The Trip Day 4

Day 4
I started driving this morning at 3:30 am and it was exciting to know we were on Mountain Time and had two extra hours. We drove that morning for a few hours and took a quick break right when the sun was ready to rise. We pulled off this exit with nothing on it at all and realized it was a dirt road. As dark as it was we could not even see how soft the road was. I had this vision of us getting stuck in the sand with the buzzards over head stuck in the dessert. It was the fastest I had turned the truck around. We were in the middle of nowhere but we did get some beautiful sunrise shots.

The excitement grew as we entered California. We were there! We were still 8 to 9 hours away but we made it to the big state. We always made sure we captured each state's sign to give us that extra jolt to keep moving.
The California landscape as your enter from the south is like riding on the Moon with mountains, desserts and nothing. We were heading to Barstow, which is the end of the line for Route 40 highway. I remember a sign in Wilmington NC that has Barstow on it. I can say I traveled 40 from one end to the other. I think the highest mountain roads were in this part of California.

It was crunch time and we arranged for my departure on the10:30 red eye back to NC with Lori by phone.
We figured the miles ahead and what the GPS lady was telling us we would arrive by 8:35 in the San Francisco area. The plan was to drive to an area close to the airport and Ian would stay at a local hotel with the truck so he would not have to drive into the city until the next morning when the uhaul place was open. I would have maybe 20 min to clean up and get a shuttle to the airport. Ian was driving the last leg and moving along at a fast pace and doing a great job. We plugged the hotel info into the GPS and were on tract until we made the turn off the highway that should have been about a mile away. The area had a lot of construction so when she said, “ turn right onto Drove road” the road was different. We made a wrong turn and then the GPS said go 3.5 miles then… I shut it off and said no way! I was just thinking I was not getting out of there that night. I did not realize the airport was just 5 minuets away. I though Ian said it was 8 miles away. (A.D.D. people don’t listen to each other). I am thinking 15 to 20 minuets with traffic. At this point we are making wrong turn after wrong turn looking for the hotel. The road in some cases is just wide enough for the truck to drive on and as I looked through the back right side mirror I can see the trailer just inches from the barriers. I am on high stress alert by now as we pull into a gas station. Ian is driving and I am telling him to pull over, not there! No way out. We change sides and I back out of the gas station. We just started driving and he points out another hotel as he is canceling the other reservation since we cannot find the first hotel. We pull in and Ian runs out to check if a room is available. They don’t have a room but I can get the shuttle to the airport. Its 8:45 right now and the ride is on its way. I drove to the back of the parking lot and found a space for the monster and did a quick pack while heading for the lobby of the hotel.
I found a bathroom to change for the flight home but Ian needs my lab top to transfer some files to a portable hard drive. “It will only take a moment”. I come out of the bathroom ready to go. The shuttle is here and Ian’s file has 3 min left to download. Just as I say good-bye and the shuttle guys are waiting the files are complete and he disconnects the hard drive. Close! Not the goodbye I wanted but I had to leave right away. We just did not want to drive the big rig into the airport since we didn’t know the way and it would have taken longer to take the car off the trailer to get there.
I am at the airport looking like a dirt bag. I have not shaved since Saturday. I am not the cleanest looking person. I get my boarding pass for the 10:30 flight and it is now 9:15. I go through the scanners after taking off the shoes and everything else and I have to go off to the side for the “extra checking area ” because I forgot I had a knee brace on my left leg that had wire running through it so it set off the beeper as I kept walking through. They have my arms out patting me down. I guess I looked like Ted the letter bomber or something. I was there for about 15 min getting the once over. I had a carry on and a laptop bag so when the guy said he wanted to go though my bag I said at your own risk. “I have been on the road since Monday and everything in there is dirty”. My wife wounn't open it. He took a quick look. I got to the gate at 9:45 and sat down with a cold beer and a sandwich.Time to take a break. I dropped part of the sandwich and spilled most the beer on the table when I went to move my bags around. At that point a bottle of water would be a safe choice.

The flight was fours hours and I know I would not sleep much at all on the plane. I arrived in Charlotte at 6:am and after a quick flight to RDU Amy picked me up at 8:30. I made it back to the studio and had three session that afternoon and don’t know how I finished them. I had been up the previous day at 3:am and I have gotten maybe one hour of sleep in 26 hours.
It was a great trip I would do again ( without the truck). I only wish we had the time to stop and visit some of the sights off the road and take ore images. The trip was somewhat tense at times but the time we spend together was priceless…