[I can't believe I haven't written these up yet! And I've hit that point where I feel like I can't write anything -else- until I get these done, so let's go.]
The first day of the trip was a very long day. As I’ve mentioned, we packed using self-pack shipping containers, and they were scheduled to be picked up on Monday morning. We’d tried to get everything essential into the pods on Sunday night, but there was still a lot to do–we had to somehow dispose of everything that wasn’t coming with us, we had to pack the car, we had to clean the apartment, so on and so forth. We didn’t get to bed until after midnight, and we woke up around five in the morning to get back to work.
Things got easier after seven a.m., when the coffeeshop down the street finally opened, but to be honest, I don’t remember much of the day. We moved a lot of things out of the apartment. We gave away a lot of furniture, and donated a lot of canned and boxed food to the local food bank, and moved even more things out of the apartment. Eventually, the car was packed, and the pods were picked up, and we ran out of things to move out of the apartment, so we started cleaning, and then eventually that was finished too.
Sometime that weekend, I had explained to a friend that I was having trouble really conceptualizing anything that happened after the move. There was packing, and more packing, and eventually we would leave the apartment, but that was as far ahead as I could see. I normally have a mental map of at least the next few weeks of my life, but as we moved towards the move, everything after the day of departure was essentially marked “Here Be Dragons”.
We set off into that unexplored territory just after 1pm, which was a good two hours later than I’d hoped, but more than an hour earlier than our drop-dead deadline. As it were. Matt drove the first shift, which left me free to wave madly out the window and shout farewells at local landmarks. “Goodbye, Fellini Coffeebar! Goodbye, Ikea! Goodbye, massive Ballardian overpass tangle!” (I didn’t actually shout that one out the window, but I thought it.)
Monday’s Winery
So. When you’re planning a huge cross-country drive like this, it’s important to find ways to keep it interesting. In the past, I’ve done this by just hitting as many weird landmarks as I could find, but that’s not a foolproof solution. Matt and I kicked around a few ideas for this trip (landmarks from Star Trek history, Civil War battlegrounds) but finally settled on checking out local wineries. He did some very impressive research work and found a winery for us to visit on each day of the trip. It was a great way to see a little more of the country and talk to people who actually lived in the places we were passing through. We also bought a bottle of wine at each winery, and we’ll have those at our (eventual) housewarming party.
The first of the wineries was Tamas Estates, in California’s scenic Livermore Valley. I admit, I was a little snobbish when I first heard the phrase “Livermore Valley Wine Country”, but it actually looks kind of lovely out there, and the wine was good. (We picked up a bottle of their Pinot Grigio; I think I might have like the Barbera better, but the Pinot Grigio seemed pretty representative of their offerings.)
The Drive
This was a long, long day. When we first plotted the route, I think I made some kind of joke about how it was a great idea to spend so much time on I-5, since that would make us happy to get the hell out of California. And, in fact, I-5 lived up to its reputation as the absolute most boring stretch of road in the whole world.
We had dinner at a Denny’s in Lost Hills and kept on going, finally arriving in Barstow around 9pm. I’m not sure that I’ve ever been that tired in my whole life. We made a good-faith effort to see the sights in downtown Barstow, but near our hotel “the sights” were limited to a few closed restaurants and a few sketchy liquor stores, so we called it a night pretty early. Not out of California yet, but a long way from our old home, and even further from our unknown new home.
Posted Monday, August 11th, 2008 at 8:42 pm. Filed under: personal.
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Ah, Barstow.
Man, yesterday I just wanted to make a bad joke about greying fans and shrinking conventions, and I ended up surfing Days Inn and La Quinta websites for half an hour. I need a road trip.
Hey, you need to update your staff bio!
“Here be dragons” is exactly how I conceptualize life after my move to Baltimore on Friday. Though now that I think about it, in Baltimore’s case that may actually be an accurate description.