The desert and beyond
This is the second installment of my cross-country trip from California to Columbus, Ohio. Come journey back in time with me to August of 2004. It's hot, overpowering heat, so we journeyed in the very early morning.
I had a bit of a rough start. As I was saying I'd made it past L.A. and now was heading for Las Vegas on Highway 15. Only one problem...I was falling asleep at the wheel. I mean the really scary ones where you doze off for one or two seconds and wake up with a start. So a few miles short of Barstow I pull over to a truck stop and attempt to snooze in the front seat. With my butt still in the driver's seat I fall to my right and bury my face into my overnight bag which is occupying the passenger seat. I look at my watch and see that it's 2:20AM then with the blink of an eye it's 3:05. Did I really sleep for 45 minutes? I seemed to feel better so I took off again not really aware what the speed limit was. I was reminded that I was going too fast by one of those automatic speed sensors that tells you to slow down, so I did. Slow down, I mean. To about 45 miles per hour as I didn't want to get tagged now. I reached way over to the passenger footwell to grab a Coke out of the ice chest thinking that the caffeine boost would really help me out here. That nice cold drink felt good and just as I was getting intent on making up for lost time I saw the flashing lights in my rear view mirror urging me to pull over. What could they want? I don't think I'm speeding or anything. So I pull over and my local California Highway Patrol officer appears outside my passenger window. I roll it down and I tell him that I'm totally awake. He tells me he doubts that as I was going 45 mph and was weaving. Actually, the whole reason I was weaving was because I was reaching down for that blasted Coke but I didn't tell him that. He urged me to go to the next rest stop and sleep so I gratefully complied, all too happy that I didn't get a ticket.
I pulled into the rest stop which was a huge lighted parking lot. It was just me and another RV occupying the premises so I got a blanket and a pillow and laid down on the ground outside the car. This is stupid. I just woke up from a short nap and now here I am wasting time trying to sleep again. Pointless. But I figure I'll stay here long enough to let that CHP officer get far enough down the road so I can sneak out of here. So I'm laying there on the blanket next to Jackson when I see the headlights of another vehicle pull into the rest area. After a few seconds I can see that it's a cop car. Is that CHP guy checking up on me? Turns out it's the Barstow Police and he just wanted to warn me about sleeping in the open like that as I could could get robbed. Then he saw that I had a big intimidating looking dog with me and he changed his mind.I thanked him for doing a great job all the while thinking that I must be some kind of cop magnet. Can't I just get out of California without getting ticketed by one of these guys? Just this time? The cop said goodnight and drove away and I got back into the car and once again attempted to make up for lost time.
This part of the drive to Vegas was strange as it was dark so there wasn't much to see but driving at night was imperative as it was cooler and much more comfortable for man (me) and beast (Jackson). At least I had the pleasure of one milestone...I finally crossed the border into Nevada. Goodbye California. Dawn was a glimmer and I knew I was close to Las Vegas. The lights of Vegas shone into the clouds over the horizon, well before you reach the city. I stopped there for gas and immediately got back in to make use of the waning morning. I wanted to stop driving before the hottest time of day arrived but sometimes I broke my own rule and just kept going.
*to be continued...*
I had a bit of a rough start. As I was saying I'd made it past L.A. and now was heading for Las Vegas on Highway 15. Only one problem...I was falling asleep at the wheel. I mean the really scary ones where you doze off for one or two seconds and wake up with a start. So a few miles short of Barstow I pull over to a truck stop and attempt to snooze in the front seat. With my butt still in the driver's seat I fall to my right and bury my face into my overnight bag which is occupying the passenger seat. I look at my watch and see that it's 2:20AM then with the blink of an eye it's 3:05. Did I really sleep for 45 minutes? I seemed to feel better so I took off again not really aware what the speed limit was. I was reminded that I was going too fast by one of those automatic speed sensors that tells you to slow down, so I did. Slow down, I mean. To about 45 miles per hour as I didn't want to get tagged now. I reached way over to the passenger footwell to grab a Coke out of the ice chest thinking that the caffeine boost would really help me out here. That nice cold drink felt good and just as I was getting intent on making up for lost time I saw the flashing lights in my rear view mirror urging me to pull over. What could they want? I don't think I'm speeding or anything. So I pull over and my local California Highway Patrol officer appears outside my passenger window. I roll it down and I tell him that I'm totally awake. He tells me he doubts that as I was going 45 mph and was weaving. Actually, the whole reason I was weaving was because I was reaching down for that blasted Coke but I didn't tell him that. He urged me to go to the next rest stop and sleep so I gratefully complied, all too happy that I didn't get a ticket.
I pulled into the rest stop which was a huge lighted parking lot. It was just me and another RV occupying the premises so I got a blanket and a pillow and laid down on the ground outside the car. This is stupid. I just woke up from a short nap and now here I am wasting time trying to sleep again. Pointless. But I figure I'll stay here long enough to let that CHP officer get far enough down the road so I can sneak out of here. So I'm laying there on the blanket next to Jackson when I see the headlights of another vehicle pull into the rest area. After a few seconds I can see that it's a cop car. Is that CHP guy checking up on me? Turns out it's the Barstow Police and he just wanted to warn me about sleeping in the open like that as I could could get robbed. Then he saw that I had a big intimidating looking dog with me and he changed his mind.I thanked him for doing a great job all the while thinking that I must be some kind of cop magnet. Can't I just get out of California without getting ticketed by one of these guys? Just this time? The cop said goodnight and drove away and I got back into the car and once again attempted to make up for lost time.
This part of the drive to Vegas was strange as it was dark so there wasn't much to see but driving at night was imperative as it was cooler and much more comfortable for man (me) and beast (Jackson). At least I had the pleasure of one milestone...I finally crossed the border into Nevada. Goodbye California. Dawn was a glimmer and I knew I was close to Las Vegas. The lights of Vegas shone into the clouds over the horizon, well before you reach the city. I stopped there for gas and immediately got back in to make use of the waning morning. I wanted to stop driving before the hottest time of day arrived but sometimes I broke my own rule and just kept going.
*to be continued...*
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