Kaiser Pass travelog #1
Clovis, CA · Fri, 8 Aug 2025, 9:15pm
Earlier this week we decided to push out one of our five trips in August. ...Well, one of my five trips; a few are business trips that Hawk is not joining me on. Regardless, it was disappointing because it was a leisure trip we were both looking forward to. But just because we had to delay a big weekend trip doesn't mean we can't do a smaller weekend trip instead. That means it's time for a Friday Night Halfway!
Tonight we're in Fresno (well, Clovis, actually), 165 miles from home, setting up for a trip to some hiking and sightseeing spots in the Sierra Nevada tomorrow.
I won't bore you with a long travelog of our drive out to Fresno. I mean, I could... and actually I have in the past. Check out this travelog of the drive to Fresno if you're interested. 🤣
For tonight, here are a quick Five Things about this evening's drive out to Fresno:
1) We only made this plan last night. I love our ability to be spontaneous.
2) We left at about 5:40pm today, after work. That was later than I wanted. My late afternoon Friday meeting was supposed to end at 5 but it ran overtime. (Dude definitely hates his family. 🤣) Fortunately Hawk and I packed earlier in the afternoon so all we needed to do was zip up our bags, carry them out ot the car, and lock up behind ourselves.
3) Traffic was surprisingly light. We hit a few slow downs leaving Silicon Valley but nothing as bad as usual for the Friday Night Escape. Even the 152 pass east of Gilroy was free flowing. Weird! Thus we arrived at the hotel a smidge after 9pm, even including stops for dinner, gas, and a snack. I was concerned we'd be pushing 10.
4) This is our first Friday Night Halfway this year. The Friday Morning All-The-Way we did back in March doesn't count. 🤣 But seriously, it's disappointing that it's August already and this is the first time this year we've done this kind of trip. I fret that we let opportunities slip through our fingers earlier this summer for lack of planning ahead— even one day of planning ahead.
5) A different hotel in Fresno every time. We've done at least half a dozen of these Friday Night Halfway treks to Fresno over the years. It's a convenient stopover point for various things. But we've never stayed at the same hotel in Fresno twice. It's not that we haven't found a good place.... Frankly, it's that I'm always on the hunt for a cheap place. Often that means a cheap place on points. I picked the Holiday Inn Express we're staying at tonight because it looked nice and lets me use up a Free Night Certificate I get every year from one of the credit cards I own.
Clovis, CA · Fri, 8 Aug 2025, 9:15pm
Earlier this week we decided to push out one of our five trips in August. ...Well, one of my five trips; a few are business trips that Hawk is not joining me on. Regardless, it was disappointing because it was a leisure trip we were both looking forward to. But just because we had to delay a big weekend trip doesn't mean we can't do a smaller weekend trip instead. That means it's time for a Friday Night Halfway!
Tonight we're in Fresno (well, Clovis, actually), 165 miles from home, setting up for a trip to some hiking and sightseeing spots in the Sierra Nevada tomorrow.
I won't bore you with a long travelog of our drive out to Fresno. I mean, I could... and actually I have in the past. Check out this travelog of the drive to Fresno if you're interested. 🤣
For tonight, here are a quick Five Things about this evening's drive out to Fresno:
1) We only made this plan last night. I love our ability to be spontaneous.
2) We left at about 5:40pm today, after work. That was later than I wanted. My late afternoon Friday meeting was supposed to end at 5 but it ran overtime. (Dude definitely hates his family. 🤣) Fortunately Hawk and I packed earlier in the afternoon so all we needed to do was zip up our bags, carry them out ot the car, and lock up behind ourselves.
3) Traffic was surprisingly light. We hit a few slow downs leaving Silicon Valley but nothing as bad as usual for the Friday Night Escape. Even the 152 pass east of Gilroy was free flowing. Weird! Thus we arrived at the hotel a smidge after 9pm, even including stops for dinner, gas, and a snack. I was concerned we'd be pushing 10.
4) This is our first Friday Night Halfway this year. The Friday Morning All-The-Way we did back in March doesn't count. 🤣 But seriously, it's disappointing that it's August already and this is the first time this year we've done this kind of trip. I fret that we let opportunities slip through our fingers earlier this summer for lack of planning ahead— even one day of planning ahead.
5) A different hotel in Fresno every time. We've done at least half a dozen of these Friday Night Halfway treks to Fresno over the years. It's a convenient stopover point for various things. But we've never stayed at the same hotel in Fresno twice. It's not that we haven't found a good place.... Frankly, it's that I'm always on the hunt for a cheap place. Often that means a cheap place on points. I picked the Holiday Inn Express we're staying at tonight because it looked nice and lets me use up a Free Night Certificate I get every year from one of the credit cards I own.