Travel day back to the SF area and a few reflections

Today was a road trip day in order to return to the San Francisco area for our flight home tomorrow. We decided to make the return drive in one day via the interstate route.  Yesterday, we discovered that the highway connecting our hotel to Interstate 5 was closed due to forest fires in the area.  We were afraid we would have to backtrack about 2 hours to reach the interstate.  Fortunately, the fires were under control this morning and the highway was reopened.  As we drove south, we passed through the fire areas.  We witnessed the charred lands first-hand and even saw smoldering groundcover in some areas.  

I have a few reflections/observations from our past (almost) two weeks:

• Apparently, we need to do a better job of reducing our carbon footprint and just being less wasteful in our every day life in North Carolina.    Almost every counter service restaurant we encountered did not have "serve yourself" napkins or ketchup to reduce waste.  I am a napkin hoarder, so this was hard for me.  I had to ask for extra napkins on repeated occasions.  Crater Lake has even banned straws from its property.  The statistics they posted quoted the number of school buses we could fill each year in America due to the use of disposable straws.  I want to say it was around 700.  They gave us a sippy cup type of lid for our fountain drink, instead.  Most places only gave disposable bags if you asked.  Several stores even charged extra for disposable bags.  The San Francisco area had trash, recycling and compost bins in most eating establishments. The compost addition was interesting and may be something we should pursue at home.  Also, many restaurants made you bus your own tables when you finished eating. 

• Homeless people asking for money on the streets were much more prevalent in both the San Francisco area and in the smaller towns than we have noticed in other big cities or in our hometown.  Many places in SF had locked public restrooms in order to deter loitering.  I have so much respect for the Crisis Ministry organization in Lexington and the programs they have built for the homeless population in our town. 

• Life lesson learned -- Don't go to McDonald's in a town called Weed, California.  The reason is obvious.  We may have been the only patrons that hadn't just visited The Weed Shop (yes, it was a real place).  Everyone there moved in slow-motion, which is not good for a family with four hungry kids and a 5 hour drive ahead of them.  

We have definitely enjoyed our trip to the West Coast.  Who knows what next year will bring...