Friday, August 4th
I was still on Oklahoma time, so I woke up pretty early. We spent pretty much the entire day unpacking. Nothing really eventful happened yesterday other than having internet installed. We went to Ralph's (a grocery store like Homeland) and bought a ton of food and also got the Ralph's discount card. The clerk that was checking us out was really nice and helped us out by giving us his discount even though we didn't have a card yet. He seemed to think it was cool that we just moved here from halfway across the country.
Saturday, August 5th (Yesterday)
More unpacking. Megan talked to Richard and he decided he wanted to take us out and show us around; very cool. He took us to Ventura Blvd and showed us were some cool shops and restaraunts are before we stopped at a sushi place for dinner (I don't know the name). After dinner we went to his apartment and drank some beer while waiting on some of his friends to get ready to go. When they were ready, we went to a bar with a "goth" feel (dark & loud) but it wasn't really "goth" since it was really trendy and everyone there was dressed really, really nice in their faux-goth/punk clothing that's really trendy. We went to another bar after that, one of more traditional feeling. I won't say I had too much to drink, but I will say that the beer is much stronger here than it is at home. Thanks Oklahoma for your crappy liquor laws. We had Richard take us home (he drove all night) after the second bar because we were tired and going out is expensive.
Sunday, August 6th
More unpacking. We went to Belair to see my where my job is and to Malibu to see Pepperdine and go to the beach. Fun was had by all.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Day 3: Entering LA
Funny thing about the desert, it pretty much stays hot all the time, no matter if the sun is up or down. We left Needles around 8:30a and not surprisingly, it was already 80 something degrees outside. The actual drive to Los Angeles wasn't bad at all; just more driving through the desert in a furnace-like heat with the windows down because for some crazy reason I thought it would be a good idea to sacrifice comfort for gas mileage.
I don't really remember what time we got in to the "LA area," because one finds it pretty much impossible to determine when one enters the "LA area." Los Angeles itself isn't that big, but the sheer number of suburbs that surround downtown LA make the "LA area" fantastically humongus. As in: It's so big it's not really that funny because I'm being completely serious about how big this place is. We drove through the city for a good hour and twenty minutes before we even got close to the exit we were supposed to take to get to our apartment. Yes, over an hour of driving along the northern edge of the metropolitan area just to reach our exit. We switched highways 5 times (I think) along the way; yes, this place is huge.
In a twist of irony, even though the city itself is gigantic, the lanes on the freeways are stupidly narrow. Narrow enough for it to be really difficult to keep my Budget truck in one lane. Narrow enough that I white-knuckled it for 67 miles. I can say that without a doubt, this was the worst part of the trip. Megan didn't mind it so much, but then again, she was in a tiny little car and could maneuver her way through the congested traffic without too much difficulty.
Nevertheless, we found our exit and managed to find the apartment. We got turned around once on the way (totally my fault), but after we got the truck straightened out, Megan went on ahead and found the apartment building. We parked behind the building in an alley and got the truck unloaded in a few hours. Well, I got the truck unloaded in a few hours because Megan accidentally locked her keys in her car while she was renting a dolly at the Budget rental place. In her defense, it had been a stressful day and I probably would have done the same thing; in fact, I'm surprised it hadn't happened already considering the amazing number of random things that have happened to us thus far.
We took the truck back at 5:30p and finally got the stupid thing out of our sphere of responsibility. The Budget truck guy was nice enough to stay late for us, for which I will be forever thankful. We spent most of tonight unpacking; in fact, that's all we did after we got rid of the truck. I suspect it'll be more of the same tomorrow.
I don't really remember what time we got in to the "LA area," because one finds it pretty much impossible to determine when one enters the "LA area." Los Angeles itself isn't that big, but the sheer number of suburbs that surround downtown LA make the "LA area" fantastically humongus. As in: It's so big it's not really that funny because I'm being completely serious about how big this place is. We drove through the city for a good hour and twenty minutes before we even got close to the exit we were supposed to take to get to our apartment. Yes, over an hour of driving along the northern edge of the metropolitan area just to reach our exit. We switched highways 5 times (I think) along the way; yes, this place is huge.
In a twist of irony, even though the city itself is gigantic, the lanes on the freeways are stupidly narrow. Narrow enough for it to be really difficult to keep my Budget truck in one lane. Narrow enough that I white-knuckled it for 67 miles. I can say that without a doubt, this was the worst part of the trip. Megan didn't mind it so much, but then again, she was in a tiny little car and could maneuver her way through the congested traffic without too much difficulty.
Nevertheless, we found our exit and managed to find the apartment. We got turned around once on the way (totally my fault), but after we got the truck straightened out, Megan went on ahead and found the apartment building. We parked behind the building in an alley and got the truck unloaded in a few hours. Well, I got the truck unloaded in a few hours because Megan accidentally locked her keys in her car while she was renting a dolly at the Budget rental place. In her defense, it had been a stressful day and I probably would have done the same thing; in fact, I'm surprised it hadn't happened already considering the amazing number of random things that have happened to us thus far.
We took the truck back at 5:30p and finally got the stupid thing out of our sphere of responsibility. The Budget truck guy was nice enough to stay late for us, for which I will be forever thankful. We spent most of tonight unpacking; in fact, that's all we did after we got rid of the truck. I suspect it'll be more of the same tomorrow.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
D-Day +1
Woke up late today and didn't get out the door until 8:30a or so. Our truck was still in the parking lot and our cars were whole, so overall, we were off to a good start. Filled up the truck and Megan's car at a gas station down the street from where our motel was and we were on the road a little after 9:00a. We didn't have to negotiate Albuquerque's stupidly laid out road system since I-40 was literally "right there." I was up to 45MPH 5 miles down the highway since we were on the west end of the city and we missed most of rush hour; my morning could have only been made better if the truck had a few extra horses under the hood. Driving across the country in that piece of crap was probably one of the most mentally painful experiences of my life; no kidding, folks.
Driving across the desert on I-40 is about as fun as it sounds, so in other words, it pretty much sucked. There's nothing to look at, the truck doesn't handle uphill at all, and I made it my mission to not use the AC for the duration of the trip in order
to conserve gas and increase our gas mileage. Basically, I had lots of time for some personal reflection while sweating out all of my bodily fluids because I was rocking back and forth in my seat in a futile attempt to make the truck go faster. Things got somewhat interesting in Flagstaff when we tried to find a place to eat but couldn't find anywhere to park the truck+car trailer combination. After driving around and turning the truck around a few times, we gave up and got back on the highway. We found a truckstop a few miles down the road with a built-in Subway, so not stopping in Flagstaff actually worked out in our favor.
The only other "exciting" moment of the day was trying to cross the Arizona/California border. They have a mandatory check point station on the highway that everyone has to go through. I'm assuming that it's the Californian government wanting to make sure no bugs or plant diseases come into the state which could potentially kill all of their crops. Anyway, I get up to the station and the marshal asks me to step out of the truck and open up the back. Since I'm not transporting anything illegal (plants or Mexicans), I happily comply. I open up the back and what's the first thing she finds? Part of the tree I hit when I was backing up the truck at my old apartment. Yes, that's right, a plant. A plant that I said I didn't have when she asked if I was transporting any plants. She sees the small cluster of leaves on the floor, grabs them, and asks me what it is. I nervously laughed and told her it's, "A tree." She said it's okay and tosses it to the ground. After she inspected the inside of my truck she wanted to see in the ice chest I had in the cab. You know, the ice chest that has, among other things, a banana that I can't legally bring into the state of California. I guess she was ready to go home because I opened it up for her and she gave it a casual glance before she let me go about my business.
Crisis averted.
Needles isn't too far away from the state line, so we didn't have much more driving to do. We found our motel without any problems, parked the truck, and got out of the heat. Needles is without a doubt, the hottest place on earth. I think it's actually hotter than hell, which is saying a lot. Needless to say, we didn't want to spend much time outside. Of course, we found out we didn't have much of a choice with that desire because after we parked the truck, we found out that the car tow was broken.
We had to park the truck on the street because there was no where else to park it. I didn't want to leave my car on the car dolly overnight because it would have been a great opportunity to have it stolen. In the process of taking the car off of the dolly, we discovered that the ratchet that locks down the sprocket that tightens the straps that keep the car on the dolly was... broken. This meant that we couldn't secure the car back on the dolly in the morning. Meaning we weren't leaving at 7:00a like we planned if we couldn't get it fixed. We called the truck rental emergency line and they said they would try to get someone out tonight, but it would probably be tomorrow morning before anyone came. It sucked, but at least we figured this out tonight instead of tomorrow. As it turns out, the mechanic made it out tonight and fixed us up before he even called us to let us know he was here. Talk about service, no?
I think the plan at this point is to get out of here early and get in to LA so we can unload the truck and get it back before 6:00p. We'll see how that goes.
Driving across the desert on I-40 is about as fun as it sounds, so in other words, it pretty much sucked. There's nothing to look at, the truck doesn't handle uphill at all, and I made it my mission to not use the AC for the duration of the trip in order
to conserve gas and increase our gas mileage. Basically, I had lots of time for some personal reflection while sweating out all of my bodily fluids because I was rocking back and forth in my seat in a futile attempt to make the truck go faster. Things got somewhat interesting in Flagstaff when we tried to find a place to eat but couldn't find anywhere to park the truck+car trailer combination. After driving around and turning the truck around a few times, we gave up and got back on the highway. We found a truckstop a few miles down the road with a built-in Subway, so not stopping in Flagstaff actually worked out in our favor.
The only other "exciting" moment of the day was trying to cross the Arizona/California border. They have a mandatory check point station on the highway that everyone has to go through. I'm assuming that it's the Californian government wanting to make sure no bugs or plant diseases come into the state which could potentially kill all of their crops. Anyway, I get up to the station and the marshal asks me to step out of the truck and open up the back. Since I'm not transporting anything illegal (plants or Mexicans), I happily comply. I open up the back and what's the first thing she finds? Part of the tree I hit when I was backing up the truck at my old apartment. Yes, that's right, a plant. A plant that I said I didn't have when she asked if I was transporting any plants. She sees the small cluster of leaves on the floor, grabs them, and asks me what it is. I nervously laughed and told her it's, "A tree." She said it's okay and tosses it to the ground. After she inspected the inside of my truck she wanted to see in the ice chest I had in the cab. You know, the ice chest that has, among other things, a banana that I can't legally bring into the state of California. I guess she was ready to go home because I opened it up for her and she gave it a casual glance before she let me go about my business.
Crisis averted.
Needles isn't too far away from the state line, so we didn't have much more driving to do. We found our motel without any problems, parked the truck, and got out of the heat. Needles is without a doubt, the hottest place on earth. I think it's actually hotter than hell, which is saying a lot. Needless to say, we didn't want to spend much time outside. Of course, we found out we didn't have much of a choice with that desire because after we parked the truck, we found out that the car tow was broken.
We had to park the truck on the street because there was no where else to park it. I didn't want to leave my car on the car dolly overnight because it would have been a great opportunity to have it stolen. In the process of taking the car off of the dolly, we discovered that the ratchet that locks down the sprocket that tightens the straps that keep the car on the dolly was... broken. This meant that we couldn't secure the car back on the dolly in the morning. Meaning we weren't leaving at 7:00a like we planned if we couldn't get it fixed. We called the truck rental emergency line and they said they would try to get someone out tonight, but it would probably be tomorrow morning before anyone came. It sucked, but at least we figured this out tonight instead of tomorrow. As it turns out, the mechanic made it out tonight and fixed us up before he even called us to let us know he was here. Talk about service, no?
I think the plan at this point is to get out of here early and get in to LA so we can unload the truck and get it back before 6:00p. We'll see how that goes.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Operation LA or Die: D-Day -1 through +21:36 hours
For those of you that were worried, fear not, for we have arrived in Albuquerque, NM safe and sound and without any major problems. It was a gruelling drive, no less than 10 hours, but we powered through it and have found our destination.
To recap:
Monday, 31 August
Started seriously working on packing up my stuff; found out desktop computer is toast; helped Megan load up the truck with her stuff; drove the truck to my apartment; packed up most of my junk; got most of it in the truck; (not sure how much I can say about this next part) got caught up in an (most likely) attempted insurance scam when one of my neighbors moved the car tow and positioned it so that it was touching his vehicle but didn't do any damage whatsoever; got the remaining junk packed up in 45 minutes under threat that said neighbor was going to shoot us; said goodbye to the parents, Megan's parents, and Brian, Michelle, and Daniel.
Today
Hit the road at 7:30a CST; arrived in Albuquerque at 6:00p CST (5:00p MT); only got lost once and it was Google Maps' fault; ate at Furrs Cafeteria; tried to find the lease but it's lost somewhere in the truck; tried to find my USB cable for my external harddrive, but it too is lost somewhere in the truck.
I think that about covers everything so far. Driving the truck with my car behind it has turned out to be a better experience than I thought it would be. I think I have the hang of all but the advanced maneuvers, which should serve us well for the remaining day and a half of driving. I will say that filling a 53 gallon tank with diesel fuel makes me throw up in my mouth, especially when fuel is $3.16 per gallon. Let's just say that I'm absolutely ready to return the truck so my wallet doesn't scream out in agony every time the truck runs out of gas.
I'm not sure what time we're planning on hitting the road tomorrow. We had a long day so we're not all that interested in an early start; although I think I'd like to be out of here by 8:00a. That should give us plenty of time to get to Needles, CA, our second stop of the trip and, coincidentally, the hottest place in the United States. I'm really looking forward to driving through the desert without air conditioning. You see, in order to maximize the already piss poor gas mileage of the truck, I have opted to forgo using the air conditioner unless I am in dire need of a cool breeze. Today wasn't so bad since it was relatively cool for most of the day and we got some rain showers in New Mexico which really helped to cool things down. Tomorrow, on the other hand, is going to be a nightmare. Mom says I shouldn't make myself miserable just to get a few more miles out of the truck and I'm starting to think she may be right. Hopefully a cold front will come in tonight and knock temperatures down to the mid 60s. Although highly doubtful, it would be a pleasant surprise.
Lastly, we did take pictures yesterday and today, but I'm too tired to bother with them, so I'll probably do it some time this weekend when I haven't spent 10 straight hours on the road.
Late.
To recap:
Monday, 31 August
Started seriously working on packing up my stuff; found out desktop computer is toast; helped Megan load up the truck with her stuff; drove the truck to my apartment; packed up most of my junk; got most of it in the truck; (not sure how much I can say about this next part) got caught up in an (most likely) attempted insurance scam when one of my neighbors moved the car tow and positioned it so that it was touching his vehicle but didn't do any damage whatsoever; got the remaining junk packed up in 45 minutes under threat that said neighbor was going to shoot us; said goodbye to the parents, Megan's parents, and Brian, Michelle, and Daniel.
Today
Hit the road at 7:30a CST; arrived in Albuquerque at 6:00p CST (5:00p MT); only got lost once and it was Google Maps' fault; ate at Furrs Cafeteria; tried to find the lease but it's lost somewhere in the truck; tried to find my USB cable for my external harddrive, but it too is lost somewhere in the truck.
I think that about covers everything so far. Driving the truck with my car behind it has turned out to be a better experience than I thought it would be. I think I have the hang of all but the advanced maneuvers, which should serve us well for the remaining day and a half of driving. I will say that filling a 53 gallon tank with diesel fuel makes me throw up in my mouth, especially when fuel is $3.16 per gallon. Let's just say that I'm absolutely ready to return the truck so my wallet doesn't scream out in agony every time the truck runs out of gas.
I'm not sure what time we're planning on hitting the road tomorrow. We had a long day so we're not all that interested in an early start; although I think I'd like to be out of here by 8:00a. That should give us plenty of time to get to Needles, CA, our second stop of the trip and, coincidentally, the hottest place in the United States. I'm really looking forward to driving through the desert without air conditioning. You see, in order to maximize the already piss poor gas mileage of the truck, I have opted to forgo using the air conditioner unless I am in dire need of a cool breeze. Today wasn't so bad since it was relatively cool for most of the day and we got some rain showers in New Mexico which really helped to cool things down. Tomorrow, on the other hand, is going to be a nightmare. Mom says I shouldn't make myself miserable just to get a few more miles out of the truck and I'm starting to think she may be right. Hopefully a cold front will come in tonight and knock temperatures down to the mid 60s. Although highly doubtful, it would be a pleasant surprise.
Lastly, we did take pictures yesterday and today, but I'm too tired to bother with them, so I'll probably do it some time this weekend when I haven't spent 10 straight hours on the road.
Late.
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