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October 01, 2006

free wireless and a long drive

the day started at six o'clock in the morning. i woke up to do some proofreading work before hitting the road to california. we started off with breakfast with mom and dad, followed with piling alex, mary, me, brandy and aggie in the uhaul truck. twenty minutes down the road we dropped alex off. i was sad to be leaving and going on an adventure that didn't include him. i want all the new memories i create to involve the boy :) but hey, the girls needed some sister time.

we stopped two times before we got to portland!! haha. we need to pee a lot. any boy would have been going out of his mind.

finally, after going through major detour around vancouver, wa and portland we were hungry and decided to eat at chilis, an old family favorite. twenty minues after hitting the road again, we couldn't pass the temptation of an outlet mall. we found ourselves with a pair of new sunglasses for mary, and a vest, socks, and a hat for me. we also found ourselves facing five o'clock pm and only being four hours into our drive.

we already had a hotel room reserved in redding. apparently i have forgotten how far away redding is from seattle, especially in a moving truck, and even more especially when you factor in the all of the construction and lane closures along the way. i ended up having to drive through both of the mountain parts in the dark with no radio.

next thing we know, we can't find a gas station to save our lives. actually, i pretended like we would be fine and had plenty. apparently not all gas stations are open past nine o'clock in the evening. i stressed out until we hit yreka. trying to only coast on the downhills in order to conserve!! the gas light never came on and i'm sure we truly were fine, but i've never run out of gas and i didn't want my first time to be in the dark in the middle of the mountains where i don't get cell phone reception.

when we stopped for gas, i picked up a six pack of pyramid apricot ale; it's my comfort beer. so now, mary is fast asleep and i'm on my second apricot ale trying to relax some of the muscles in my body and icing my knee (for some reason since the surgery, driving just KILLS the knee). we couldn't find anywhere to back the uhaul in to better protect my goods, so i parked right by a fancy race car (literally a race car on a flat-bed truck) and another truck with a trailer that looked nicer than mine.

the thing i'm most happy about now is drinking my beer in a 100% pet-friendly hotel while using their FREE wireless. so everyone is aware, la quinta inn, which may not be 4-star, totally rocks it with their perks. i've got full bars of free wireless internet, which rocks, especially when i have to work from the road and promised my clients i'd check my email tonight and in the morning.

speaking of which, i need to get up and proofread a hundred pages or so before hitting the road for another five or six hours.

so peace out all. seattle, i miss you already. fresno, i'll see you tomorrow. san francisco, you'll be in my dreams and i'll be home to you soon.

Posted by meloknee at October 1, 2006 01:45 AM

Comments

Posted by: OCG at October 3, 2006 10:59 AM

Posted by: melanie at October 3, 2006 02:57 PM