bryce and Superfood for McKinley. Then we went over to target to get a new bra that won’t poke me while driving and a few other things we forgot or knew that we would get on the road. The boys chose to stay in the car and continue watching the video that they were enthralled with. Once done with our errands we went and met Greg’s mom for breakfast. Good thing it was only an hour, that’s all I can stand. Is it terrible to not want to see your mother in law?

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When we finally got on the road, it was 11:47 am. We had to stop at Schwab to deposit a check that I completely forgot to deposit before we left and then we tried to find an orthodontist (using Yelp, which was woefully out of date in the orthodontist category) because Jasper forgot the package of rubber bands for his braces. No luck finding one open. Rubber bands will have to wait until Jasper heads home for boy scout camp. We also stopped at the Orawheat outlet to get some bread and other fixins – we keep a cooler in the back so we don’t have to eat fast food when we are ready for lunch. Bread was like a quarter of the supermarket price, which was a great deal. I did surprise the kids with donuts, which is unusual for me – who needs to give sugar bombs to kids when you are cooped up in the car with them. I waited until our next stop and then surprised them.

We left Bakersfield and headed South East through the Mojave Desert, going over the Tehachapi Pass. That name sounds like To Hatch a Pea to me and has always amused me. Barstow was a really sad, run down town. We stopped for a few groceries at a Von’s. We finally made it outside of California and it is 4:14 pm as we cross into Arizona with 55645 odo. There were tons of semis with TN and ME license plates. I wonder if Tennessee and Maine have better road taxes or something that makes them a better place for licensing semi trailers (kind of like Delaware friendly corporations law begets a ton of Delaware corporations).

Mostly a boring drive through the desert. Thankfully, I figured out how to get the cruise control to work (so now I can exercise both legs). It was really hot out when we stopped in Barstow. Fed tehboys PB&J for lunch and then later we stopped for ice cream in Kingman, AZ. We had home made root beer floats at Mr. D’z. While we were there, we overheard a snippet of conversation: – “she’s pregnant and has cancer; everyone’ s allowed a breakdown…” Yes, we have definitely left the Bay Area. 55693 odo leaving Kingman and heading for Sedona. Today we experienced very hot temperatures – topping out at 109 degrees between Kingman and Flagstaff. The rootbeer floats and banana splits were tasty and just the thing to hit the spot in that heat!

I decided to show the kids Sedona, after years of traveling there for work. So I booked a hotel instead of camping (which was the original plan), and the kids got to experience the Amara Inn. I booked a hot rock massage for the next day. The kids mostly loved the hotel pool which was open until 10 pm every night. I actually put a suit bathing suit on (but didn’t go in the pool). We met a family from Los Gatos and all the kids has swimming races and played a ton of Marco Polo. I can’t believe how fast a swimmer Jasper is. That was a surprise to see. It was nice to cool off finally.

State License Plates:

IN, ME, TN, ID, IA, OR, WA, GA, Quebec, NC, ND, KS, NE, MN, OK, HI, IL, MO, KY, MS, TX, NM, UT, PA, Ontario, MT, NJ, OH, CO, MI, VA, SD, British Columbia

Things of Interest We Saw Today:

A sign that said Dodgers fans don’t wave
Onions on the side of the road in a heap
Several trucks carrying loads of garlic
One truck carrying a load of oranges
Tons of Bicycle riders riding together over Tehachapi Pass – reminded me of Run4FUNds so we waved and sheered them on
More onions outside Needles…must have fallen off a truck
Happy Jack Toad
Flat Top Wash
Proving Ground Road
Old Trails Road
Black Rock Wash
Shinabump Rump
Rattlesnake Wash
Devil Dog Road
Bun Boy restaurant in Mohave