Yesterday was one of the rare Easters we shared that wasn’t — how to say this — very Easter-y.
This has happened to us at least once before because we were on the road. That time, I think, we had Easter brunch at a Denny’s somewhere in middle California.
Again. Not very Easter-y.
Had we been home this time, our plan woulda been to attend services at St. Mark’s.
Of course that plan would’ve counted on St. Mark’s being open for Easter services during the ongoing pandemic. Which I’m not sure it was.
We spent yesterday in perpetual motion. It was both a visiting day... and a traveling day.
Now the visiting day was because our plan—waaaaaaaay back at the beginning of our trip—was to come straight down first thing and spend time with Kimmer’s aunt and uncle.
We left on a Thursday and didn’t need to be at the campground ‘til the following Tuesday afternoon at 3. Count ‘em: that’s five days of travel when all it usually takes is three.
We were gonna hit the California Coast at Crescent City and arrive at Kimmer’s aunt’s and uncle’s place by Monday. Stay over Monday night ‘til Tuesday. Leave for Moro Campground around noon-ish. No sweat.
Yeah. After two different problems with the RV, we had to abandon it in Medford, Oregon, at a shop that was perfectly closed on Sunday so we couldn’t speak with them until Monday and, by the time we had a plan in place with them on Monday, rented an SUV and transferred all our stuff into it... we weren’t on the road until Monday mid-afternoonish, arriving at the campground at 830-ish the next night. More than five hours later than we intended back when we had plenty of time to get there.
Okay so Easter Sunday. The day we’re actually leaving southern California is also our only opportunity now to visit Kimmer’s aunt an uncle.
By the way (and I hadn’t actually thought about this, but) the temperature out towards Palm Springs is hotter than the coast. Much hotter. The hottest temps we experienced so far.
It made for quite the Easter Sunday... in the very lovely outdoors of a covered patio. :-)
We were there ‘til 1-ish at which point it’s fare-thee-wells all around and we’re on the road again after a quick stop at the local WalMarts and then dinner 120 miles up the freeways to Santa Clarita and its Habit Burger Grill.
The burgers were fantastic. And it’s a heckuva thing that, even though there’s a location less than five miles from our home, the first time we ever went was in Santa Clarita, California, where I can’t help but think of the zombie tv series that bears its name. ;-)
From Santa Clarita there’s about three hundred miles and five hours we’ve gotta indulge to get to San Jose. We leave Santa Clarita at five-thirty... which means we won’t arrive at our hotel (still to be determined) after ten.
It’s a little after nine when we finally pull off I-5 just shy of Santa Nella, joining State Route 152 up, down, and around every hill between there and the coast. We’re maybe an hour in those hills in the dark, probably less. But it definitely seems like more... which it always does when you’re driving back roads in the full blown night at high speed.
The sweet thing, though, the very sweetest thing... is that around the time we get into those hills Linzy’s firing up a livestream at her apartment back in Seattle. She’s giving a performance on Instagram with guitar and voice. Which is basically what I’ll always remember about that drive through the dark: our daughter singing a bunch of wonderful covers on our drive to San Jose. Right there in the car.
By the time we roll into the parking lot of the Wyndham Garden in San Jose over by the airpot, it’s ten-thirty.
Incidentally, when we walk into the lobby of the Wyndham Garden, it’s all green accents in that space. Kimmer’s favorite color: green. Kind of an odd thing for me to notice... but for whatever reason it just hit me like that.
Kimmer must love this space.
And that’s our Easter Sunday, 2021. A visit with family, a long drive, finding out that our new WiFi hot spot actually does work on the road, experiencing a lovely, live nighttime concert in the car, and finishing the day with that movie “The Circle” ‘til midnight.
Of course I don’t, strictly speaking, recommend any of this as the way to celebrate Easter Sunday.
This is just how ours worked out this year.