Never argue with a moron. They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with a lifetime of experience.

I couldn't sleep last night so we were on the road earlier than expected. Hit our goal, Vallejo, CA, by noon so drove a little further to Berkeley. Spent the afternoon doing very little in an overpriced Travelodge. Tomorrow I'll drop Pam off at the S.F. airport and get back on the road for the 12-hour drive home. I'll snooze in rest stops along the way and should be home very early Tuesday morning.

Some misc. observations as our vacation comes to a close:

• Seattle traffic is terrible regardless of the day or time.
• It rains a lot in Oregon. When the forecast calls for sun it rains a little less. I swear we drove roads that looked like 2-track because of the moss growing on the pavement. 
• Oregon drivers are clueless. Or stoned. Or maybe both. 
• Oregon has more Christian radio stations than anywhere I've ever been. I think they even outnumber country western stations. That means a ton of really bad radio preachers.
• Maybe the sheer number of Christian radio stations explains why I heard J. Vernon McGee twice. He died in 1988. But he was a really good radio preacher so it's OK that they still play his program.
• The CHP runs radar traps on sections of I-80 where the congestion is so bad everyone is doing 5 mph under the limit. Why?
• Speaking of I-80, the frequency of gas stations and fast food joints is inversely proportional to the urgency of one's bladder pressure. 
• A local one-off beats a chain food joint almost every time. We found some great examples on this trip (see earlier posts). Google maps shows several close to our motel here in Berkeley and we chose The Actual Cafe on the corner of San Pablo and Alcatraz. Interesting. Picture a small crowded joint that's exactly what you'd expect a mile from U.C. Berkeley, including the bike rack on the wall. Very good gourmet sandwiches! Pam had a toasted cheese sandwich made with three different cheeses. I had a tuna sandwich (not tuna salad) mostly because I thought it would be fun to eat a dead animal in Berkeley. But the interesting part was the jazz. The Actual Cafe is apparently hosting a jazz "festival" and we heard the last two numbers from a quintet and the first number from a quartet. The former looked to be students and the latter older guys, one of whom we guessed was a prof based on what he said at the beginning of their set. Both groups performed the kind of jazz that makes me wonder if they're playing the same thing and surprised when they all end at the same time. 

I think jazz is like watching your wife give birth. A few guys find it deeply moving. The rest of us are present. The difference is we can admit we don't get jazz.