After Worldcon
The last day of Sasquan, I took a walk through the convention center, and went up to the consuite for a while, for one last look. As I said, even with the kerfluffle about the Hugos, I enjoyed the con. I will probably enjoy Kansas City next year more, though; if only because more people I know will be there, and hopefully, the fuss about the Hugos will have died down some.
I headed south to Klamath Falls, noting in passing that the air was not as smoky as it had been, but the smell of smoke was still detectable. The weather was beautiful, and I was interested in the exotic landscape surrounding me. I'd never been in the Northwest before.
Klamath Falls is at the very southern edge of Oregon, just north of the border. To get there, I had to travel through some rather empty country, including one 100-mile stretch with n-o gas stations. I made it to a gas station, but I was getting distinctly antsy by the time I did. Once I was in Klamath Falls, I called my local friend Jean Lamb, and she and her husband came out and guided me on in to where they live.
I stayed a couple of days with them; Jean had taken time off her job, but her husband couldn't, and had medical things going on as well. We talked about all sorts of things. This was the first time we'd met up in meatspace, but we'd known each other for over a decade online. It was a lovely visit.
Once it was time to go, though, I turned south again, heading for Riverside, CA. My brother and sister-in-law were expecting me, but they knew it would be a couple of days' driving. I crossed the California border and drove right past Mt. Shasta. It was interesting, not least because I had read Heinlein's "Lost Legacy," and knew of the ginned-up stories of Lemurians or Atlantians living on the mountain. If they were there, I didn't see them.
The trip south was uneventful, till just south of Sacramento, I got into a fender-bender. The road was narrowing and I hadn't noticed it, and all of a sudden, there was a semi-truck in my right side windows, and I could hear the crunch as we collided. I got off the road quickly, as did he, and I checked my car over. Luckily, the mainmost damage was to the right-side rear-view mirror, and some cosmetic damage. (I recently heard from the insurance company, and I've been held to be at fault. So no insurance money to help pay for the damage. Aye, well---it shouldn't cost more than a few hundred to fix.) The car was drivable, and the police were very nice about the whole thing. I stopped for the night at Bakersfield, CA, a little ways north of the LA metroplex. I did not want to come in to Riverside in the dark.