Entries this day: Brrrr Driving Food_Fun License_888888S Mountain i-10 sally

Brrrr

2:44am PST Thursday 26 December 2002

Super cold cold cold. Like negative fifty billion degrees..

B b b b b b b bb b bb b b b b b.....

I'm awake now; wind is blowing fast enough to shake Scott; that's probably what woke me up.

4045 miles driven so far. Roll out, again.

2:51am

4045.8 miles driven. Scott's check engine light came on when driving up the rest of the hill. I'm pulled over to the side to check his oil.

3:14am

Well, the good thing is that I've now packed my bike and bike rack inside Scott. And when I restarted him the check englne light is off. And it didn't start precipitating until I was about done looking for oil, and it's not too far to the next city. I didn't find any extra oil in Scott's trunk. Silly, Rob.

3:32am

4056 miles traveled.

I sang Scotty a song on the way down the hill which included something like, "we can make it / I know we will / there'll be a town / at the bottom of this hill" and sure enough, there's a town at the bottom of the hill. With a Chevron station open. I trust they sell oil.

3:55am

See? Was that so hard? Nope. I talked to Ron, the cashier at the Chevron, told him about my trek. He said "that's a trip I'd like to take someday: just take the 80 all the way across until it ends near New York, and then come back... don't have to *go* there.." and I interrupted him, "it's the *trip* that's the adventure. I have a journal online..." and gave him my card. Cool cat. Thanks Ron, for being cool, knowledgeable *and* working in the middle of the night.

- - - -

After I bought two quarts of oil from Ron, I found a quart of oil under my seat. Silly silly Rob.

5:25am

Tired. At a rest stop 4119 miles traveled. I might sleep. Might not. Probably will.

I did.

Driving

8:09am PST Thursday 26 December 2002

4126.5 miles. Now on 299 headed east between Junction City and Interstate 5.

Just taking a moment to record light drizzly snow falling, brown grass visible in patches through the white snow, with oak trees (maybe) and tall pines (100 feet-ish). Completely overcast sky with basically no wind. Hilly terrain, with lots of twists and turns and passing lanes uphill and be careful signs downhill.

I've been calling this area indistinguishable from West Virginia, not that I'm the expert on either area..

9:46am

I'm on I-5 now. Have been for 15 or 20 minutes maybe. 4194 miles traveled. Way overcast, light drizzled drops of water rolling up Scott's rain-x coated windshield. 129 miles from Sacramento, the capital of California.

I'm planning to call Sally when I'm next to San Francisco to see if she can come say HI to me in LA before I jump over to I-40 and head back east.

9:53am

Wow!! I just realized that this roadtrip is fulfilling a dream I've had for a while. Specifically back in... first year college??? my then penpal Kiera said she was going to take a roadtrip from her town in Massachusettes down and across the US to Grand Canyon or something. She offered to swoop down and pick me up so we could blaze an adventure together... It never happened with her, but now I've done it myself! Except for the Massachusettes and Grand Canyon part. Whoohooo!!! Way to go road trip!!

11:10am

Rest area now. 4287 miles traveled since Dallas.

Um, oh, I remembered that I need to get Sally's stuffed bear back to her, so I'll be a bit more proactive in getting it returned to her than just "can you meet me in LA?"

I have a goal of learning "Rabbit Run" by the time I get back to Dallas. I think it's one of the most difficult Eminem songs to rap cause there is no chorus to take a break, and hardly any spots to even take a breath. Amazing. I hope he actually did it and it's not spliced together. No matter; I will be able to do it.

11:34am

35 miles from Sacramento now. Suddenly there is almost no precipitation. Just a light coating of fog, or maybe the overcast sky has landed.

1:11pm

Rest area again. (Different one.) This one has temporary buildings housing the toilets. And it's one of the most crowded I've seen on my trek.

4402.9 miles traveled since Dallas. 152904 miles on Scott.

3:01pm

4515 miles.

Suddenly from 70 mph we are now going 20. 200 miles from LA so (hopefully (haha (eeEEee))) it's not LA traffic.

3:29pm

At a gas station now. (the traffic jam above lasted only 2 miles, and I could see no apparent reason except maybe drivers were gawking at people picking fruit in a field and putting it on wagon things.)

4543.9 miles.

Food Fun

4:23pm PST Thursday 26 December 2002

4545 miles traveled. I've just left an Exxon/Subway/TCBY after getting gas across the street for 2 cents cheaper per gallon (1.559), but when I went in to get snacky mcsnacks, they wanted 75 cents for each of their candy bars, plus they had a crummy selection (No Reese's Pieces!) so I went across the street to the combo platter food extravaganza.

Decided to actually take a moment to sit and eat, so I got a sandwich at Subway, a Veggie Delite. I thought it was the fake vegi meat things, but no. It's just vegetables. Which sucks for me cause I only get lettuce and tomatoes. Bang, got my sandwich and there's (basically) no protein on it.

Talk to the preparer and she has no clue about these mysterious veggie patties I'm requesting. So I talk to a manager type cat who at the time was working at the TCBY. He was all, "yeah, those Veggie Patties didn't sell well enough; I'd buy a case of 36 per week and use 6 in a week and have to throw the rest away."

"Well, I don't want to pay five dollars for lettuce and tomato.."

"What can we do?" he asked, not like, "what can we do to make it right," but more like, "we are helpless to help you." "You have already purchased the product; I cannot take it back."

Then "what do you want to do?" (this time with the implicit "to make it better?")

"Gimme a free ice cream."

This he did without hesitation, though he didn't fill the cup full enough for me if I had been paying for it outright. I am surprised at this; I figure the cup costs more than the ice cream, especially considering the ice cream will have to be tossed at the end of the night anyway (soft serve machine)

He went on to explain how I should have inquired as to what was "Veggie Delite" before ordering it, and that the fault was in my misconception of the menu, not in their lack of carrying a product.

I can imagine better customer service.

He then said that the giving of ice cream was a good faith gesture, nothing to do with [correcting my displeasure with] the sandwich. So of course I immediately think, well, then what will you give me to fix the sandwich silliness?

Whatever.

No, be nice. So I gave him my adventure card. Learned his name: Raj.

I gotta respect that he's presumably working hard to keep these two storefronts open. Good job, Raj.

- - - -

So I ate my lettuce and tomato sandwich (with provolone) then topped off my DR Pepper and went to get some snacks. They wanted 79 cents for candy bars! Four cents more than across the street, which I was trying to escape in the first place!

So I didn't get any candy at all. Just 59 cents for Nature Valley granola bars.

4:41pm

4565 miles traveled.

License 888888S

4:47pm PST Thursday 26 December 2002

I just saw a California license plate 888888S.

Mountain

6:01pm PST Thursday 26 December 2002

Just climbed (drove up) a mountain about 90 miles north of LA. I wonder how high it is. Getting gas now.

(actually I just need to pee and am getting gas to be nice.)

6:07pm

Awww man. No restrooms working at that gas station, so I came across the street and *these* are out too! "What's up with the restrooms?" "Water main is out; it broke yesterday from freezing."

D'oh!

And this cat wants 79 cents for Reese's Pieces, too. Mannnnn.

4144 feet.

6:42pm

4686 miles traveled. now I'm in the LA traffic jam. and it's 36 miles to LA according to the sign.

7:06pm

Fuck that noise. I turned around to take the exit that some signs encouraged due to the traffic. I'm on 126 now and will basically take the 1 to Newport Beach.

4695 miles traveled.

7:32pm

Ahhhhhh.

Working restroom in the Chevron in Fillmore, California, corner of 126 and 23. *And* Reese's Pieces for 70 cents each, *including tax*.

Dat's what I'm talkin' about.

4714 miles traveled.

8:34pm

Super twisty mc twisting up around this big mountainy area with practically no reflectors (definitely no street lights) and beautiful houses overlooking beautiful overlooks. Gotta be a movie star neighborhood here.

Ohhh and one is for sale. Can't see the house, but I see the sign: 310-589-2461 Barbara Horton selling a property on 23 south.

Amazing houses on 23. 4749 miles traveled. Curves everywhere very little traffic. Beautiful starry sky.

8:40pm

Another property. This one at address 4100 south 23. 310-990-2079 Matt Ogden.

Buy one of these properties and tell the realator to give me a finder's fee, and with the fee I'll throw you a house warming party!

i 10

9:20pm PST Thursday 26 December 2002

Muwahahahahahaaaa!!!

I have now seen where I-10 dumps into the ocean. I had previously only been on I-10 as far as Palm Springs. (Not driving! but when I flew to Con Con 1998, I also visited Jennifer in Palm Springs, and part of the adventure included me driving on I-10)

They have an amusement park to celebrate I-10's arrival at the Pacific! Right here in Santa Monica. Whoohooo!!!

9:49pm

4789 miles traveled.

Got lost in Santa Monica, but too tired to totally enjoy it.

10:08pm

Trying to get out of Santa Monica, following the 1 and suddenly... BANG! without warning I end up at LAX! Los Angeles International Airport??? Woah!

I had no idea it was so close to Santa Monica. I got a bit lost in the airport area, but now after a glance at the map I think I'm set. 105 to 405 and I'll be back on a familiar freeway.

10:54pm

After 70 - 80 mph LA driving on crowded 405 (I could get used to this style of driving), I'm at Sally's aptartment complex. If she's not home, I'll go to Kinko's and upload all these entries.

4842 miles since Dallas.

Approximately 800 miles today. (797)

sally

2:01am PST Friday 27 December 2002

Sally was home! A good clue was her living room light on.

We chatted; I showered; she showed me pictures from her Houston trip (she just got back today); we watched the last story in Amores Perros.

Now it's bedtime and couchtime for Sally and I, respectively.