Don’t talk to strangers but sometimes when you do you end up a few weeks later at their house sipping their awesome homemade IPA

At the almost quaint travel oasis in Coalinga, California there lies a small auto cemetery for cars not meant for travel on Interstate 5. Either abandoned by the side of the road or towed in with their owner they now sit humbly at an auto shop waiting to be towed to the great junkyard of the sky. For several hours I alternated between standing in the shade next to those cars or hanging out with Corey and Henna at the Best Western. The sky reeked of the thousands of cattle waiting to be slaughtered at the nearby cattle factory.

Thank you Dan and Carolyn for an awesome time in Santa Cruz!

After three glorious days hanging out with old and new friends we headed toward Sequoia National Park. Midway there we decided not to chance the fires and set course instead for Las Vegas. Soon after (and maybe in protest) seemingly every warning light lit at once.

It could have been worse and it was not all bad. The tow truck driver was one righteous dude. An amateur astronomer who was also able to fill us in on the water wars that devastate the valley (a local boy as well he took the side of the farmers over the EPA). The world weary chain smoking mechanic also had some tales worth a listen. In the end we paid for a very expensive oil change. We also made yet another course correction and will soon set sail for San Diego. Hope not to get blown off course again.

Sunset over Coalinga, CA