I was headed south on 101, just outside Brookings, when traffic came to a stop. It was backed up for the quarter mile or so I could see ahead before a bend in the road.
I waited. And waited.
I checked Google Maps. It showed a l-o-o-o-n-g red line. In both directions.
I shut off the engine. And waited.
I expected my fellow stopped drivers would soon break out the lawn chairs and barbecues.
No traffic had come from the other direction the whole time I was there. And it continued to back up behind me.
Had there been a nasty accident? A few years ago, also while heading south through Brookings, a diesel pusher RV had rear-ended another diesel pusher RV at the state line. Was it something like this?
I waited some more.
I decided if I was going to have to wait who knows how long (had a bridge collapsed?) I would rather do it at one of the scenic overlooks I had passed. So I made a U-turn into the still-empty oncoming lane and found a nice day use spot overlooking the ocean. And took a nap for a couple of hours.
The trouble with 101 in this neck of the woods is that intersecting road on one side dead end at the ocean, and roads on the other side dead end in the mountains. There are no alternate through-routes.
There was no cell service there, so I couldn’t keep tabs on the traffic situation. But people were coming and going. I asked a guy how the traffic situation looked. “Oh, there’s a bit of construction with lanes narrowed and rerouted, but it’s not bad.”
Okay, I would give it a try.
Traffic was fine then. It didn’t even slow much for the construction diversion. Or for the California agriculture inspection station, which was closed. And there were no wrecked RVs.
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