Day 1 - Alameda to Barstow

Two crazy girls about to hit the road! Say
goodbye to my cottage.

Today was Day 1 of my new life - we got 400 miles away from Alameda and no one came after me to make me turn around, so I guess I got away scot-free. :)


We got a slightly later start than I'd hoped today - my hope was 9am, my goal was 10am, we left at 10:02 :) - and then made pretty good time (with a few stops, including at the Target in Bakersfield to replace the spacebag the blankets are in since it ripped). 

I had a neighbour with chickens,
but I'd never seen turkeys in Alameda
before! (Except on grocery shelves.)

We'd intended to start yesterday but the move-out inspection with my former landlords took substantially longer than expected and made it impossible. Gave us the chance to hang out with Kurt yesterday afternoon though, so that made up for it. And it allowed us to see a side of Alameda I'd never seen before - wild turkeys!  


Last night was hard. I teared up saying goodbye to my neighbours. Driving through the Webster Tube and realizing it was my last time as a local made me sniffly. Realizing I was officially homeless was actually kind of refreshing, but scary.


My car is packed to a fare-thee-well, but we arranged it so I can still see out of the back. Everything is unloaded (except the trunk) into the hotel, and we're hoping to plan it slightly differently tomorrow since today, the space behind the driver's seat was so tight, the seat can't move back. That's fine for me, I drive close, but since Beth's legs are longer than mine she'll be chewing on the steering wheel if she tries to get into it! She reminds me I drove most of the way down 11 years ago, but I'd still like to switch off drivers a few times over the next 10 days!


Today, the backseat had four suitcases (my two big ones, full of all my non-business wardrobe, which arrived in Toronto in Nov, my overnight suitcase and Beth's), two backpacks, two shoulder bags, my PC, a road kit of emergency supplies, a bag of food and a bag of CDs. And a pillow. And the roadside kit. And the chains for the tires. The trunk has five banker's boxes of home and computer stuff, all my bedding, winter coats, boots, a bag of hats/gloves/scarves, and various sundries all squeezed into every available spot. 


There are 14 boxes of books and CDs at my neighbour's, which my friend Carine will be media-mailing to my PO box in Lewiston, NY next week. There are 11 boxes of dishes, pots & pans, desk stuff, a microwave, a toaster oven, and so on, at my friend Barbara's, to be UPSed to Buffalo, for me to pick up when I drop Beth off at the airport on the 15th. And there are three boxes of masks and other breakables on their way to Joe's in Burlington, VT (I didn't want them sitting in a depot somewhere) to pick up. And that is the sum total of what I am going to have in my possession until I am settled enough to move the rest of my belongings up. For a chick who has lived in a house with too much stuff for five years, that's going to be an interesting experience!

On one hand, seems like we did a
good distance today. On the other,
considering the size of the continent,
we still have a ways to go.

So. Today. 


The drive to Barstow was nice. Relaxing - I've done the 580 to the 5 before, so it was at least slightly familiar - and sunny, without much traffic. Starting on a Monday ended up working out well. 


The goal was to hit the Mojave today. Didn't happen, but we're about 100+ miles away, so we'll pass it early on the day tomorrow.


Fun things today:
- Snow! We saw snow! We were up in the passes and got to see lots of snow covered mountains... after shooting dozens of photos, we discovered we were also going to see lots of snow covered medians mere feet away from the car. Now I get why Tehachapi calls itself the land of four seasons - it wasn't the kind of snow or cold I'm going to see in Toronto, but it is below freezing and there's definitely enough to make lots of snowballs with! (We didn't stop to do so, though. Next time.)
- Driving by Edwards Air Force Base and reminiscing about the number of times we've read about it in various forms of fiction; granted, you can't see anything from the road but a sign, and the photo came out badly, but we have the memory.
- Being reminded that we have similar taste in music and that Beth is patient enough to put up with soundtracks she's not familiar with (she liked one so much than at Target she tried to find a copy of the film for herself). 
- Listening to people at all the stops along the 5 worrying about the Grapevine being closed and asking us worriedly if we've heard any news. 
- Finding the last available copy of a RoomSaver coupon book and getting a decent Days' Inn room for $43 thru the coupon. 
- Exploring the UV wand Kurt gave me as a going-away gift, sterilizing our hotel room with it. Between that and the silk sleeping bags you put inside the bed to keep you away from hotel sheets, we should be safe and not bring anything with us (not an issue last time, but now with the bed bug epidemic we want to be absolutely sure!). 
- Discovering we were driving along historic Route 66 and stopping to take pictures of the signs.
- Apologizing to Beth that I wasn't wearing anything with a logo on it. On our way down 11 years ago I wore T-shirts with logos every day, and many of our skyline and mountain photos through the windshield have floating singing lobsters or flags hanging out there. :)
- Doing the math and realizing that, depending on the route, we're either 1/11th of the way or 1/8th. Baby steps, but important ones.
- Realizing that unpacking the backseat took less than three minutes (our car is right outside our room) so loading it back up each morning should be easy. 


Tomorrow, the goal is the Grand Canyon.