I knew that it will be a long day for driving all the way to up north, Medford in Oregon. However, it became much longer than I expected. As I drove straight all the way through from San Francisco to Mt. Shasta before, I thought it should be OK for me to make it one day. But the extra 80 miles from the mountain city to Medford was something!
I tried to get out of San Francisco as early as possible, so I checked out Hilton by using in-room TV checking out service and rush out to a Car Rental office of Hertz, located just across the street. I waited only 4-5 min. in the line and was able to get my car in a instant, as I also had finished web check-in procedure back in Tokyo.
However….unexpected things happened. Hertz at the O’Farrell/Mason main office forgot to feature a GPS to my car – a Nissan sedan. So, they changed my car from Nissan to Toyota sedan of Yaris, which is OK, then installed the gear for me.
However, the installation took eventually took 40 min.! As I complained about their mismanagement (because I did web check-in to avoid troubles), they did not charge me the rental fees for a GPS.
Finally, I left the garage a bit before 11:00am and got on I-80 East toward Berkeley. Because it was very cold on the previous day in the foggy city, I decided to buy a sweat shirt with Berkeley logos. I spend more than a hour to shop around and had a coffee at the Bears’ café.
Now, let’s start driving toward the north again!
However, it took more than 30 min. from the Berkeley campus to I-80 because of the terrible traffic jam on the University Avenue. Besides, traffic was really heavy even on I-80 East as many people were travelling from the city to resort areas, such as Napa Valley, Sacramento and Yosemite.
Eventually, it took more than a hour to pass the toll gate outside of Vallejo (and the toll charge has hiked up to $5.00).
I took lunch soon after I got on I-5 from I-80 East via 505. Though I was not really hungry (because of too much coffee and heavy breakfast at Hilton), I decided to stop at Taco Bell to use their bathroom. I quickly finished 1 Burrito Supreme and a mid-size Diet Pepsi, then restart the long way drive. I called Mary that I may be able to get in Medford around 7:00pm.
However, I soon felt so sleepy. Because of the jet lag traveling from Japan to the California, I always have uncontrollable sleepiness at around 4:00pm. So, again, I decided to take a nap to get rid of my sleepiness because of jet lag after filling gas to my Toyota Yaris. I found a rest area at 10 miles before Redding and then took a 15-minute nap to get rid of my sleepiness.
And it worked! I was awake at around 5:00 pm and was able to continue driving with a clear head. Soon after I restated driving, I saw the shape of a beautiful mountain – Mt. Shasta! She greeted me with a smile, encouraging me to keep safe driving.
I got off the I-5 at the Mt. Shasta City exit took some photos of the holly mountain with closer look, then I quickly got back on the I-5 toward Medford.
At around 7:00pm I found a newly settled rest area in Weed, right next to the local airport. I stopped there to call Mary again for telling that I’m behind the schedule.
I got off the I-5 at the Phoenix exit at around 8:00pm and arrived at the Mallory’s house at 8:15pm. Mary and her dog Molly welcomed me!!
07:30 Buffet Breakfast at the hotel restaurant
10:00 Checking out Hilton and Checking in Car Rental, across the hotel.
11:00 Got on I-80 East toward Berkeley and shopping Bears’ outfits in Berkeley
13:00 Leaving Berkeley, but soon being caught by a traffic jam for 30 min. to get back on I-80
15:00 Lunch break in William on I-5 at Taco Bell
16:00 Pump gas and took a nap for 15 min. to get rid of my sleepiness
16:30 Greeted by beautiful Mt. Shasta
17:50 Hanging around in downtown Mt. Shasta to take some photos
18:30 Stopped at the newly built rest area in Weed, right next to the airport
20:15 Arriving in Medford, Mary’s house
21:30 Dinner at Mary’s place; specially made Grilled Cheese sandwiches and tomato/lettuce salad with ranch dressing, Sunkist Orange soda, nectarine & bing cherries
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