On the road again

After Tuesday's election, I felt a strong need to be in a blue state. I've expressed my thoughts on FB about the election and how reasonable people must respond to it, so I won't reiterate here. Needless to say, I am disappointed but determined to be more participatory in the process.

I was already planning to go to Michigan for Thanksgiving, but Wednesday afternoon I started longing for Los Angeles, for Alice, and for my friend, Joan, who had been recovering from a nasty dog bit she received while visiting a friend in Texas about 6 weeks ago. I knew I wanted to have all of my mother-of-the-bride dress possibilities with me when I arrived in Michigan, so I tracked the mailing of the last one that was coming from Modcloth. I found that it had arrived at the Bay St Louis Post Office Wednesday afternoon.

Thursday morning, I called the post office. Adam (I remember his name because we talked several times) asked for the tracking number. I had to hang up and find it and call him back. I gave him the first three digits, and he said, "That's a FedEx number. That's not our tracking number." He instructed me to go to the FedEx website, that they should have a number issued by the USPS for the package. I went there. It wasn't there. I called him back. He took the number and looked at the site. He couldn't find it, either. I said, "Can't you look it up by my address?" He said no. Finally I said, "It arrived in Bay St Louis yesterday. That means it would be going out on the truck this morning. If I give you my address can you ask my carrier to leave it at the post office so I can pick it up?" Oh, yeah! That will work! I'm not sure what I wasn't communicating at first, but I'm glad it worked out. Our mail isn't delivered till 3 in the afternoon, and I wanted to get on the road before that.

I went out after the phone call, put air in my spare tire and checked the other four, stopped at the post office for my package, and returned all my library books and DVDs that would become overdue while I was gone. Then, I packed the car, got all my water bottles out of the fridge, said good-bye to Rick and hit the road about 12:30 p.m.

Crossing Lake Ponchartrain, about 45 minutes into the trip.

Can you see the Superdome peeking through that slot between buildings? I saw it much better as I drove, but this was the only chance to get a photo.

This was a marathon driving event. When the idea originally occurred to me to go to CA and then to MI, I was going to take a couple of days to get ready and then 2-3 days to drive over. In the meantime, though, I realized that if I didn't get there quickly, I'd only see Alice a tiny bit, as she'd be working all day, and I got a gig in Grand Rapids for the 20th and 27th that meant I needed to get there by Sunday the 20th. Since I wanted to be in LA by Saturday, I did what I used to do. I slept in the car. Now, before you get all upset about this, here's what it means now that I have a van.

The amazing Interstate 10 through Louisiana. East of Bay St Louis, 10 is all on solid ground, but as it crosses NW out of New Orleans, a large portion of it is suspended over lakes and swamps. Quite the engineering feat.

A refinery (I assume) rising out of a gloom. There were many.

A really lovely and peaceful rest area.

Another refinery.

A stunning moon. Yeah, I know, you can't really tell from the picture.

I had my quilt and two pillows in the back of the van, and I left myself enough room to stretch out on the floor in the back. My first stop was in Comfort, TX. It was one of those places that caters a lot to truckers. The trucks park in the back of the parking lot so the truckers can sleep for a few hours. I asked at the counter where would be a good place for me to go to catch a few winks. The clerk pointed out a part of the lot where cars could park for a few hours. It was well-lit, which is good for safety but not necessarily good for sleeping. I just pulled the hood of my sweatshirt over my eyes and slept from 11:30 to 3. 

We continued on through Texas -- it takes a long time to get through Texas from Houston to El Paso. The speed limit is 80 through most of the outlying areas, but the fog was unpredictable, so I was unable to keep a consistent speed. The radio stations in this area were intermittent and mostly not anything I wanted to listen to, so I put in the last couple of disks of Good Talk, Dad, by Bill and Willie Geist. It was fairly entertaining until the spots on the disk started making it jump around. By that time, it was time for another nap. 

I had only driven a couple more hours, but I could tell it was time to stop again. That's the beauty of this kind of travel. Drive. Stop. As needed. This time I stopped at a rest area. I had learned from my previous nap that I needed to have some quilt under me and some over me, and I took the time to "make my bed" accordingly. I slept better, although only for a couple of hours. I woke up at 7:00, and we continued. 

Of course, when I say we continued, I'm not going into all the details about drinking loads of water and making frequent bathroom stops for both me and Remy, or the Starbucks (decaf), or the chocolate bar I finally bought near the end of the trip for enough caffeine to get me through. Assume those details.

The fog continued off and on till a while after sunrise. This is gazing off into a cloud bank along I-10 east of El Paso.

Starting to notice mountains and buttes in the distance.

More beautiful scenery -- see the rainbow? There was a double rainbow just to the right of this. Between the fog, intermittent showers, and bursts of sunshine, it was pretty spectacular.

You can't see it, but the odometer turned over 192,000.

Finally out of the fog and rain and into the sunshine -- Arizona at last!

Leaving Phoenix. Gorgeous!

I texted both Jed and Jack, who live in the Phoenix area, to see if there was a way to get around Phoenix, as I was going to get there right at rush hour, didn't want to have to stop to wait it out, and my mapping tool directed me on I-10 right through the middle of it. They both advised me to stay the course, although Jed gave me a possible alternative. I did. It wasn't too bad, actually.

As I started zipping away from Phoenix, finally back up to the speed limit (or a little bit over), I glanced down at the gas gauge where the little light had just gone on. As I glanced up, I saw a sign at the exit I was passing that said, next services 49 miles. Begin travel affirmation: I am beautifully and appropriately transported through the infinite wisdom and rich substance of the Universe. If I run out of gas under these circumstances, I can stay calm and figure out what to do. It keeps me from stressing out all the way to the next gas station. I made it with fuel to spare. Yay!

It gets dark so early, and I had concerns about my ability to stay awake once it got dark, so I was fully  prepared to stop and nap again, but I didn't really get sleepy till I was on my way into LA. Now, by that I mean an hour and a half from my destination, because getting "into LA" takes a really long time. At that point, I found the Beatles Abbey Road DVD in my stuff and started singing along. That helped. That was followed by old jazz standards. 

When I arrived at Joan's, I was exhausted. First thing I did was walk Remy. Then I grabbed the minimum stuff I needed from the car -- toiletries, pajamas, pillows, CPAP -- and we went in and straight to bed.

Yesterday was filled mostly with a march in downtown LA. For many, it was a protest again Trump's election. For me and my group, it was in solidarity with the groups whose dignity and very existence have been threatened by Trump's rhetoric on the campaign trail. It was a long walk. Remy was really tired by the end. (So was I.) Everybody had a nap in the afternoon, and I had supper with Alice and David at the best taco place I've ever eaten at! It's called Diablo, and it's almost literally right around the corner from Joan's place. I had one taco with Bison Chili, one with Chicken Tinga, and one -- the most unique -- with Brussels sprouts, green onions, pomegranate seeds, and bacon. We had been planning to take in The Arrival, but the dog Alice is dog sitting for the weekend was barking a lot, and she decided she'd better stay in. I opted out of watching a movie in her bed with her, David, and Cassidy, and came back to Joan's to read and sleep.

It's Sunday. We're going to a farmers market in Larchmont and then ... I've heard from Adam Mellema, who is performing this evening. That's a possibility. Joan has invited me to join her and a friend for supper tomorrow night. If I don't see Adam tonight, we will get together tomorrow. I'm going to make curtains for Joan, and help her create the key lime pie from Cafe Gratitude. Her juicer blew up this morning, so she's out now shopping for a new juicer and/or blender.

I like it here.