Yesterday was all about the drive. We had planned on a short drive to Morgan Hill, but decided that we should push on.

We were ready to hit the road a little after 10am. While I was posting to the blog, I watched our neighbors pull out. I jumped up and stepped out the door. I called out to them just as they were about to pass by – their TV antenna was still up. It probably wouldn’t have survived the first overpass!

We cruised south on US101. Before I knew it, we were in San Rafael. I wasn’t looking forward to a drive through the bay area. The traffic thickened quickly. Drivers made insane maneuvers in their cars. We crossed the San Rafael – Richmond Bridge. By this point, I was concerned about our fuel level.

I usually fuel up when we’re at half a tank or so. Pulling a rig this size into a gas station isn’t easy. Most of the time we’ll do a drive-by to look the station over and decide if we can get in and out of it. Getting out is the key. Many times pulling up to the pump isn’t an issue, but getting out might not be possible.

Once we were in the metro bay area, cruising down I-580 through Berkeley and Oakland, I didn’t want to exit the interstate. The streets in that area can be narrow and I wasn’t sure of what we would find. We didn’t see any gas stations near the off ramps.

We continued south. By the time we got to Milpitas, the gas gauge was rapidly falling to the red zone. We last gassed up in Brookings, Oregon. I couldn’t risk it any longer. Donna was checking Gas Buddy on her smart phone. I exited the freeway and she searched for gas on the GPS.

We found a station. I drove past it into a small industrial park. I saw a way I could get to a pump and exit. The road into the industrial park was a dead end. Oh no! Every business we passed had a small parking lot with only one way in or out. I really thought I’d been trapped with no way to turn around. But at the end of the road, there was a cul-de-sac and it was just wide enough for us to get turned around.

We haven’t had an issue finding gas before this. We always found a station large enough right on the highway. I was getting a little frazzled by it all. When we turned around and entered the station, it turned out to be tighter than I thought. I barely made it to the pump. Our tires were right up to the curb with only millimeters to spare.

I pumped 60 gallons into the tank. Turns out we weren’t in the dire situation I feared. The gas gauge must be pessimistic. We have a 75-gallon tank.

Once we got past that drama, I thought it would be easy going. South of Morgan Hill, the wind picked up. We were getting slammed with wind gusts from the west. I thought of my friend Jimbo. He was a long haul trucker and described his work as “hours of boredom, broken up by moments of sheer terror.”

As we continued south, the wind grew even stronger. It shifted and was now coming from the northeast. This was a partial tailwind. At times the road would change direction and we would have a direct cross wind. A couple of times, the intensity of the wind was so strong that I felt out of control. It was all I could do to stay in our lane.

When we pulled in to a rest area, the truck lanes were filled. Everyone driving a big rig needed a break! I pulled on through and parked along the side of the exit.

Donna made chicken salad wraps while I walked around and tried to relax. I’ve never been this tense while driving before. We got back on the road and drove about 10 miles to the RV Ranch outside of Paso Robles. The wind continued to blow until we went to bed.

This morning the air is still. We’ll head out soon. Our destination is the Rincon Parkway. It’s a county park on the old Pacific Coast Highway a few miles north of Ventura. There are RV spaces marked on the roadside, right on the beach. The cost is $27 for 24 hours. There are no facilities – rigs must be self contained. We will dry camp for a couple of days there.