As planned, we’re spending tonight at the Hampton Inn in Blythe, California. The drive from Harris Ranch was uneventful; Diane took the morning shift, driving through a fog-shrouded (but not fog-obscured) valley, until the sun broke through just as we got near the top of the Grapevine. From there on, it was a much brighter trip; we decided to ignore the directions from our car’s GPS and from AAA and got off I-5 at 210, rather than continuing to I-10 (the car) or CA 134 (AAA). The road was lightly travelled, so I think we made a good decision.
We took a break right at noon and had lunch at Dominick’s in La Crescenta, chosen rather randomly. It was a good choice — Diane and I split a pizza, and Jeff had spaghetti. We all cleaned our plates, too! The ice tea could have been better (it was Lipton from a dispenser), but that’s my only complaint.
After that, it was my turn to drive; we went back to letting the car tell us where to go, so it was 210 to 57 to 10 to Blythe, almost non-stop. I turned on the radio soon after taking the wheel, and we listened to the 60’s on 6 tribute to WLCY until we neared Palm Springs. Then I thought it would be appropriate to switch to Frank’s Place, and we stayed with that for about an hour; it was more enjoyable than I’d expected. We finished the trip to Blythe listening to the Beethoven’s Birthday Special on XM Classics, arriving a little before 5pm.
We asked the desk clerk where to eat, and the best bet seemed to be the Townes Square Cafe, a five-minute walk from the hotel. The food was OK, and the waitress was very friendly and efficient; I’d go back.
This hotel has one advantage over our house — a wide variety of TV channels. The friends who are staying at our house e-mailed us and said that the TiVos are complaining that they can’t get a satellite signal, so I guess I’ll have to call DirecTV and find out what can be done about it (preferably before we get home!). I suspect the dish or the multiswitch is acting up. *sigh*
Shabbat Shalom