The Trip>>Day Four (July 9).............................Two Spirit

Day four of our trip began a little later than the previous days. Being a Sunday, and the fact that we had all stayed up late the night before, we at least waited for the sun to get up a bit first.

Priss was up before the rest of us, and got coffee going. Then Jackie and Faith woke, and finally I got out of bed. We each cleaned up and got ready for the day, packing everything back up and getting it loaded into the van.

We stopped on our way out to the site to get fuel. Now, for anyone that has never traveled through Oregon, the gas stations there work a little different than elsewhere. There is no self-service. An attendant comes out and pumps your gas, and yes, they do still clean the windshields for you.

Everyone was a little slow getting to the G2G site that day. The night before had definitely taken it’s toll. Finally though everyone that was still in the area arrived. George and Ginger broke out even more food for the grill. George was going to cook that day, but was afraid he might burn things, so I once again took on the cooking duties.

I got the grill going, and soon was cooking hamburgers, hotdogs, brats, and chicken legs. Meanwhile the chess matches had restarted, and others were sitting around talking. Finally with the food all prepared, everyone dug in for another meal. Once everyone had gotten their fill, I was challenged to a chess match by Richard. George tried to help him along the way, but in the end, I prevailed, but not by much.

Priss finally came over to let me know what time it was. I did not know it, but her and Jackie had already loaded the van and had us ready to travel. We said our goodbyes along with departing hugs, and about 5:30 we began the long drive home.

Driving back in the late afternoon and early evening offered us a different view from the trip up. The most spectacular view though was when we came around a curve to see Mt. Shasta ahead of us with a full moon off to one side of the peak. Priss managed to get a couple of shots with her camera, and down the road we stopped at a rest area for a few more shots.

By the time we reached Lake Shasta it was dark. We made the drive back into the valley in the night with not much traffic to contend with. We stopped about an hour north of Sacramento to refuel, and Priss took over the driving for the rest of the ride. A couple of times I almost nodded off, but Priss and Jackie talking would snap me out of it. Finally, close to 2:00 in the morning, we reached Manteca. Looking off to the south in the hills, we could see the glow of a wildfire that had started over the weekend. Little did we know at the time but that fire would still be burning a week later.

Finally at home, we got only what we needed out of the van, and went in to get some sleep. Within 30 minutes, we were all fast asleep, and day four had come to an end.

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