Back in the Saddle again?
So I'm back in Santa Cruz again.
We got the truck on the 1st, mid afternon. We'd already been packing a day or so.
We didn't finish packing until around 6 in the afternoon the following day.
After a short stop at Samurai Sams (odd that that would be the last place I went to in SD) maddy and I said goodbye and hit the road, she in her car, I in a 14 foot Uhaul truck which was filled to the brim and was towing my car, also filled to the brim, behind it. There was no sense in caravaning -- I was going to be going very slowly the whole way.
I made a stop in LA -- though there was no traffic, it took me about three hours to get there. I dropped bye my aunt Tassie's house to say hi. i took them by surprise. My cousin Tanya decided after much hemming and hawing on her part, and much coaxing on my part, that she should come along. She had vague plans of visiting friends in Seattle, and since I wold be driving up as far as portland eventually, it kind of made sense. I mainly wanted a passenger to cut the monotony of driving at an average of 55 mph, and it helped that my cousin is cool and a good conversationalist and everything. While she was packing her things (she was in her pajamas when I got there), I called maddy to find that she was stuck in traffic. I hadn't seen any the whole trip. But she had taken the 5 through LA and I had taken the 405 (essentially equivalent options for north/south trips through LA, for you non so-cal folk), and there had been an accident on the 5, and she hadn't moved in an hour and had to pee and couldn't find an exit with a bathroom and sounded pretty miserable. her trip was off to a bad start, but fortunately according to her things got better after that.
So Tanya and I got on the road again, heading north, in hopes of making it as far as Clovis. But it was pretty late at this point, so we'd settle for bakersfield. I must confess I drove later than i should -- I did get pretty sleepy behindthe wheel, and though i don't think i ever dozed off, I felt that my reflexes were slowing and I was having a little trouble seeing. This truck was moving slow and by the time we made it to Clovis, the sun was coming out (to the tune of tanya cheerfully singing "morning has broken, like the first morning...") and we were past the point of being tired.
We were heading for clovis because maddy was in Clovis, spending the night with in her Old house, to visit her parents, etc. When we got there, everyone was asleep and maddy wasn't waking up to her cell phone. So I kept calling her phone and listened at the windows to see what room she was in. Fortunately it was the first one I tried, so I didn't have to spend too much time looking like a snoop. I knocked on the window and that did it. It freaked maddy out too. She was half asleep and seemed a bit upset and said there was no place for us to sleep and the disappeared from behind the window -- I couldn't see or hear anything for a minute or so and thought she'd gone back to sleep and/or wasn't going to let us in. So I was relieved when the door opened and she brought us inside. There was room to sleep if you included the floor -- though there was room in the bed maddy was sleeping in, tanya not surprisingly found it more comfortable on the floor.
We woke up by ten or 11 and were on the road again by 12:30 or so. Our first stop was Palo Alto, where we were to unload some portion of the truck at laura's house. Our second stop was also in Palo Alto, only a few miles away, where we were to unload a cello and a drumset at my aunt Lendie's house. I don't know how long it took, but it seemed like forever, and I was glad to leave lendie's on the ending stretch over the mountains towards santa cruz. Out of three mountainous passes (the grapevine, pacheco pass, and hwy 17) on the trip, the last may have been the most dangerous, but it went fine. I think after 400 miles, I'd gotten the hang of driving a vehicle the was 7 and a half feet wide, and towing a trailer that was even wider, so by the time I hit 17, I sort of knew what I was doing.
We got into santa cruz about half past later than we'd hoped to. Maddy, who had spent most of the day in Clovis, and taken the long way here, still beat us by half an hour or so. I was running on adrenaline and we needed to get the truck unloaded, and eventually it happened. We got most of it done with the help of my dad and Tanya, and at around 11:30, they were in need of sleep and went to bed. Maddy and I stayed up and finished unloading the truck and put most of it away. Large things that could stand the weather we left outside to deal with later.
There were still our cars to unload, but this could wait till tomorrow. the important thing was emptying the truck so it could be returned the following day (yesterday).
Yesterday, the rest of the unpacking, storing and so on was taken at a leisurely pace, and maddy and I took a break to drive arond santa cruz and drop off the truck. On our tour of the town, which inlcuded stops at the Library, Marianne's Ice Cream, Cali Bro.s Feed and Supply (a pet store) and Thomas Musical Instruments, I saw someone I knew at nearly every stop. That's Santa Cruz for you. Later on Tanya Maddy and I went to get some dinner and I saw another old friend at Charlie Hong Kong's.
So now we're in Santa Cruz. In less than a week, we'll be on the road again, headed further north. But fortunately we won't be traveling in a slow bumpy truck that gets 9.5 mpg.
Driving that truck was interesting and hard on the neck. It was probably over-laden, and could really accelerate. and you could tell that the breaks were straining. It could go zero to sixty if you were lucky. Usually it went around 55. On the long flat stretches of the 99 and the 152, I got it up to 65 for extended periods and even a couple times breifly to almost-70 (I don't think I ever actually it 70 though). Driving over mountainous terrain it wasn't a question of following the "55 mph autos with trailers and trucks" sign: I was going 35 mph in the right lane whether I wanted to or not. I became well aquainted with 2nd gear. On downhills, it was simply frightening to be doing anything faster than 35 so it was low gears again. The seat in the cab was one of those big couch-like things, and it had no lower back support, nor any other sort of support to speak of. With the rhthmic bouncing of the truck which was probably a result of too much weight on its suspension, and a wheelbase exactly as long as the cracks in the road, it was a perfect recipie for neck pain. But the pain kept me awake, so I was grateful for it. Sort of. Early on in the trip, I'd tried to back up in an empty parking lot. Then I realized that since it was essentially two trailers I was towing (the car dolly, then the car itself, with its rear wheels on the ground, its front wheels pivoting over the dolly), there was really no way I was going to back up without causing some problems. So I didn't. For the whole trip. Fortunately, I never really needed to, but it was weird to know that I didn't have a choice.
It's good to be back in northern california. there's greenery and trees. and people drive slowly. and wear weird clothes. and it's chilly in the mornings. ahhh. anyhow. today is another busy day. actually today is probably a relax and sleep day, now that there's nothing specific to do. and no more truck. saddle.
We got the truck on the 1st, mid afternon. We'd already been packing a day or so.
We didn't finish packing until around 6 in the afternoon the following day.
After a short stop at Samurai Sams (odd that that would be the last place I went to in SD) maddy and I said goodbye and hit the road, she in her car, I in a 14 foot Uhaul truck which was filled to the brim and was towing my car, also filled to the brim, behind it. There was no sense in caravaning -- I was going to be going very slowly the whole way.
I made a stop in LA -- though there was no traffic, it took me about three hours to get there. I dropped bye my aunt Tassie's house to say hi. i took them by surprise. My cousin Tanya decided after much hemming and hawing on her part, and much coaxing on my part, that she should come along. She had vague plans of visiting friends in Seattle, and since I wold be driving up as far as portland eventually, it kind of made sense. I mainly wanted a passenger to cut the monotony of driving at an average of 55 mph, and it helped that my cousin is cool and a good conversationalist and everything. While she was packing her things (she was in her pajamas when I got there), I called maddy to find that she was stuck in traffic. I hadn't seen any the whole trip. But she had taken the 5 through LA and I had taken the 405 (essentially equivalent options for north/south trips through LA, for you non so-cal folk), and there had been an accident on the 5, and she hadn't moved in an hour and had to pee and couldn't find an exit with a bathroom and sounded pretty miserable. her trip was off to a bad start, but fortunately according to her things got better after that.
So Tanya and I got on the road again, heading north, in hopes of making it as far as Clovis. But it was pretty late at this point, so we'd settle for bakersfield. I must confess I drove later than i should -- I did get pretty sleepy behindthe wheel, and though i don't think i ever dozed off, I felt that my reflexes were slowing and I was having a little trouble seeing. This truck was moving slow and by the time we made it to Clovis, the sun was coming out (to the tune of tanya cheerfully singing "morning has broken, like the first morning...") and we were past the point of being tired.
We were heading for clovis because maddy was in Clovis, spending the night with in her Old house, to visit her parents, etc. When we got there, everyone was asleep and maddy wasn't waking up to her cell phone. So I kept calling her phone and listened at the windows to see what room she was in. Fortunately it was the first one I tried, so I didn't have to spend too much time looking like a snoop. I knocked on the window and that did it. It freaked maddy out too. She was half asleep and seemed a bit upset and said there was no place for us to sleep and the disappeared from behind the window -- I couldn't see or hear anything for a minute or so and thought she'd gone back to sleep and/or wasn't going to let us in. So I was relieved when the door opened and she brought us inside. There was room to sleep if you included the floor -- though there was room in the bed maddy was sleeping in, tanya not surprisingly found it more comfortable on the floor.
We woke up by ten or 11 and were on the road again by 12:30 or so. Our first stop was Palo Alto, where we were to unload some portion of the truck at laura's house. Our second stop was also in Palo Alto, only a few miles away, where we were to unload a cello and a drumset at my aunt Lendie's house. I don't know how long it took, but it seemed like forever, and I was glad to leave lendie's on the ending stretch over the mountains towards santa cruz. Out of three mountainous passes (the grapevine, pacheco pass, and hwy 17) on the trip, the last may have been the most dangerous, but it went fine. I think after 400 miles, I'd gotten the hang of driving a vehicle the was 7 and a half feet wide, and towing a trailer that was even wider, so by the time I hit 17, I sort of knew what I was doing.
We got into santa cruz about half past later than we'd hoped to. Maddy, who had spent most of the day in Clovis, and taken the long way here, still beat us by half an hour or so. I was running on adrenaline and we needed to get the truck unloaded, and eventually it happened. We got most of it done with the help of my dad and Tanya, and at around 11:30, they were in need of sleep and went to bed. Maddy and I stayed up and finished unloading the truck and put most of it away. Large things that could stand the weather we left outside to deal with later.
There were still our cars to unload, but this could wait till tomorrow. the important thing was emptying the truck so it could be returned the following day (yesterday).
Yesterday, the rest of the unpacking, storing and so on was taken at a leisurely pace, and maddy and I took a break to drive arond santa cruz and drop off the truck. On our tour of the town, which inlcuded stops at the Library, Marianne's Ice Cream, Cali Bro.s Feed and Supply (a pet store) and Thomas Musical Instruments, I saw someone I knew at nearly every stop. That's Santa Cruz for you. Later on Tanya Maddy and I went to get some dinner and I saw another old friend at Charlie Hong Kong's.
So now we're in Santa Cruz. In less than a week, we'll be on the road again, headed further north. But fortunately we won't be traveling in a slow bumpy truck that gets 9.5 mpg.
Driving that truck was interesting and hard on the neck. It was probably over-laden, and could really accelerate. and you could tell that the breaks were straining. It could go zero to sixty if you were lucky. Usually it went around 55. On the long flat stretches of the 99 and the 152, I got it up to 65 for extended periods and even a couple times breifly to almost-70 (I don't think I ever actually it 70 though). Driving over mountainous terrain it wasn't a question of following the "55 mph autos with trailers and trucks" sign: I was going 35 mph in the right lane whether I wanted to or not. I became well aquainted with 2nd gear. On downhills, it was simply frightening to be doing anything faster than 35 so it was low gears again. The seat in the cab was one of those big couch-like things, and it had no lower back support, nor any other sort of support to speak of. With the rhthmic bouncing of the truck which was probably a result of too much weight on its suspension, and a wheelbase exactly as long as the cracks in the road, it was a perfect recipie for neck pain. But the pain kept me awake, so I was grateful for it. Sort of. Early on in the trip, I'd tried to back up in an empty parking lot. Then I realized that since it was essentially two trailers I was towing (the car dolly, then the car itself, with its rear wheels on the ground, its front wheels pivoting over the dolly), there was really no way I was going to back up without causing some problems. So I didn't. For the whole trip. Fortunately, I never really needed to, but it was weird to know that I didn't have a choice.
It's good to be back in northern california. there's greenery and trees. and people drive slowly. and wear weird clothes. and it's chilly in the mornings. ahhh. anyhow. today is another busy day. actually today is probably a relax and sleep day, now that there's nothing specific to do. and no more truck. saddle.