DAY 1: DRIVING ON SLEEP
I would like to set the stage for you all.
Imagine for a moment a girl with pink hair who has insomnia.
Now imagine that the girl with insomnia has the brilliant--absolutely BRILLIANT--idea that if she just took a good dose of a sleeping aid she could go to bed at 9pm be up at 4 am, drive for 12-ish hours and drive 868 miles to another state IN ONE DAY and still have the energy to party at the end of it.
Sounds impossible right? Sounds possibly a little insane? And definitely both?
Well.
I was that girl with that
So like the great explorers before me I set out in my
Sorta.
I ended up going to bed at 10:30 because even with sleeping aids my body recognized what I was trying to trick it into and fought the medication until I passed out face first on a book. I awoke at four, hit snooze (never a good idea, by the way), and then hit again (also, not a good idea). After bottling both coffee and tea--separate containers, I promise--and loading everything in my car I was off into the night by 5 am.
I managed to stay awake on pure adrenaline, coffee, and a lot of Today's Top 20.
By 6 I was past LA City proper (aka I was way passed the towering sky scrapers). I could see the predawn light filtering over the mountains that surround LA and by the time I made it to the Passage of Freaking Death (that's the Grapevine pass for you non locals) I saw the sunrise.
Y'all I can count (literally) on one hand the amount of times I've seen the sunrise. And while a sunrise is pretty (I guess) I still prefer sunsets and think they're way prettier. But that could be the insomniac in me talking.
See? Sunrises are OKAY but they're not as pretty as the softness of sunset. I always find sunrise light too sharp and in your face. It's the sort of light that reminds me of people who are super hyper and have accomplished 90 things in the time it took me to make tea and stick contacts in my eyes. No thank you.
I wish I could say that my road trip was filled with madcap adventure and zany characters that make up for funny dialogue. But sadly none of that happened because I was in Road Warrior mode. I was going to make it to Oregon in one day and in less time than stupid old Google Maps said I could.
DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO GOOGLE MAPS. YOU DON'T KNOW ME.
Mainly the trip was spent driving for hours through Cow Land (aka, nearly 300 miles of cow farms and sunburned, dry-as-mars hills) and then hours more driving through valley towns and skirting along the state capitol (Sacramento). I spent four hours nearly falling asleep as the effects of the sleep drugs were still going strong and not even tea and coffee could help. By 11 am it had mostly worn off. Of note during this leg of the trip is the following:
-A man waved hi to me and I him
-An old woman on a cell phone gave me the evil eye for driving faster than her husband
-I saw a pretty river
-I saw a druggie dancing under a bridge at said pretty river
-Upon passing Sacramento my radio would ONLY play christian gospel, christian contemporary, and some of kind Fox News-ish radio broadcast that said that liberals and democratic liberals (oh hi) were trying to subvert the government and we needed to be silenced and stopped before we undid America. SO FUN.
Nothing much else happened until I reached near the top of California. Then it went from lowlands to 'welcome to the enchanted forest' real fast. The mountains were SO steep and pine trees so massive I was pretty sure they were on steroids. And then they did something amazing: The trees parted to frame Mt. Shasta like it was a freaking scene in Lord of The Rings.
I tried to get good pictures but lemme tell you--it's kinda hard to do that when you're the driver of your car. But attempt I did! So enjoy this brief photo montage of pics with special appearances of reflections of my dashboard!
Once I got past these behemoths of possible death I made it to a bit of dry landscape that then gave rise to this:
I wish I could say that my road trip was filled with madcap adventure and zany characters that make up for funny dialogue. But sadly none of that happened because I was in Road Warrior mode. I was going to make it to Oregon in one day and in less time than stupid old Google Maps said I could.
DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO GOOGLE MAPS. YOU DON'T KNOW ME.
Mainly the trip was spent driving for hours through Cow Land (aka, nearly 300 miles of cow farms and sunburned, dry-as-mars hills) and then hours more driving through valley towns and skirting along the state capitol (Sacramento). I spent four hours nearly falling asleep as the effects of the sleep drugs were still going strong and not even tea and coffee could help. By 11 am it had mostly worn off. Of note during this leg of the trip is the following:
-A man waved hi to me and I him
-An old woman on a cell phone gave me the evil eye for driving faster than her husband
-I saw a pretty river
-I saw a druggie dancing under a bridge at said pretty river
-Upon passing Sacramento my radio would ONLY play christian gospel, christian contemporary, and some of kind Fox News-ish radio broadcast that said that liberals and democratic liberals (oh hi) were trying to subvert the government and we needed to be silenced and stopped before we undid America. SO FUN.
Nothing much else happened until I reached near the top of California. Then it went from lowlands to 'welcome to the enchanted forest' real fast. The mountains were SO steep and pine trees so massive I was pretty sure they were on steroids. And then they did something amazing: The trees parted to frame Mt. Shasta like it was a freaking scene in Lord of The Rings.
I tried to get good pictures but lemme tell you--it's kinda hard to do that when you're the driver of your car. But attempt I did! So enjoy this brief photo montage of pics with special appearances of reflections of my dashboard!
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| SO MANY TREEEEES! |
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| MT. SHASTA! AN ACTIVE VOLCANO THAT COULD KILL US ALL! SO FUN! |
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| ANOTHER VOLCANO MAYBE? I DUNNO. IF YOU DO, LEMME KNOW! |
Once I got past these behemoths of possible death I made it to a bit of dry landscape that then gave rise to this:
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OREGON!
That's right, google maps was all "oh no it'll take you AT LEAST 11 hours to get to the border". To which I and my car laughed in it's face and made it there in 10.
After waving hello to Oregon I zigged and zagged through towering mountains with needle like trees, quaint valleys, a few "PRO TRUMP!" signs, and dilapidated --oh sorry, I mean 'charmingly rustic'-- barns that any 20 something would love to be married in for 20k, I made it to my friend's house! AND HER HOUSE IS SO CUTE GUYS. You don't believe me? CHECK IT OUT.
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| MY FRIEND'S HUSBAND MADE THAT BEAUTIFUL FENCE/GATE |
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| THIS IS ONLY THEIR FRONT YARD! AND LOOKIT THOSE MOUNTAINS IN THE BACKGROUND! SO PRETTY! |
But my day wasn't over yet!
OH NO.
After arriving there in *counts* 12 hours (take that google maps who said 13 and a half hours!), I unpacked--okay I threw my bag upstairs in the attic bedroom--and then hopped in my friend's truck to go to a drive in movie that her favorite bar The Old Crow, was throwing.
YOU GUYS. THIS. BAR.
If you love Game of Thrones, old movies, Harry Potter, and Victorian-esque things? This is your place. My friend told me the throw a Harry Potter ball there among many other fun events. We grabbed DELICIOUS drinks and then settled in to watch Vincent Price's The House On Haunted Hill
OH NO.
After arriving there in *counts* 12 hours (take that google maps who said 13 and a half hours!), I unpacked--okay I threw my bag upstairs in the attic bedroom--and then hopped in my friend's truck to go to a drive in movie that her favorite bar The Old Crow, was throwing.
YOU GUYS. THIS. BAR.
If you love Game of Thrones, old movies, Harry Potter, and Victorian-esque things? This is your place. My friend told me the throw a Harry Potter ball there among many other fun events. We grabbed DELICIOUS drinks and then settled in to watch Vincent Price's The House On Haunted Hill
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| DON'T WORRY, WE WERE IN THE VERY BACK WITH NO NEIGHBORS (hence no need for masks) |
After the movie we went back home and I threw my tired self into a pretty bed and fell asleep.
And that, my friends, was just day ONE! Expect another upload Friday about days two, three, and four! (lemme tell you, a lot more chill than day one!)
And that, my friends, was just day ONE! Expect another upload Friday about days two, three, and four! (lemme tell you, a lot more chill than day one!)
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