Chapter 5

Why Cooper James had decided to camp along the Klamath River where he did was a mystery to me. If he'd left Seattle headed for Santa Rosa, he had two choices, one was to take the coastal route along highway 101, or the inland route on I-5. He must have chosen the I-5 route to begin with, because we were only a few miles west of it now.

We were on highway 96, the road that followed the Klamath river across the Klamath National Forest. It met up with highway 263 a few miles west, and from there it was either a couple of miles back north to hit a junction with I-5 or else just a dozen miles or so south to Yreka, where 263 and I-5 merged. He must've decided to switch over to the coastal route once he hit California for some reason and was planning to take this road west and south until he hit the coast. Still, looking at the terrain on the GPS' map, I couldn't see what attracted him to this new plan. Another bit of information that didn't make sense.

"Like why the hell I'm here!" I yelled into the Road King's rumble. Still no answer from the voice, the coward.

I found my breakfast less than a half hour later, and in the perfect spot – halfway through Yreka within spitting distance of the on ramp to I-5 South. Denny's isn't what you'd call inspirational food, but they had what I wanted and they weren't shy about letting me pay for a little extra of this and that. I had fried eggs, crisp bacon and a waffle big enough to choke a horse slathered with butter and drowned in blueberry syrup. I was very happy when I left the place, and I think my smile even made the old sourpuss at the cash register happy.