Woke suddenly to the alarm at some
unearthly hr in the morning and started groping our way around in a desperate attempt to
make the best use of time with bodies unwilling to cooperate as if coming out of
anesthesia in a recovery room. We did manage to get our "stuff" packed back in
the rigs but Steph needed to find a bank machine before we headed out and she had the
address of the US Bank there and had studied the map so we thought we'd just do this
little chore quickly and go, and we did find the bank with no trouble at all but we wished
we had studied the map to find our way back, which was different than the way to the bank,
thanks to D.O.T's knowledge of traffic flow, one way streets and freeway signs that we
were having trouble understanding, we did make it back to the motel but we had wasted
about an hr and we were already on each others nerves. Things were quiet as we drove south
on I5, at least the CB's were quiet and that was OK by the both of us I assure you. As the
day got brighter Steph started studying her map and figuring our time and distance and the
bottom line was that we weren't going to make it at that speed. The longest trip I had
taken with the Dodge that I was driving was about 50 miles and I had driven it around town
doing small jobs etc. but this was the first road trip and I was taking it easy just
feeling my way in to this trip at about 55 miles per hr and everything was going along ok
but I thought that the engine was turning high rpm's for 55 miles per hr and I wanted the
truck to last but now we needed speed so I kicked it up to 65, and crossed my
fingers.
You can get used to the engine screaming like it's going to come apart at any time and you
can think of all sorts of "what if" and "if then" scenarios just in
case the engine does blow up, your mind starts thinking on topics relating to hope and
faith and backup plans, turning the music way up helps a lot too.
The day was droning on mile by mile hr by hr, we went over some mountain passes and went
by Kalamath Falls where I worked on a construction crew in the early 70's but for the most
part it was difficult to tell that we had actually left the Columbia Basin.
My car dolly started to feel a little wobbly and we
needed fuel anyway so we pulled over at the next available place to buy fuel, I looked at
the straps holding on the tires and noticed one of the off so after fueling up we pulled
out of the way of traffic and the car just about came completely off the dolly, had to
back up and turn hard to get the tire back in position to replace the strap, which I did
and while checking the other strap found that it was about half off so readjusted it
too.
I had used a program that Ed gave me for maps to print maps of where we were going, but
some how they got packed who knows where so was basically going on memory and I remembered
that the place that Steph needed to be was 1400 R street in Sacramento, and 1400 block was
just 2 block from the freeway but the map didn't show the exits so we were going to get
close and park the truck and drive the car in, but the next thing we knew we were coming
up to the J street exit, which was close to R street so we took it still looking for a
place to turn off and park. No such luck we were down town Sacramento and no place to park
no place to pull over no place for a truck and toeing a car either so we went the only
place to go and that was straight ahead. After a couple blocks I managed to get into the
right hand lane and turned right off the main drag but the side streets were built for
model t Fords I think, a few blocks later we were at R street, but couldn't turn so went
down a block over a block and came back to R street and by the time I made my turn and got
straightened out the building where Steph needed to go was right there, but no place to
park. Two blocks later the road T'd so turned right and there big as daylight was three
empty parking places in a row, I pulled over the best I could which was still half way in
the street and Steph parked behind me. I stayed with the rigs while Steph turned in her
paperwork to get her license in the grand state of California, I just knew I was going to
get a ticket but all in all I figured I'd pay the ticket which would be easier than trying
to find a better place to park.
The person parked ahead of me finally came out and moved his car so I was able to park
without fear of getting a ticket, Steph came back and we got back on the freeway.
Saw our first palm tree in Corning CA, was a bit scrawny though. The moon came up on our
left and we were just totally amazed at the size, it was huge, bigger than I had ever seen
before. We eventually came to Bottonwillow for fuel and decided to get some rest, and I do
mean rest, we were only several hrs from Desert Hot Springs where we were going to spend
the weekend with our parents and we decided not to get up till we were rested. |
