Drive up five
We left early, the clock read six on the dot as we rolled out the driveway (although things are pretty hazy when you wake up at four so I’m not entirely sure). We hit no traffic the entire way- one of the benefits of driving through Los Angeles on a Saturday morning. Passed that smoggy eyesore of a metropolis, Highway 5 is an incredibly fun drive. Farms and slaughterhouses litter the highway for hundreds of miles, and cops patrol every mile so you can’t drive above seventy. In short, we were bored out of our minds.
We stopped near the Ikea Distribution Center and picked up some delicious sandwiches and juice drinks at Starbucks. Standing around in line, the guy in front of us kept running outside to calm his twenty year old dog. He confessed to Hayley that his dog’s throat closes up when it gets nervous and it starts to wheeze and choke. The place was a zoo, so the dog was not handling it well. Luckily the dog made it out alive and we went on our way.
The conservative farmers that own the central valley have turned Highway 5 into a political campaign, posting “Congress Created Dust Bowl” signs everywhere. I guess I can’t blame them. What was once the “food basket of the United States” (Mom) is now dead trees and dust fields with a few dense green farms in between. Check out this blog post for pictures and believe what you want, as the posting is clearly biased.
One mile into scenic Highway 138, I noticed the dull orange gas light, which over next few seconds seemed to glow brighter and brighter. The indicator was several millimeters above the “E” and since I am a total math geek, I know that each millimeter above “E” is about ten miles of driving at around sixty miles per hour. Some quick math and I was driving fifty in the slow lane with mom’s in minivans honking at me to drive faster. Hayley was going catatonic in the seat next me. It was not a good situation.
And then came our savior, the Chevron at Casa de Fruta. Actually, first we saw Casa de Carousel, which was “hand crafted in Italy” and brought to this “paradise,” which is situated in between Los Banos (no explanation needed) and Gilroy (the garlic capital of California). Next, we saw Casa de Restaurant, Casa de Diesel (the Chevron), Casa de Deli and Casa de Sweets. Finally through the trees, I saw Casa de Choo Choo, a kids’ train which was packed to the locomotive with drunk adults screaming and shouting like a bunch of inebriated transients on the Union Pacific.
We skipped out on the restaurant and stopped off at the Panera Bread near the Gilroy Outlets. I will skip straight to my dessert, the delectable Orange Scone, which is the most delicious pastry on this half of Paris. If you haven’t tried it, you probably shouldn’t or you will not enjoy another dessert again.
After that wonderful experience, we drove straight home. We made good time at eight hours, which to me is really horrible time when spent in a car driving through meat farms and dust bowls. I have no desire to make that drive ever again and I am very thankful that it is over.