On The Road.....Again

I remember, with fondness, watching On The Road with Charles Kuralt. I often felt as if that might be the perfect job to have, simply traveling around the country seeing places you hadn’t seen before and being able to wonder the back roads at whim. (Come to think of it, I guess that is why I enjoyed Steinbeck’s "Travels with Charley" so much.)

I still enjoy seeing things I haven’t seen before… That is one good thing about having to travel at times for my job. I have over twenty years worth of memories of places that I most likely wouldn’t have seen had it not been for the requirements of travel for the sake of work.

For the past four days I have been lucky in being in Sacramento, CA. I have been to California before, but never Sacramento. So far, I am impressed with what I have seen in my short stay here. Aside from all of the things right here you can do or see (such as Old Sacramento which I visited today) you are no more than a couple of hours drive time from many other very interesting places to visit…such as San Francisco for example but I’ve been there before.

SO… To do something new, I took the opportunity on Saturday to drive over to Reno which meant a very cool drive up through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It had been a long time since I’d had the opportunity to be in the mountains, and even though they are not quite the Rocky Mountains, they were more than good enough. It was a very relaxing drive and I could feel the tension draining from my body as I drove along taking in the sights.

I didn’t stay long in Reno as I was actually focused on getting to Virginia City, Nevada to take in some of its historic sites. After spending an hour or so there and having a quick bite to eat, I headed on down to Carson City, Nevada (the capital of NV) and drove around there a little while, then headed back up into the mountains on US 50 towards Lake Tahoe. (Side Note: It was kind of cool pulling up to US 50 and knowing that if I turned left, instead of right, I could drive straight over to where I grew up in Illinois. Ok, it was cool to me…)

I’ve seen shots of Lake Tahoe, and heard a lot about it over the years, but nothing prepares you for when you head down into the basin and catch the first site of this large lake surrounded by mountain peaks. I’ve seen much beauty in my time, but this might top the list. I can only wonder how John C. Fremont and Kit Carson must have felt when they first set eyes upon the lake back in 1844. I only wish I could have seen it then, as it was before hotels, lodges, and casinos came into existence around the shores.

After leaving the Tahoe area, it was back to a very enjoyable drive through the mountains back into Sacramento.

Yes, I greatly enjoyed the experience, just as I enjoyed a good steak at Sacramento’s oldest steak house this evening while I was down in Old Sacramento. I enjoyed walking over to the river and enjoying the cool breeze while watching the sun dip down towards the horizon. But… At the same time, as with this entire trip, most of the time as I was seeing things I was thinking about how the wife, or the kids would have liked this or that, or wishing they were there to see it with me. It is still a rewarding experience to me, but one that is none the less diminished.

Soon I will be heading back home. I hope my trip back is easier than it was coming as just the travel time alone can be a killer. Our plane was almost two hours delayed leaving which caused me to miss my connecting flight in Minneapolis and be stuck there for almost five hours. Then I had to fly onto Portland and wait an hour there and then finally I was on my way to Sacramento. I’m ready to go home…