On the other hand…
July 25th, 2009…sometimes reliving the past turns out to be, well, fun.
Last weekend, I had occasion to drive from Portland, OR to Monterey Bay, CA. (Yes, yes, planes fly — but circumstances dictated driving.)
And, as it happens, I was leaving the Monterey Bay area on Monday morning and needed to be home Monday evening. There’s just no way to avoid the morning Bay Area commute under those circumstances, including driving Highway 17 in the commute. What to do? What to do?!?
Well, duh. I used to drive Highway 17 every weekday, commuting between Capitola and Hayward. In fact, People I Respect refused to let me drive 17 if it wasn’t during the commute because those idiots/tourists/amateurs clearly couldn’t drive and, um, I tended to be vocal about their inabilities. (There are two kinds of drivers on 17, we used to day: the quick and the dead.)
So, last Monday morning, I drove 17 in the commute. And (with all due modesty) it was a blast.
In fact, I think it was a bit easier than it was the days I drove it regularly. Even at 6 a.m., I didn’t see a single sand truck. And (mind you, almost two decades have passed) I think there was actually less traffic.
Even odder, I think the pace was slower. Back when I was driving the ‘tola-Hayward-’tola trip daily, once you got through San Jose and hit 880, the opening ante on the right lane was 80, and speed clicked up about 5 mph/lane as you moved left. This drive was a fairly sedate — in the inner-most lane — 5-10 mph above the speed limit.
All that said, I spent less than 12 hours, total, on the road Monday. (It was a bit discouraging to have the GPS tell me, when I got to I-505/I-5, “continue for 569 miles”.) Nonetheless, I arrived home with plenty of time to do laundry, have dinner, and make lunch before returning to work on Tuesday.
I’m glad my current commute is shorter and contains no mountain passes. I’m also glad I got to drive 17 in the commute again!