The Long Journey Home (Or, Bullwinkle Can’t Drive In The Snow)
For a few days leading up to January 15th, I packed up most of my clothes and other essential items in preparation for my journey back to good ole’ Nebraska. As things go, with belly’s ETS approaching, we felt it’s better to live in a less expensive demographic, one that also has a LOT fewer people. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind people, but oodles and oodles of people streaming out of every orifice of the land like ants, well, that’s just a little too much for me to take.
On the 15th, a sunny warm San Diego Monday, I got everything packed and after a lingering goodbye kiss for my baby I set out on yet another long road trip. I did get lost on my way out of Oceanside I went a little too far, on past the far side of Vista and found myself gallivanting around the foothills of the mountains driving past million dollar homes. It was indeed a beautiful drive but not what I had planned. After about 20 minutes I found my way back onto the right path and got to I-15 and headed north towards Barstow.
I was treated to my last California traffic jam about 20 minutes into my trip, as a semi truck had gotten into a pretty bad accident and was on fire in the opposite lane, and of course the rubber necking sun baked tards, who can’t drive worth a shit anyway, had traffic slowed down to a stand still on both sides of the highway. After that however it was reasonably smooth sailing, and I even had one last SRT-4 sighting.
I hit I-40 east and set sail at about 85 mph. I would say hit the cruise but unfortunately my car does not come equipped with cruise, and do to the throttle body assembly, it is next to impossibly to install cruise on the car. But, needless to say, with a full car and oodles and oodles of power at my command, I was having a fun drive. The desert is probably not the most appealing place to live, unless you are a lizard or rattlesnake, but it is certainly a pretty sight to drive through.
I was going to try and make it to Sante Fe, NM, but I hadn’t slept well the last couple of nights so I ended up bedding down in Flagstaff, AZ. About an hour outside of the city, as the sun was drifting below the horizon, I got to see snow for the first time in nearly two years. A little while later as I got out of my car to fuel up, I admired the snow, in my short sleeve shirt that is perfect for San Diego weather. That was enough snow for me, I was about ready to head back to California.
As I drove over to the Days Inn, I realized just how awful my car is on the snow and ice, and how careful I was going to have to be. Oh, if only I could know what awaited me. I’m going to say this much about Days Inn. I stayed there a couple of times in the 1990’s and I had an enjoyable time. Now in this millennium, I have stayed there twice, and both times the Days Inn has been a dump. I will never again stay in one. The housing was falling off the floor unit furnace under the window, and when I fired it up, the fan squeaked as though the bearings had no oil on them whatsoever. The television was like a 13 inch screen, I’m surprised it wasn’t black and white.
I ordered pizza though, and as the furnace warmed up the fan quieted down, and I crashed hard, fully expecting a good night’s sleep, considering how tired I was. I woke up at about 1 in the morning though, and couldn’t get back to sleep. I laid there restless watching movies until about 6 in the morning when I finally was able to drift back into dreamland. I was rather stressed, maybe more so than I was willing to let on. I really really missed belly already, it was so hard to just leave her behind, but we both knew the importance of my getting a decent job and getting settled before she gets out of the Marines. Even so, I would have slept a lot better with my other half by my side.
I got up around 9 a.m. surprisingly rested, and took a quick shower and shave then hopped into the car and headed on down the road. Temps were in the high 20’s and low 30’s, and there was snow all around, but thankfully the sun was out and the roads were dry. The eastern part of New Mexico was pretty, but the further I went, the more it looked like eastern Colorado, a veritable waste land of semi arid desert plains. Northern Texas was even more of that, and worse. All in all it was a relatively boring area to drive in. As nightfall came, I stopped in Amarillo at a much nicer place, a Baymont Inn & Suites.
I slept a little better that night but still not very well. Again I missed my baby, or, my babies as is the situation these days. In the morning I had myself a hot complimentary breakfast. I find it interesting how exciting it is to have this free breakfast, but when you really look at it, the meal is quite shitty. Some 10 cent tiny muffins and scrambled eggs with bacon bits added is not my idea of a quality breakfast yet I still find myself trotting down there at 7 a.m. to get my mastication on.
As I checked out the weather on the internet before I left, I realized I had made a major judgment error. By going below Colorado, I bypassed the sometimes treacherous mountains in favor of the typically clean and clear southern route. This ended up being a poor choice, as Oklahoma had ice dumped all over the last weekend. So, rather than take the highways diagonally, I chose to stay on the interstate, even though it might add an hour or two to my trip, it was just safer that way.
I made the trip from Amarillo to Oklahoma City in one long stretch, got fuel and headed north on I-35. There was a lot of ice around, and it was in the middle of the interstate on some stretches of the road, like a natural dividing line for the two lanes, but the roads themselves were dry for the most part. I took the toll road diagonally up towards Topeka when I hit Wichita Kansas. The drivers around Wichita are complete morons, I’ll say that much. When I got to Topeka, I nearly ran my car out of gas. I was trying to find a populated area to stop in, and if you are headed up the toll road and then veer off onto Highway 75 North, you just don’t find anything.
With 0.1 gallons left on my Aeroforce gauge, I ended up turning around and heading back and fueling up at the most disgusting gas station I’ve seen in some time. Downtown Topeka is a lovely cesspool, and this particular station had nothing but premium fuel, lucky for me, because I require 91 octane for my car. I went in to use the restroom and I was told it was ‘closed’. Oh well, it was probably safer to hold it anyway, considering I felt like I might get knifed at any time.
Then it was back on my journey north, up 75. Of course, wouldn’t you know it, I crested the hill RIGHT after the exit I turned around on, and there was a large sized traveler’s lodge type gas station with restaurant and I’m sure plenty of wonderful bathrooms. Murphy’s law, you gotta love it! I had made up my mind though that I was going to travel all the way till I got home, another 3 hours or so along mostly 2 lane highway.
Sure enough, at about 2045, I arrived at my parents, exhausted. I brought only my travel bags in the house, left the rest in the car for the next day, and crashed in the guest room. I fell asleep immediately but even there I woke up and had to pull the pillows in close because the bed just felt too empty. There is good reason for what we are both doing now in our lives but even so it’s difficult to once again be apart. One thing is certain, even if we are not physically together, our hearts are never apart, and that’s what keeps me going even when I miss her so much.
Oh, almost forgot, the next day, hadn’t even been home for 24 hours, and I was trying to get up my parents driveway in my car and lost traction, so I tried back down the driveway slowly, and the car went sideways and hit a school bus. Yah, welcome home to me, my brand new car has scratches all over the bumper cover. She’s scheduled for a Monday fix, pulling the bumper cover and repainting. And this summer, I’ll be buying a cheapie car or fixing one up to drive when it’s crappy out.
