Napa to Bakersfield - Day 53

Well, it was only 36 degrees when we crawled out of the tent. Mark made some coffee using a hot pot which he took to the bathroom. Again, we opted out of showering. The thought of getting undressed in the cold shower stall and then standing under a small stream of hot water which clearly would not hit all parts of the body....no way! It took quite a while to break camp. The tent and the tarp were wet and somewhat muddy on the bottom. And, when we unzipped the two sleeping bags, I discovered that the bottom sleeping bag was quite wet where our feet were! No wonder it felt cold down there! But, we did stay dry. However, we are convinced we made the right move in leaving as we'd have to go into town to a laundry to dry out the sleeping bag if we had decided to stay. Anyhow, somewhat regretfully, we left Calistoga and headed south.

This really marks the half-way point of our trip in that we are now heading back home, even though we won't be home for a while. That always feels a bit sad.

Anyhow, we drove back down Interstate 5 and stayed at a rather dumpy EconoLodge in Bakersfield. We are annoyed as the internet only works in the lobby. I had to go and send out emails to everyone in my mail box, 20 at a time, because of a social network, sent to me by a friend in Egypt which hijacked my entire address book. It is very embarrassing as it sent out an email asking people to join and be my friend. This includes, not only my friends, but students, students' parents, professional colleagues and people who have rented with us, so it makes me feel pretty awkward.

We did have a lovely dinner at a Mexican restaurant down the street, called Agave. I had a wonderful chicken salad with spinach leaves, avocado, nuts, cranberries with a raspberry vinaigrette. Mark had a steak and carmelized onion burrito.