An adventure to be sure

 Well, poor timing of course. What a day to decide to drive up the coast to visit a friend near Anaheim. One of the biggest storms of the season for So Cal and this is the day we decided I should visit. Better to be safe though. 

Alarm went off at 5 so we could leave by 8 am. Rain was predicted all up the coast from San Diego to L.A. and a bit beyond. Me being the typically doubtful Californian thought, they've predicted torrential rains before and it  underperformed.

Well I was wrong this time. It was barely drizzling where I live but the route we were taking goes over a small mountain pass to the rest of North San Diego. As soon as we hit that crest, it started raining more. Within five minutes I was slowed to 50 mph due to low visibility. Okay I've driven through rain before  i can handle this. Because usually about five or ten miles later there's no more rain.

Not this time, it only got worse.  So normally with good roads it would take me about two hours to get from my home to Lakewood where my friend lives. We left home around 7:48, by the time I had driven an hour, we hadn't even left San Diego County yet and my hands were starting to get stiff from gripping the steering wheel. We were just north of Del Mar and I couldn't handle the road anymore. My average speed was 45 and visibility was sometimes headlight distance. So no.... got off at the first opportunity (Leucadia Blvd to be exact) pulled into a gas station and messaged then called my friend.

We only got maybe a third of the way in an hour. We hadn't even hit L.A. roads yet and it was only about 8:30 in the morning. We saw people zooming past on either side of us, blown out tire shrapnel, two accidents and other debris all the way back home. CHP had to do a traffic break to slow everyone down before I decided to get off the road going north. Semi had pulled off the road and had the hood open on the way back home. It was just  not good at all and took us another 45 minutes to get back to our neighborhood. 

While on the way home, I wanted something warm and cozy when we got back. I said, 'Grilled cheese sandwiches?' But then we didn't have any tomato soup and then had a craving, 'How about pepperoni pizza from Costco?' It seemed like we had been on the road for half the day so when we got to Costco the lack of crowd at the food court had me look at my watch. It was only 9:30.  Jon ducked inside to use the restroom, I ordered the pizza and about twenty minutes later it came out hot from the oven and we scooted away home.

So, who else has fresh hot pizza for breakfast on a rainy day?  That would be us. 

As  I'm writing right now at 12:30 pm the rain has just started pounding down again, I can see it occlude the distant hill outside the bedroom window. Rain is good, great for the garden, washes cars even, not so good for driving in.

Tine for some knitting and listening to the rain outside and Jon snoring in the front room.