Absolutely Not Room 101

More on & on we drove on & off the 101. I've always loved the 101's Name. Reminds me of that Feared Room in 'Nineteen Eighty Four', Room 101. The room that you never get out of alive.

Not that I haven't ever not gotten out of the 101 alive. At least I think I always have. 

Perhaps I'm Dead & I Don't Know It. And this is Life After Death.

I haven't told you our destination. 

We may, or may not be going to San Francisco. 

At this point, we're tantalizingly close. I look to the billboards for guidance.  

'Point of Your Summer'. Yes, that's a good one. Coming from the Southern Hemisphere, I am not officially in Summer. The supposedly hot weather I am experiencing is merely a hiatus. And as I've already said, ever since I sat in that Arctic Theatre watching 'Harry Potter' last week, I have been Chilled to the Bone. Plus Marge insists on having the air conditioner in the car turned up full blast with a fearful wind blowing. I say nothing because I'm Grateful to be driven around. 

And then I see a whole lot fish reminding me that I'm going back to school. Yes, v. soon. But I've still got more of the 101 to see. 

Occasionally we take a detour even if we don't want to. Like the Blog, the trip seems to have a mind of it's own.

Interestingly, every time we got off the 101, it was Large Vegetables. 

I'm sure the World of Garlic is fascinating & complex. But we didn't stop to find out.

We drove on in search of some Golden Arches. 

Pourquoi, you may ask? 

Since I can't have a latte from 'Zinc', I adapt. I have a Non-Fat Iced Latte with two servings of Sugar-Free Vanilla Syrup & loads of ice. Both 'Starbucks' & 'McDonalds' serve this. I'm sure the massive amounts of chemicals from the syrup are coursing around my veins causing mayhem, but what the hell. Why not live a little?

We see a pair of Golden Arches in the distance & immediately take a right. We find ourselves in Castroville, the Artichoke Capital of the World. At first I thought the sign said 'Gastroville', which sounded unappealing. And then we spied this Large Artichoke, which looked unappealing. For a mere three bucks we could have a whole mess of Deep Fried Artichokes.

No thanks, we'll take McDonalds.

Sadly, the Golden Arches in the distance were a Mirage. That's what the 101 does to you.