All very Californian

Yesterday, we drove from San Luis Obispo to Mission Viejo, California along the 101. That road cuts along the coastal foothills, sometimes merging with the 1 and hugging the coast. But even when it turns inland, the 101 still offers beautiful scenery through wine country and cattle grazing land. So that part of the day was very Californian.

Three other events of the day were also terribly Californian. We awoke in San Luis Obispo to a heavy rain fall (which does indeed happen every winter here) and a dead battery in the car. But here in Californian, the AAA (American Automobile Association) is especially robust. They had a service vehicle out to replace our battery within a half hour. Cars are king in Cali.

Five hours into our drive (after a stop in Santa Barbara where Palmer through a fit at a lovely Italian restaurant with views over the pier), we hit Los Angeles. And true to expectation, for 3pm in the afternoon on a stormy day, we landed in a terrible traffic jam. The road was flooded, so that a 5 line highway was forced to merge into 1 lane, and well, it took a while. An hour to go 2 miles a while. We arrived to Mission Viejo a good 4 hours behind schedule, a bit worse for wear. But the day was not over, because around 8pm, an entire ant colony decided to descend upon the kitchen, which is also a very Californian thing, especially Southern California. All these tract homes are built on sandy soil, the native territory of little black ants. Sometimes, they like to reclaim their territory. Last night, their efforts were rebuffed by a combination of vinegar, windex, and Raid.

Just though I would share with my readers an intimate account of my day, for those who care to know.