I guess with the difficulty of getting started this is currently a once a month blog.
My brain has been running with all sorts of ideas of my next topic. I am constantly writing in my head all the time. I have all sorts of story starts, that just need to be put down on something concrete. Hopefully, this will get me there.
I like to be a rather free living being. My feet and heart often ache to be somewhere new I have not been before. For the amount of that stirring within it definitely does not happen as much as I would like. In fact, not even close to that inkling.
To help find that freedom, I like to do things during the hours most people would call odd. I don't know why, but I tend to be really tired through most of the day until about 6ish/7. I try to have normal sleep hours, however, in my current job less state it is difficult to motivate myself to go to bed when I don't have anything pressing in the morning and an even bigger struggle to answer my alarm in the morning. In those times when I need to get things done; such as pack for a trip/move, major cleaning, homework assignments (back when I was in school), cook/bake, or journey to visit someone in my car far away- it usually means I will be getting little to no sleep that night.
This last Thanksgiving holiday I was reminded of this habit of mine. I would say the top 3 crazy things I have done in my life all involve driving insane distances at ridiculous hours of night. The first of these would be during the summer of 2005. My friend, Martin and I had been planning for me to come visit him for a few weeks now. I was in Sacramento with my family at the time and he was in San Diego with his. My Dad was generally against this trip with the ware and tare on the car. A few days before this trip was attempting to happen, my other friend, Ashleigh, in Modesto, CA called me to say she had to get out of her parents home and get to Portland. She said she would pay for the trip in full. My Dad was okay with this plan. He also happened to be in Singapore on business. I was contemplating what I should do, one option was selfish just visiting my friend and the other was self-less helping my friend out. Then I remembered that it was summer and I could do it all.
I had been taking a Japanese course at a local community college that had its final that Thursday night. I got done with it around 9pm that night. I then went home, grabbed my stuff and headed to pick up my friend in Modesto, arriving at approximately 11pm. We loaded up the mini van I was driving with all her stuff. She said her goodbyes and we began the long journey north. It is about a 12 hour drive up to the city of roses. I was already exhausted by the time we arrived that afternoon. I took my friend to our other friends apartment where she would be staying. I decided to take a nap, shower, and grab a bite to eat. The nap lasted 3 hours, I had a frozen burrito to eat, and then I swung by my college to say hey to a few of my friends who were staying there. After this brief visit, I continued my journey despite pleads to rest longer. From Portland to San Diego is an 18ish hour drive. The worst part was the three hours of traffic I hit between L.A. and the final stretch to my friends home. It was now Saturday. And that is the story of the time I drove 36 hours in 48 hours.*
*Then my Dad returned from his trip and found out where I was. He made me cut my trip short and return home that Monday morning. After all that, I only got to stay for one full day.
The next in this list was during the summer of 2007, while I was living with my friend Tauna's family in San Diego. The boy I liked at the time lived in Scottsdale, AZ, which is only like 8 hours from where I was staying. I figured I could not let an opportunity like this pass me up. I did not have a vehicle, but since I just turned 21 I was able to rent one from the local Enterprise rent-a-car. Like, the last story, I had a dilemma. I had not been to my camp in Santa Cruz for a couple years and I missed it a lot. Again, I used the solution I took advantage of last time of it being summer and did it all. I drove out to Arizona and stayed for only 6 days. I then left as late as I could which was Saturday morning. I had to swing by San Diego for a moment to switch clothes and such I had packed. I arrived at my camp at two am, missing only a few of the staff introductions from earlier that evening. Not as epic as the last story, but it still consisted of a long distance to drive by myself and a late night arrival.
And now it brings me to the latest to the list. It was important to me to spend Thanksgiving with my Gramma this year because this was the first year she would be without her husband during the special day as he past this last March. I could not leave any earlier than Monday because I had a few commitments with my church the day before. That morning watching the news, Portland was on a snow advisory and would get a few inches by 4pm that afternoon. The craziness of this journey was not the distance or really the hour on the way there, it was the weather condition. January 27th, 2006 my previous vehicle was totaled due to hydroplaning. Hence, any major rain leaves me on edge when it comes to driving. I have gotten better since the accident, however, to not drive in that condition would be my preference. My current vehicle was cheap and therefore has a long list of issues. Some of these include; no heat which means I have to have air conditioning on to defrost the window plus, the windshield wipers are sporadic and do not stay on if I want the brights on. I had planned on leaving at 9am, but then heard my friend was traveling the same direction at 11am, so I was trying to get a hold of him to at least caravan through the storm. However, that was to no avail. I tried to leave at that time anyway, but then came to find my vehicle was completely and totally out of gas. So, I had to wake up one of my roommates to take me to the gas station to fill up my can. I did not end up getting out of town till nearly one between that and having a couple other errands to run, i.e. pay the bills. I arrived by 11pm which really was not too bad seeing as how late and slow I was driving.
On the way back was more my typical craziness. I really did not want to leave that Friday; My Uncle that I do not get to see very often was there with his family, plus my Gramma had planned a big anniversary dinner with reservations at a nice place and everything. That same Uncle and My Aunt (his sister) were married on the same date, which also happened to be my Dad's birthday. All the same, I had thought I was scheduled to babysit at 9am that next day. My Uncle was fixing the heat issue in my car that Friday afternoon so I was not able to leave till 5pm. Yeah, meaning little to no sleep. I did not mind. The freedom to drive at this hour is one of my favorites. I took my time, enjoyed the sights. I stopped at a rest area at about 10pm to do my bible study and then decided to nap for a few hours. At 2am I started on my journey again. I detoured in Corvallis to explore the town I had heard so much about from my former boss, a fellow intern from the summer, and an old roommates' sister. It was five in the morning, so the town was pretty much dead. It is a quaint little town. I made it home at seven in the am, slept for an hour, then headed to babysit. Much to my disappointment, no body was there. I went back home and slept for a few more hours.
I would love to one day drive the entire route 66, travel the course of highway 101, ride the 5 from top to bottom. My dream honeymoon would be a road-trip. My roommates and I are planning a pretty good one for our birthdays- I'm sure you will hear more about that one when that happens in May.
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