California pt 1
So I took a trip to California on Tuesday... by car. I was headed to Seaside, CA, nearby Monterey, roughly a 14 hour drive from Tacoma according to Google and three tanks according to my regular gas mileage. I had trouble sleeping the night before, so I only got about three hours of sleep. Thankfully, my mom picked up food and drinks for me, including a four pack of Red Bull, I also had another energy drink in the car already just in case.
So off I went at 4 am or so and according to the GPS, I was going to get there sooner than Google had anticipated, mostly because the GPS doesn't calculate your need to stop and get gas. Leaving Washington at 4 AM was a breeze, no one on the road really. So I turned on the ol' BJ Shea podcasts and settled in for a long long sit. Two or so hours into the show, I hit the Oregon border and come to a dead stop as it was 6 AM at Portland... time for work, so I flipped open my phone and, thanks to the magic of Mobile Facebook, posted a status update: "Gabriel is slowly entering Oregon. Stupid morning traffic. 6:35am" -- I love technology.
After entering Oregon, dawn came. There still wasn't a lot of traffic on I-5 (after Portland), but the traffic that was there was... fast. Now I'm normally a speedy driver. I'm a courier for a living, after all, but I tend to not go over 80-85 in Washington, I tend to think that's fast lane material. I was wroooooooooooooooooooooong. Many cars were passing me up until we got to the area around Mt. Shasta, where I suddenly wanted a pop. The 50 mph curves kept passing to a minimum by several, except the big trucks and the like. Apparently the locals in their offroading and hauling rigs need to be somewhere fast that early in the morning. I had no idea how fast I was really supposed to be going as several sections of the highway were reduced to 55 mph due to construction, but people were still speeding like crazy.
At some point, the next GPS waypoint flashed up to be a bit of a ways away: "Gabriel is driving south, five hundred miles and eight hours to go! 7:28am," -- nothing of import occurred really. I was just listening to BJ Shea and eventually some music. However, after one pit stop, "Gabriel is finally entering California. 12:02pm." I picked up gas eventually, I started with a full tank and my highway gas mileage is 35 mpg -- "Gabriel is refilling his tank in Weed, CA. 12:35pm." I should've taken a picture. It was gorgeous -- blue skies and warm weather after the Californian border. If I hadn't been for a few things (too much stuff in the car, bugs, wanted to keep driving with minimum breaks, lazy), I would've taken off the T-tops and really enjoyed myself. Instead I just rolled down the windows and really enjoyed myself anyway.
So I'm looking at the next waypoint after 480 or so miles and thinking, "Damn, I'm really earlier than I thought I would be... this was easier and faster than I thought too." SELF MAPPING FAIL! I hadn't been to Monterey by car again since I was little and my parents were still together, so before Junior High. After 3 more hours after the border, I hit the next waypoint, I-680... in my hopeful wishing mind, I thought that my waypoint countdown in the GPS was going to actually be my destination lol -- California is a very large place. I downed another Red Bull and kept going. I was exhausted, and hoping that every next waypoint would eventually be the finish line, but how wrong I was. I-680 for another hour then I-80, then highway 101, where I needed gas again. Now, I-80 and highway 101 were abysmal. California really needs to spend money on infrastructure because riding on 101 was like riding on I-405 south at Tukwila while the construction was going on -- sometimes I thought I was going to bottom out after a bump. Being that it was also nearing 5 pm, I was surrounded by cars, to say the least. However, we were also still going rather fast. I don't know what is a comfortable speed to anyone else, but I tend to enjoy cruising around 70ish on the highways and, like I said earlier, that's fast lane material in WA. I had people going around me still, speeding around me even. The marked speed limit was like 60-65 and I was generally going ten over most of the time and apparently that wasn't good enough for EVERYONE IN CALIFORNIA. Are you kidding me? Shitty roads and drivers that NEED to be somewhere before the hardcore traffic hits? And they all drove like dicks! Even the women! So off I went into the middle lane, which was still going faster than I like, but at least I was out of the way, except for the assholes who kept cutting me off to get into the fastest lane. If I never have to drive in Californian highway traffic again, it'll be too soon. But even after all of that, I still wasn't at my destination.
After 101, it was I-156, then highway 1 and THEN Seaside, CA. It was, of course, dark by the time I hit highway 1... hell it was getting dark after partway through 101, which stopped dead at one point, so, like any good courier, I detoured and found another route (Thank the gods for the GPS). Exhausted, I pulled into Seaside and took a wrong turn at the light and added another five more minutes to my time. I finally got to Grandpa's house at 7:30ish or so where Victor handed me some coffee so I could keep talking and hanging out with people I hadn't seen in two years. I got to show Grandpa my diploma, which I brought with me just for showing off, and got to play games with my cousins Lindsay, my now current favorite cousin, and Ricky and Lindsay's boyfriend Josh. I brought the Xbox 360 over because I knew I'd be hanging out with younger cousins as most of the ones my age are all married or not in the area to visit -- but after everything was said and done: "Gabriel is exhausted, but somehow stayed up hanging out with his cousins, playing Xbox 360 -- all after fifteen hours of driving starting at 4 AM. 11:32pm." I checked my email and crashed eventually at 12:30 or so... I was too tired to sleep, if you know that feeling.
So off I went at 4 am or so and according to the GPS, I was going to get there sooner than Google had anticipated, mostly because the GPS doesn't calculate your need to stop and get gas. Leaving Washington at 4 AM was a breeze, no one on the road really. So I turned on the ol' BJ Shea podcasts and settled in for a long long sit. Two or so hours into the show, I hit the Oregon border and come to a dead stop as it was 6 AM at Portland... time for work, so I flipped open my phone and, thanks to the magic of Mobile Facebook, posted a status update: "Gabriel is slowly entering Oregon. Stupid morning traffic. 6:35am" -- I love technology.
After entering Oregon, dawn came. There still wasn't a lot of traffic on I-5 (after Portland), but the traffic that was there was... fast. Now I'm normally a speedy driver. I'm a courier for a living, after all, but I tend to not go over 80-85 in Washington, I tend to think that's fast lane material. I was wroooooooooooooooooooooong. Many cars were passing me up until we got to the area around Mt. Shasta, where I suddenly wanted a pop. The 50 mph curves kept passing to a minimum by several, except the big trucks and the like. Apparently the locals in their offroading and hauling rigs need to be somewhere fast that early in the morning. I had no idea how fast I was really supposed to be going as several sections of the highway were reduced to 55 mph due to construction, but people were still speeding like crazy.
At some point, the next GPS waypoint flashed up to be a bit of a ways away: "Gabriel is driving south, five hundred miles and eight hours to go! 7:28am," -- nothing of import occurred really. I was just listening to BJ Shea and eventually some music. However, after one pit stop, "Gabriel is finally entering California. 12:02pm." I picked up gas eventually, I started with a full tank and my highway gas mileage is 35 mpg -- "Gabriel is refilling his tank in Weed, CA. 12:35pm." I should've taken a picture. It was gorgeous -- blue skies and warm weather after the Californian border. If I hadn't been for a few things (too much stuff in the car, bugs, wanted to keep driving with minimum breaks, lazy), I would've taken off the T-tops and really enjoyed myself. Instead I just rolled down the windows and really enjoyed myself anyway.
So I'm looking at the next waypoint after 480 or so miles and thinking, "Damn, I'm really earlier than I thought I would be... this was easier and faster than I thought too." SELF MAPPING FAIL! I hadn't been to Monterey by car again since I was little and my parents were still together, so before Junior High. After 3 more hours after the border, I hit the next waypoint, I-680... in my hopeful wishing mind, I thought that my waypoint countdown in the GPS was going to actually be my destination lol -- California is a very large place. I downed another Red Bull and kept going. I was exhausted, and hoping that every next waypoint would eventually be the finish line, but how wrong I was. I-680 for another hour then I-80, then highway 101, where I needed gas again. Now, I-80 and highway 101 were abysmal. California really needs to spend money on infrastructure because riding on 101 was like riding on I-405 south at Tukwila while the construction was going on -- sometimes I thought I was going to bottom out after a bump. Being that it was also nearing 5 pm, I was surrounded by cars, to say the least. However, we were also still going rather fast. I don't know what is a comfortable speed to anyone else, but I tend to enjoy cruising around 70ish on the highways and, like I said earlier, that's fast lane material in WA. I had people going around me still, speeding around me even. The marked speed limit was like 60-65 and I was generally going ten over most of the time and apparently that wasn't good enough for EVERYONE IN CALIFORNIA. Are you kidding me? Shitty roads and drivers that NEED to be somewhere before the hardcore traffic hits? And they all drove like dicks! Even the women! So off I went into the middle lane, which was still going faster than I like, but at least I was out of the way, except for the assholes who kept cutting me off to get into the fastest lane. If I never have to drive in Californian highway traffic again, it'll be too soon. But even after all of that, I still wasn't at my destination.
After 101, it was I-156, then highway 1 and THEN Seaside, CA. It was, of course, dark by the time I hit highway 1... hell it was getting dark after partway through 101, which stopped dead at one point, so, like any good courier, I detoured and found another route (Thank the gods for the GPS). Exhausted, I pulled into Seaside and took a wrong turn at the light and added another five more minutes to my time. I finally got to Grandpa's house at 7:30ish or so where Victor handed me some coffee so I could keep talking and hanging out with people I hadn't seen in two years. I got to show Grandpa my diploma, which I brought with me just for showing off, and got to play games with my cousins Lindsay, my now current favorite cousin, and Ricky and Lindsay's boyfriend Josh. I brought the Xbox 360 over because I knew I'd be hanging out with younger cousins as most of the ones my age are all married or not in the area to visit -- but after everything was said and done: "Gabriel is exhausted, but somehow stayed up hanging out with his cousins, playing Xbox 360 -- all after fifteen hours of driving starting at 4 AM. 11:32pm." I checked my email and crashed eventually at 12:30 or so... I was too tired to sleep, if you know that feeling.