Oddities in California, oh my'

One of my concerns going into this adventure was whether or not I would drag myself out of my shell long enough to meet interesting people (nothing personal against relatives I will be visiting).

Someone once said that long ago a giant grabbed the United States by Maine, picked it up and shook it real hard and everything that was loose fell into California (hey, don't blame me, I'm only reporting what I heard!). So the loose things, or the oddities, are in abundance in California. We shall see, we shall see.

I met a nice gentleman this morning over continental breakfast at the motel where we were staying. I could tell he was not a local when I asked "how are you this morning" and his heavily accented broken English reply was "yes, and you?"

I sat with him and found out a number of things that we had in common (bear with me, this is a bit of a stretch):

His name was Hans, which is German for John, which is my middle name (what are the odds?).

He was indeed from Germany where he had been a teacher. My daughter studied (somewhat) in Germany for a year.

He was from near Munich, she knows where Munich is.

He recently retired and had always wanted to travel the world. His wife couldn't go with him but told him to go so as to not regret having passed up the opportunity. I imagine that Betty is saying pretty much the same thing.

His trip began in February in New Zealand, then went to Hawaii, then he flew to San Diego, rented a car and he is driving north to ... (And this is where it really gets bizzaro) wait for it, wait for it, I guarantee you will never guess where Hans' ultimate destination is - seriously, you'll never ever guess it....

Moscow, Idaho! (I told you you'd never guess it, you shouldn't have even tried)! My two sons went to University of Idaho, one lives in San Diego, the other in Idaho!

His wife would never get on a motorcycle, but he used to own one.

Very nice Herr, stood and watched me pack, wanted a picture of my bike, gave me the International Sign of approval when I started the engine - a very exaggerated grin accompanied by an equally exaggerated Thumbs Up.

So maybe California isn't so odd after all. I probably shouldn't think anything of the guy who pushed his shopping cart across a busy intersection in Eureka, wearing nothing but his underwear. Or the other guy down in the ditch alongside a busy divided highway, by himself, no car or other vehicle in sight, trying to lift a full sized davenport up and over the fence that separated the highway from a side road. Could have happened anywhere.