May 16-20, 2008 -- Road trip home

We checked out of the Nogales motel around 9 am and headed north on I-19. The day was overcast, breezy and noticably cooler than we had become accustomed to in Mexico. As we neared Green Valley, just south of Tuscon, we contacted our Tuscon Sailing Club friend Herm on the cell phone and arranged to meet in the WalMart parking lot just off the freeway. We met Herm and his wife Olga just before noon and were greeted warmly by them. We shared with them details about the trip, and they gave us a pair of club T shirts from last year's regatta. We climbed into their car and they treated us to lunch at a nearby Mexican restaurant where we told more stories.

After bidding them farewell, we resumed our drive north, but we didn't go far. Just north of Tuscon we again stopped for a visit, this time with Marney, who was on board the chartered catamaran we met up with at Evaristo. The meeting with her was a little more difficult to accomplish, since the freeway through Tuscon is one big construction zone, with all on-ramps and exits closed. We were able to meet a few miles north of the city, at a coffee shop. We had a delightful visit, and hope to cross paths with Marney and her husband Dave again some day.

In the afternoon we drove the remaining distance to Chandler, for a layover visit with my sister and her family. During our visit there we dropped in on family members living in the area. We let my sister's two boys have their pick from our seashell collection. I think those boys would stow away in the boat if given half a chance.

On Sunday morning we said our goodbyes and began the drive home in earnest. No more family visits, just 1500 miles of solid driving. I chose a different route home, heading up past Las Vegas and then north through eastern Nevada, on US 93. I enjoy traveling out of the way routes, and didn't want to experience the California freeways again. The weather turned hot that day. The thermometer on the truck's rear view mirror peaked out at 108 degrees as we skirted Las Vegas. It stayed over 100 degrees through much of eastern Nevada, and didn't begin to drop down until late afternoon, as we started gaining in elevation. It was interesting, watching the vegetation transition from cholla and saguaro cactus north of Phoenix, to Joshua trees and creosote in the Kingman area, with sage brush and juniper establishing their dominance as we penetrated deeper into the Great Basin country of central Nevada.

We stopped for the day in the little mining town of Pioche NV. As is the case with many old mining towns, Pioche is located on a steep hillside, just off US 93. It was first settled during the Civil War, and was a rich silver mining district in its day. It had the reputation of being one of the toughest mining towns in the country, and supposedly, over 70 men were buried "with their boots on", before the first resident died of natural causes. We found a nice little motel there, and had a good dinner at the only cafe in town.

Next day the temperature moderated as we continued our drive up US 93, through Ely, Wells, and the casino border town of Jackpot, just below the Idaho state line. Just north of Ely, we passed signs marking where the Pony Express trail had briefly linked east with west. In the afternoon we traveled through the plains of southern Idaho. We crossed the Snake River near Hagerman, and then linked up with I-84 for the final push west. We got past Boise around 6 pm, and drove on to the Oregon/Idaho border, stopping for the night at a motel in Ontario, OR.

The weather changed markedly on the final day's drive of the trip. The air was cool and crisp, heavy gray clouds hung overhead. We passed through several rain showers, the first precipitation of any kind we'd experienced in over 2 months. As we passed over northeast Oregon's Blue Mountains, the temperature dropped down to 48. A gusty wind kicked up, but the trailer tracked well and we had no problems. Shortly before noon we crossed the Columbia River near Hermiston. We were back in our home state, and on very familiar ground. The landmarks passed in accelerating succession: Benton City, Desert Aire, Hanford, Vernita Bridge, Vantage, George, Quincy and, around 3 pm, Wenatchee. Soon we were heading up our Wenatchee River Valley, noting the turbulent spring runnoff, with the river near flood stage. At 4 pm, having logged 1899 miles since leaving San Carlos, we arrived home, backed the boat up our driveway, and unhitched.