Cross-Country Trip Day 1 : Tue Aug 14
Aug. 29th, 2012 03:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I had just enough time to grab a quick, delicious breakfast at the Rockridge Cafe, then zip home to meet Erika and ride with her to the airport. She gave me a big hug, wished me luck, and handed me a card in an envelope, which I read on the way back to the house. It was lovely, and brought a few tears to my eyes.
At home I threw my assembled luggage into the back of the car and got right back on the road, headed east. I cranked up Reno's air conditioning (the car is named Reno) and cranked up the They Might Be Giants and sang along as I zoomed down 580. Reno was going to be a pleasure to drive!

Before long, I was ascending into Yosemite, sipping on one of the many containers of soup I'd collected from Wh0l F00dz and stashed in the cooler.

I couldn't help whistling "She'll Be Comin' 'Round The Mountain" as I drove this bit!

Whoooo! DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE!

I stopped to take some pictures and noticed that the altitude had inflated my peanut butter cups. FLOOF!!!

The wet weather brought the mist out of the trees. Lovely.

Here I am testing out the fancy new tripod and the fancy new remote-control trigger for my camera. Huzzah! It all works.

The rain began to attack with force, but I drove on!

A construction crew tried to thwart me, but did not succeed.

I stopped for a snack in Lee Vining, site of the first Braindead Monkeys album. WHOO PILGRIMAGE! The night was still young, so I decided to press on into Nevada and cut some hours off my driving time for the next day. I got pretty worried about running out of fuel at one point, and decided that from then on, I would refuel the car whenever it dropped to half a tank. This trip is not about worrying, it is about rubbernecking, air conditioning, and audiobooks!

Eventually I ended up in a serviceable motel room in Tonopah, Nevada. 450 miles of driving, nearly a straight line east from Oakland. A good start to the drive.
At home I threw my assembled luggage into the back of the car and got right back on the road, headed east. I cranked up Reno's air conditioning (the car is named Reno) and cranked up the They Might Be Giants and sang along as I zoomed down 580. Reno was going to be a pleasure to drive!

Before long, I was ascending into Yosemite, sipping on one of the many containers of soup I'd collected from Wh0l F00dz and stashed in the cooler.

I couldn't help whistling "She'll Be Comin' 'Round The Mountain" as I drove this bit!

Whoooo! DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE!

I stopped to take some pictures and noticed that the altitude had inflated my peanut butter cups. FLOOF!!!

The wet weather brought the mist out of the trees. Lovely.

Here I am testing out the fancy new tripod and the fancy new remote-control trigger for my camera. Huzzah! It all works.

The rain began to attack with force, but I drove on!

A construction crew tried to thwart me, but did not succeed.

I stopped for a snack in Lee Vining, site of the first Braindead Monkeys album. WHOO PILGRIMAGE! The night was still young, so I decided to press on into Nevada and cut some hours off my driving time for the next day. I got pretty worried about running out of fuel at one point, and decided that from then on, I would refuel the car whenever it dropped to half a tank. This trip is not about worrying, it is about rubbernecking, air conditioning, and audiobooks!

Eventually I ended up in a serviceable motel room in Tonopah, Nevada. 450 miles of driving, nearly a straight line east from Oakland. A good start to the drive.