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.