Cali or Bust!

So after a couple long days on the road, I arrived safely at my wonderful grandparents’ home in San Diego. It ended up taking about 20 ½ hours to travel 1500 miles almost on the dot. Now for those who have traveled 20 hours on your own, you will relate when I say that it’s not very healthy, especially for you mind. You have to stay alert, while not wearing yourself out. Not too far into the trip, I found myself getting bored. So I pulled out my laptop and started typing out random thoughts as I drove. I mean, they say you can’t text while driving, but who said you couldn’t work on your computer? I’ve never heard anything like that. So here’s my thoughts along the road…

Monday

- 2:30pm – Coeur d’Alene, ID
o YES!!! On the road! Thank God I finally am on my way safely!
- 3:30pm – Western Montana
o North Idaho and Western Montana are the two most beautiful places on earth. Period.
o Ooops, wow if you don’t pay attention, this car will literally start flying downhill. I knew flying would be faster than driving, but I didn’t mean it like that.
- 4:45pm – Central Montana
o Wow… feels like there’s no one on earth. No one’s on the road, and there’s just rolling fields and mountains, and a long empty highway.
o Montana has the longest stretch of straight road in the world!
- 5pm – Montana
o I love the new Daughtry CD!
- 5:50pm - Montana
o Ma gusta espaniol! – if only I could spell in spanish
- 7:30pm – nowhere Montana
o Yikes, and I thought I liked country music. In the middle of nowhere Montana, there’s nothing but the country music with the twang that instantly gives you a headache. Ouch
- 8pm – Idaho border
o Why does Idaho have to have a highway system that looks like a bowl of spaghetti. I’m entering Idaho again, but this time, the far southeastern part of idaho.
- 9pm – Southern Idaho
o So there’s not much to see in Southeastern Idaho, in the day, or the night.
- 10pm – Utah border
o Note to self… do not sing after a long day of driving. While endangering the eardrums of the deer along the road, you could also hit one when you close your eyes because the sound is so awful!
- 10:05pm – Utah
o Ok, for those who are curious, when you have to go to the restroom on a road trip, counting sheep IS affective! However, since it puts you to sleep at the same time, I would not recommend to do so while driving.
- 11:30pm
o Where is that hotel, shoot I feel like I’m going in circles.
- 11:35pm
o Here we go round the mulberry bush….
- 11:45pm
o The wheels on the bus go round and round.
- 11:50pm
o And the hotel is nowhere to be found? Directions? Naw, that’d be too easy.
- 12pm
o Directions? Ah but that admits defeat!
- 12:15pm
o “Excuse me, could you give me directions to the motel 6?”

Tuesday

- 8am
o On the road again! San Diego here I come!
- 9am
o Again with the singing Joel, it doesn’t sound good at any time.
- 10:30am
o You know you’re on a long trip when on the trip you see signs to Seattle, Canada, Helena, Butte, Idaho Falls, Salt Lake City, Cheyenne, Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Mexico!
- 10:45am
o No ma gusta esponiol, yo mui pocco la cabasa
- 11am
o AWESOME! 80 MPH SPEED LIMIT! YES!!! Best road sign I’ve seen so far!
- 11:15am
o Ok, so Mormons aren’t allowed to have caffeine I hear. Well that explains why I’ve gone the entire day without a beautiful cup of starbucks coffee. Maybe they think having 80 mph speed limits will give everyone the adrenaline to go without coffee? Sadly it’s not working with me.
- 11:30am
o STARBUCKS in 107 miles!!!! I’m so excited! – by far the best sign on the side of the road!
- 11:45am
o STARBUCKS in 90 miles! I can taste it!
o Honk if you like Starbucks….
o Why am I the only one honking?
- 11:50am
o All I want for Christmas is a cup of STARBUCKS!
- 12:30pm
o Ouch, ok bathroom or coffee… guess I’ll have to start counting sheep again…
- 12:35pm
o HONK!!!! (eyes shoot open!) OOOOOOOOKKKK…. Again not a good idea with the counting sheep.
- 1pm
o So the very last exit in Utah has Starbucks. Maybe the state isn’t that bad. All I know is that with a cup of coffee in hand, the world is good.
- 1:15pm
o Ok, I know I said Idaho and Montana are the most beautiful places in the world. But with entirely different landscape Arizona and it’s amazing canyons give ID+MT a run for their money.
- 2pm
o Las Vegas… neat architecture, lame billboards.
o Stopped for gas, and lost my first dollar gambling. I don’t get the thrill, you stick the dollar in the quarter machine, hit a button a few times, and it says thank you. People like that?
- 4pm
o Ok, I was kidding before, California has the best sign. “Speed enforced by aircraft”. Can’t you just imagine, You’re driving along, and then you see this speedy sports car come flying by, obviously speeding. Seconds after it passes you, you suddenly see something drop from the sky, and the car burst into flames. Ah, so I guess the aircraft are responsible for all the potholes in Cali. Nice.
- 6pm – Riverside CA
o Ah, I got so close to making it through without any traffic. Ah well, better here than in Montana.
- 7pm
o So more than half the cars in CA are SUVs, yet none of them use 4 wheel drive a day of the year. That makes sense…
- 7:30pm
o I think I made a wrong turn….
- 8pm
o Oh shoot I’m not supposed to be back in Arizona.
- 8:15pm
o Just kidding, made it to Papa and Grammy’s safe and of not so sound mind.



Under His gracious mercy,



Joel