Snow showed = no show

GIANT bummer. We did not make it to Ashland today. We made it as far as the Target (truly an all-purpose destination, with excellent cell phone reception, road atlases, comedy CDs, inclement weather supplies, and clean restrooms) in Redding, CA. Kasey called to say the pass over Mt. Shasta might be closed due to freakishly early snow, and indeed the Highway Patrol said we could probably only get to Ashland today "if we could fly." Alas, we are not so skilled. We started to ignore this "official" advice, but my friend Jim even went online to view the Mt. Shasta live web came--a solid swirling mass of blizzardness. He lived in Ashland for 4 years and said that without chains we'd uh been fools to attempt that shit.



So craptastic crankiness ensued, plus Santa Fe Chopped Salads with sides of Tortilla Soup and Two Chicken [Veggie*] Tacos (crispy), until we realized Ashland will endure for us to visit it another day. Seventy-eight phone calls later, we found lodgings in Vallejo, CA and turned the Chevy Malibu wagon (in Champagne) southward. But we will get to Ashland someday. We will not be defeated. Some of you dear readers may remember that Mt. Shasta has tangled with me once before and lost. (JetBlue finally did do right by us, so now they rock again, but SHASTA SUCKS. What a blowhard of a mountain! Damn!)

PS: Jen reports that the drugstore next door to the Ramada Inn has safety caps on all the liquor bottles, which are removed at the register. Apparently, some people can't wait.

PPS: Oh, and last night we saw David Hess--albeit not for nearly long enough.

*[This post has been modified because I have since gone vegan.]