Title: March 31, 2026 - Return to Fresno
Not sure why, but I got up at 6:00 and took a shower-I know why I took a shower, just not sure about the time. When Sherri got up, we had the hotel’s breakfast. It was the usual fare for Quality Inn: eggs, cereal, waffle and a few other things. We got packed and left the hotel at 8:50.
Andrea had told us about a place she liked: When Pie Meets Bread. When I looked, it would have been within walking distance. Sherri bought a cup of coffee, a cinnamon roll and an apricot pie. The piece was for later. The coffee and roll we had as we traveled. At least part of the roll as it was gigantic. The temptation was to eat all of it. I had a couple of hunks. We both felt this could be something we could spend calories on.
We got onto I-5. The question is: should we go the faster way down I-5. There is another way out of Red Bluff, following old Highway 99 to Chico. We took the latter as we had the time. While the road is longer and only two lanes, we go through orchards of various tree types and fields of green. Occasionally we encounter water on the windshield.
After passing Chico, we changed to going down Highway 170. Unlike the section of 99 we traveled, 170 has a minimal amount of stoppage and we sail along pretty well. Then we hit I-80 until we turned off to go to our friend's house.
We got in pretty close to when we told Peter and Jamie, 11:45. We had not visited their house since they moved up here. So we get a tour of the house: Sherri with Jamie and I with Peter. Peter and I do more talking about things and do not move too much until we get prompted to get the show on the road.
Today is Jamie’s birthday. We take them out for lunch at Cantina Azteca in Rancho Cordova. It is a low-key time which we enjoy talking with each other before we get served. Then we continue on while we eat. Peter drives us back to their house and we leave about 1:45.
There is much more traffic going down Highway 99 than we had this morning. But for the most part, we keep moving. One of the debates was do we stop at the Turlock Costco and get the car washed. But with the off and on rain, we decided to forego that.
We do need to get gas as we have been using the same tank as when we filled up in Oregon. Modesto’s Costco is close by, so we stop there. It is 3:45 and we are making good time. Afterwards, Sherri notes that 99 shows red on Google Maps.
We used to live in Modesto, so we should know our way around. But that was over 45 years ago. Modesto has changed a lot since then. We let Google tell us where to go. It takes us to the west of 99, then has us go back on it a couple miles later. But we still see red. Sherri provides a tour of downtown Modesto and gets us back onto 99 in Ceres.
Traffic along 99 for the home stretch has some stoppages, but nothing bad. We got home at 5:45, pretty tired. Steven has already gone out as we expected. The car gets unloaded. Then we collapse onto our chairs and watch a round of Jeopardy. Life is good.
