Almost there!

Yesterday we hit our third corner.  We left early to try and beat the traffic that would be heading toward San Diego.  We made great time and rolled into San Ysidro with ease.  We pulled off at an ARCO station to get gas.  This was also one of the places we needed to obtain a phone number from to prove we had made it.  ARCO stations are quite unique.  They only allow traffic to flow through the station in one direction.   Of course we end up pulling in the exit and have to do a little U-turn in the station in order to be headed the right way.  There is a "pay at the pump" option for debit cards and cash, but they don't accept credit cards.  We spend about 10 minutes trying to figure out why it won't take our credit cards or our cash (bills don't tend to stay crisp in sweaty pockets).  Beamerpop finally went inside to see if he could pay with his credit card.  The cashier, thinking it was a debit card, instructed him to use it out at the pump.  We are very confused at this point and continue to try and shove 1s 5s 10s and 20s into the cash slot.  A gentleman walking into the convenience store yells to us, "It's broke.  Only takes cash!"  Burgma yells back, "Can we pay inside with cash?"   "Yeah they'll take your cash.  This is still America, isn't it?"  Finally, after a few more confusing interactions with the cashier inside we are able to get gas.  Much more importantly, we are able to get our receipts to include in our four corners packet.  The last thing we need from this ever confusing ARCO station now, is their phone number.  In the past, the gas station has had a business card they can give us with the number on it.  This time however, the cashier pulls out his personal cell phone looks through it for a while and then writes a number down for me on scrap receipt.  Who knows if it's actually the number to the gas station and at this point I don't care.

We had a long ride through San Diego, Los Angeles, and on into the never ending farm land of northern California.  We drove through fields and fields of tomatoes, onions, grapes, almonds, oranges and lemons.  Trucks and trucks of tomatoes were on the road.  Every now and then, we would see patches of tomatoes that had spilled over on to the shoulder.  I would hold my breath as we passed the trucks.  The last thing we needed at this point was to get injured by a tomato that decided to jump ship.

At lunch we looked at the map and decided to try to make it to Santa Nella.  Not knowing anything about Santa Nella, we crossed our fingers in hopes of a meal and a decent bed.  We were pleasantly surprised with a great Danish restaurant called Andersen's.  Beamerpop and I, of course, had to have split pea soup.  

With a goodnight's sleep under our belts we arose early this morning and made it to Sacramento for breakfast.  Burgma spotted a donut shop that only took two U-turns to get to.  It was well worth it!  This donut shop is THE hang-out breakfast place for the Retired Men's Club.  As we sat with our coffee and donuts, we noticed that the other patrons seem to just help themselves.  They get up, go behind the counter, pour themselves a refill, and bring the creamer to their table.  Everyone was very friendly.  They gave us a short scenic route to get back on the highway that was a great break from the interstate.

Breakfast behind us we rode on making it out of California (FINALLY!) and into Oregon.  The scenery change was refreshing, not to mention the cooler temperature.  Oregon is BEAUTIFUL!  It definitely made the we-must-come-back list.  We rode up and over mountains covered in evergreens.  The curvy roads were a blast all the way to Salem, where we decided to stay for the night.  That now puts us only 330 miles away from Blaine!  It's hard to believe that in the course of three days we will have hit our third and fourth corner.