Valley of the Sun
We made it in 27 hours!
Dad and I left Vancouver around eight on Wednesday night. I drove us out of Vancouver, stopping at the Starbucks on Mill Plain to use the last gift card given to me by a newspaper customer. It was pouring down rain, and dark and windy. Not a good night to be out at all, much less leaving town. My dad settled down to sleep, and I drove through the dark, and the wind and the rain. Not in circles for a job that was getting me nowhere, but in long straight lines, with clear direction and a destination. Phoenix. What awaits me there?
I drove till nearly midnight, then Dad took over. He drove till he got tired, then he slept for an hour in a rest stop. When I woke up, it was about 8:30 in the morning, and he had been driving for 6 or 7 hours. He said he would drive till the next rest stop, then let me take over, then I would drive till one or two and then we would stop for lunch. We were in northern California, just coming down out of the mountains, starting on those long stretches of road with nothing but orchards for miles and miles. Being so early in the season, most of the fields were empty or barren looking. Even the ones with fruit trees were without leaves, trimmed and ready for growing season, bare sticks against a pale blue sky.
I like California, my grandparents lived there, and I've been there many times, but the roads are awful! Driving on them is just torture, especially with my poor worn out old car. Still we were making really good time. No major problems, no getting lost side trips. We stopped at a truck stop for lunch. This was an all inclusive kind of place, it had a restaurant, a bank branch, a touristy store, a kind of a general store, an ice cream shop, a gas station. The restaurant was called the Iron Skillet, and we had baked potatoes and steaks and salad bar.
We had to leave poor Ferocious in the car, but we left him with water, and parked in the shade of a little tree. He's actually been really good on this trip. Every time we stop, I walk him around and make sure he takes care of business. He's now marked Oregon and half of California as his territory! He rides in luxury on a pillow on the lap of whoever's the passenger. He can see right out over the dash where we're going, and I think he thinks this trip is just for him, so he can expand his boundaries. I think he's going to like Arizona. He doesn't like the cold, so I guess we'll just have to see how he likes the heat.
After lunch we decided we weren't going to stop again for major meals. We had to stop for gas, so we just picked up snacks and sodas and stuff. We got caught in traffic near LA. We nearly missed it, but going through west LA and San Bernadeno, we ran into the going home crowd. After we worked our way through that, we were on a long straight shot east on I-10 to Phoenix. Driving in the desert at night is an experience. There are few other cars, so when they come up fast behind you, or sweep by on the other side of the freeway, it's a surprise. The stars in the desert are so clear and so many! It was amazing. It's hard to star gaze at 65-70 miles an hour though. I'd like to go back out there sometime just to look and look.
Dad drove the last few hours, and we arrived right around midnight. We decided not to try to find Kenneth's place in the dark, just to go to Dad's and crash. I did call him and let him know we were there. The trip was so smooth and so uneventful it was almost anti climatic. Everyone in Vancouver was so worried about my car, and nothing happened. I'm glad my dad was along, but there is still this tiny piece of me that wishes I could have done it on my own. I think the next time I road trip I'm not going to tell anyone till I'm fifty miles out of town!
Dad and I left Vancouver around eight on Wednesday night. I drove us out of Vancouver, stopping at the Starbucks on Mill Plain to use the last gift card given to me by a newspaper customer. It was pouring down rain, and dark and windy. Not a good night to be out at all, much less leaving town. My dad settled down to sleep, and I drove through the dark, and the wind and the rain. Not in circles for a job that was getting me nowhere, but in long straight lines, with clear direction and a destination. Phoenix. What awaits me there?
I drove till nearly midnight, then Dad took over. He drove till he got tired, then he slept for an hour in a rest stop. When I woke up, it was about 8:30 in the morning, and he had been driving for 6 or 7 hours. He said he would drive till the next rest stop, then let me take over, then I would drive till one or two and then we would stop for lunch. We were in northern California, just coming down out of the mountains, starting on those long stretches of road with nothing but orchards for miles and miles. Being so early in the season, most of the fields were empty or barren looking. Even the ones with fruit trees were without leaves, trimmed and ready for growing season, bare sticks against a pale blue sky.
I like California, my grandparents lived there, and I've been there many times, but the roads are awful! Driving on them is just torture, especially with my poor worn out old car. Still we were making really good time. No major problems, no getting lost side trips. We stopped at a truck stop for lunch. This was an all inclusive kind of place, it had a restaurant, a bank branch, a touristy store, a kind of a general store, an ice cream shop, a gas station. The restaurant was called the Iron Skillet, and we had baked potatoes and steaks and salad bar.
We had to leave poor Ferocious in the car, but we left him with water, and parked in the shade of a little tree. He's actually been really good on this trip. Every time we stop, I walk him around and make sure he takes care of business. He's now marked Oregon and half of California as his territory! He rides in luxury on a pillow on the lap of whoever's the passenger. He can see right out over the dash where we're going, and I think he thinks this trip is just for him, so he can expand his boundaries. I think he's going to like Arizona. He doesn't like the cold, so I guess we'll just have to see how he likes the heat.
After lunch we decided we weren't going to stop again for major meals. We had to stop for gas, so we just picked up snacks and sodas and stuff. We got caught in traffic near LA. We nearly missed it, but going through west LA and San Bernadeno, we ran into the going home crowd. After we worked our way through that, we were on a long straight shot east on I-10 to Phoenix. Driving in the desert at night is an experience. There are few other cars, so when they come up fast behind you, or sweep by on the other side of the freeway, it's a surprise. The stars in the desert are so clear and so many! It was amazing. It's hard to star gaze at 65-70 miles an hour though. I'd like to go back out there sometime just to look and look.
Dad drove the last few hours, and we arrived right around midnight. We decided not to try to find Kenneth's place in the dark, just to go to Dad's and crash. I did call him and let him know we were there. The trip was so smooth and so uneventful it was almost anti climatic. Everyone in Vancouver was so worried about my car, and nothing happened. I'm glad my dad was along, but there is still this tiny piece of me that wishes I could have done it on my own. I think the next time I road trip I'm not going to tell anyone till I'm fifty miles out of town!