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Not just a day, but a season and time of day. The last time I came to Tehachapi, it was January and night time, today it was May and day time. Last time I was in the dark and afraid of the snow, today it was light and lightly raining, and the hills and mountains were glorious!

Tomorrow morning I motor East, figure to go about 360 miles, which lands me in Tehachapi, CA. Six years ago I took the same path, starting in the evening from Sacramento after a day of loading. After driving many miles on a totally dark road, I found a highway that took me up the mountains in snow to the prison town of Tehachapi and found a decrepit motel to spend the night. The next morning I was grateful to wake to sunshine on the Tehachapi Mountains.

Interstate 40 covers most of what once was Old Route 66, and I have many fond memories of it. About 3 decades ago, one evening my bus pulled into Oklahoma City and the number of big old cars in great shape amazed me. About 15 years ago I lived in Albuquerque and loved the feel of the mountains and desert. And almost three years ago had some of the best laughs ever in Arizona. So I’m looking forward to the trip.

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Going by way of I-80E would let me see Winnemucca, Salt Lake City, and Cheyenne again, as well as some new places. By way of I-80E and US-50 would take me through Colorado and Kansas again. But I’ve decided to take I-40E for better weather and the chance to see Old Route 66 for the sixth time. If you are on the route and would like to meet up, let me know and we’ll work out the details.

Well, Sunday I’m taking off on a Road Trip of about 2010 miles, and yes, I’m on a mission from God. I could go by way of I-80 E or I-40 E or I-80 E & US-50 E. I have in mind to drive about 6 hours a day, about 360 miles a day, to shoot and post several Twitvids and one or two Flip videos each day. I don’t know if I’ll wear sunglasses.

I’m really feeling this song today.

It happened again. A restaurant we had videoed showed up in the Baxter Bulletin — Three vehicles collide in Gassville — and once again the video is still a first page Google result after three years.  We thought it might be all over for Letty’s after the tornado, but we were wrong!

This morning I saw this article in The Baxter Bulletin, Local pizzeria wins, places in competition at the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. Nima’s Pizza won first place in the 2010 International Pizza Challenge for traditional pizza in the Mid-American Region and second place for traditional pizza in the International Pizza Challenge.

We shot this video about 3 years ago and it is still on first page search results for Nima’s Pizza after all this time.

This morning I remembered we are traveling to Mountain Home, AR in about a month on personal business, and wondered what sort of adventure we might have. We will fly from Sacramento to Denver, change planes, fly to Tulsa, then drive. Coming back we fly out of Tulsa to Las Vegas, then to Sacramento. Misty has a Funny Story about the last time we flew out of Tulsa.

The first time I heard this song, it was played by Asleep At the Wheel. I had forgotten how cynical the 2nd and 3rd verse are:
“Little bee sucks the blossom, big bee gets the honey,
Little man picks the cotton, big man gets the money.
“Always wear a great big smile, never do look sour.
Travel all over the country, playing by the hour.”
You can also hear it in Bob Wills’ words before, during, and after the song. But that is not the way I feel about this trip!

There is no place like home for the holidays, but we are grateful for the many trips we have taken over the last five years. Take a look!

Music by Kevin MacLeod