I figured I would start at the beginning for two reasons, the first being that I'd like to consider myself thorough, the second being that I tend to be long winded, so why bother trying to summarize.
I left Richmond on Tuesday afternoon, and despite running late, made it to my plane in time. Many thanks to Ms. Lucy Williams for the swift ride to the airport. After sitting at my gate for 20 minutes listening to a pack of business people rattle on about inner office drama I finally boarded my flight to Dallas / Fort Worth. We were late taking off so I missed my connecting flight to Los Angeles, and was forced to take a later flight. That flight took off late as well due to the copilot showing up an hour late, and I spent most of the flight watching NBC sitcoms next to a guy who kept coughing like a muppet. When we landed I was informed that there were no more flights to Monterey and was given a hotel room. My first (and only) night in L.A. was spent drinking a few beers at the hotel bar and watching HBO until I fell asleep.
Wednesday morning, I met up with my friends Michelle and Ian, who took me to breakfast at IHOP, and then quickly back to the airport. I caught a short flight to Monterey, and met up with my uncle, Bill. He took me for a tour of Monterey including his former place of employment, Cannery Row, the Monterey Fairgrounds (where the legendary Pop Festival took place), as well as a really scenic route around the coast. I kept looking for sea lions, but none were to be seen. Shortly thereafter, he made his peace with his now former home, and we took off.
The first part of our trip route took us down the Pacific Coast Highway, weaving around rocky cliffs with the ocean to our right for several hours. It was a pretty amazing drive, and I really wish I'd taken some pictures. We made a few stops along the way to look for these gigantic birds called Condors, as well as to stop and look at a waterfall. Eventually, as the sun began its descent, we turned eastward and headed towards Bakersfield.
I didn't make too many plans for this trip, as I'm sort of just along for the ride, and entirely grateful to be given the opportunity to take part in it, but I did want to find a delicious burrito. That was crossed off the list while en route to Bakersfield. We stopped at a little mobile food truck on the side of the highway that had a sign proudly proclaiming "BURRITOS". A semi truck pulled off ahead of us as we passed by and Bill asked me if I wanted to stop. I was skeptical, but he told me the rule was that if a truck driver is stopping for it, it must be good. It was. Eventually we stopped in Bakersfield for the night, just in time for me to catch the new episode of LOST.
That brings us to today, Thursday, February 12th. As I type this, I am sitting in a Motel 6 in Kingman, Arizona. The guy at the gas station here wasn't very friendly and explained that this town has a big meth problem - hope the car is still here in the morning! We've passed through some beautiful mountains and deserts today, and we're one time zone closer to home. We finally broke out the camera and took a few pictures once we got on historic route 66. We'll be following 66 for much of this trip, pretty much all the way to Memphis, and I'm pretty excited about all the touristy silly souvenirs we'll find. I still haven't found a tumbleweed small enough to fit in the car, but I haven't given up hope.
Tomorrow is Bill's birthday. I'm learning to drive stick shift tomorrow so we can start splitting the drive (Yeah, I know that it's pathetic that I don't know how yet). It's also the day that we get to the Grand Canyon, which may be the coolest part of the trip, so it's fitting that they coincide, i think. I'll be uploading pictures tomorrow, and likely updating this blog each day as we end our drives and get some rest. Stay tuned!
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