My long, second, and final drive back
If you didn't hear I made it back to the Midwest safe. It was a 3-day drive Nov 10th-12th in my 1994 Oldmobile Cutlass Sierra. I drove with my new laptop, Street Atlas USA 2005, and my little USB Earthmate GPS. It was a nice combo. I listened to all my music in MP3 and OGG form from my laptop the whole trip. I plugged in a cassette tape adapter that normally plugs into a discman into my laptop headphone jack instead. It was a pretty cool rig. All my sound from my laptop went to my car stereo and car speakers. So both my music and Street Atlas's computer automated voice came through live and clear my whole drive. I didn't have to swap out CDs and could listen to different songs all day without even having to change media.
The first day, Wednesday, was a weird one. I still felt a bit malnourished after having been hung over the previous day. The drive was rainy all the way until I got on the other side of Tahoe and in Nevada. So it didn't help my grim mood. I then drove all the way across Nevada to the last Nevada\Utah border town inside Nevada called, Wendover. My goal that day was to make it to the beginning of Utah so I could drive the entire next day through mountainous snow country in Utah and Wyoming. There was already discouraging snow at 3,000 feet in the Tahoe area so I really wanted to make sure I drove to my goal before I rested. Funny thing is that Wendover was a very, very bright town with lots of neon lights and people driving back and forth from casinos and hotels. So it was really not the best place to end that day's journey and sleep in my car. I ended up sleeping in a parking lot of a Motel 8 inside my sleeping bag in the big back seat of my car. I fell asleep around 11pm PST and woke up the next day at about 9:30am PST.
So Thursday I arose with my bed head out of my cocoon sleeping back from the back seat of my car. I then pulled out my Orangish, fruity, Energy Sobe drink from my trunk-- where it had been naturally fridgerated all night, changed some of my clothes and moved to the front seat to start my drive. I really felt at that point that my goal of getting back to the Midwest was going to happen and California was behind me. I mean, although I felt like I just woke up dirty from a camping trip, it was a nice, fresh and free feeling I can't really explain. I felt pretty good that morning and somehow had managed to get a good night's rest. About 30 mins into my drive I washed my face, brushed my teeth and fixed my hair so I felt a little more human. I ended up timing my drive that day perfectly as I was at the highest elevation of 8750 feet around noon time at the warmest part of the day. There was lots of snow flurrys, enough that I had to keep my wipers on full, but the snow pretty much always melted when it hit the warmer ground. There was a thin layer of snow on the road at 8000-something feet but it was only for about 10 minutes. As I kept driving I made it my goal to make it to 3,000 or less feet elevation because I didn't want to risk getting snowed in, but rather rained in. Well I made and I kept driving because I wasn't tired that day. I ended up driving about 100 miles inside Nebraska and stayed at a rest area between North Platte and Kearney, Nebraska at about 10:30pm Central time. It was in the 20s that night at the rest area. I had trouble figuring out a position in the back seat which was comfortable, but still allowed me to stay warm. I was glad I had my wool blanket to keep my feet warm (thanks Karen Hill, I'm glad I listened to your advice). I was totally zipped up in my cocoon sleeping bag and only a part of my face was exposed. In about an hour I got comfortable and didn't wake up until the sun was out.
The last day Friday was the toughest because I was simply sick of driving and I had to drive through the boring states of Nebraska and Iowa in the day light. I told myself that I was going to drive until I made it to Rockton or stay at a hotel that night because I didn't feel like sleeping\living out of a car for 3 days in a row. Fortunately I made it on schedule. Omaha was very busy with lots of cars and honking and rubbernecking and tailgating as I went through there at the end of the day rush hour. Also 80 East was a little busy from Omaha to Iowa City as I believe everyone was driving to Iowa city to party before the University of Iowa Hawkeye football game. Other than that there's not much to say on the last day because it was pretty much a boring straight drive at low elevations with grain and cow fields to the left and right of me for the entire drive in the day light. I was only in Illinois for about 2 to 3 hours and I arrived in Rockton about 8:30pm Central time.
Thanks everyone for all your prayers on my trip. I'm sure it helped.
The first day, Wednesday, was a weird one. I still felt a bit malnourished after having been hung over the previous day. The drive was rainy all the way until I got on the other side of Tahoe and in Nevada. So it didn't help my grim mood. I then drove all the way across Nevada to the last Nevada\Utah border town inside Nevada called, Wendover. My goal that day was to make it to the beginning of Utah so I could drive the entire next day through mountainous snow country in Utah and Wyoming. There was already discouraging snow at 3,000 feet in the Tahoe area so I really wanted to make sure I drove to my goal before I rested. Funny thing is that Wendover was a very, very bright town with lots of neon lights and people driving back and forth from casinos and hotels. So it was really not the best place to end that day's journey and sleep in my car. I ended up sleeping in a parking lot of a Motel 8 inside my sleeping bag in the big back seat of my car. I fell asleep around 11pm PST and woke up the next day at about 9:30am PST.
So Thursday I arose with my bed head out of my cocoon sleeping back from the back seat of my car. I then pulled out my Orangish, fruity, Energy Sobe drink from my trunk-- where it had been naturally fridgerated all night, changed some of my clothes and moved to the front seat to start my drive. I really felt at that point that my goal of getting back to the Midwest was going to happen and California was behind me. I mean, although I felt like I just woke up dirty from a camping trip, it was a nice, fresh and free feeling I can't really explain. I felt pretty good that morning and somehow had managed to get a good night's rest. About 30 mins into my drive I washed my face, brushed my teeth and fixed my hair so I felt a little more human. I ended up timing my drive that day perfectly as I was at the highest elevation of 8750 feet around noon time at the warmest part of the day. There was lots of snow flurrys, enough that I had to keep my wipers on full, but the snow pretty much always melted when it hit the warmer ground. There was a thin layer of snow on the road at 8000-something feet but it was only for about 10 minutes. As I kept driving I made it my goal to make it to 3,000 or less feet elevation because I didn't want to risk getting snowed in, but rather rained in. Well I made and I kept driving because I wasn't tired that day. I ended up driving about 100 miles inside Nebraska and stayed at a rest area between North Platte and Kearney, Nebraska at about 10:30pm Central time. It was in the 20s that night at the rest area. I had trouble figuring out a position in the back seat which was comfortable, but still allowed me to stay warm. I was glad I had my wool blanket to keep my feet warm (thanks Karen Hill, I'm glad I listened to your advice). I was totally zipped up in my cocoon sleeping bag and only a part of my face was exposed. In about an hour I got comfortable and didn't wake up until the sun was out.
The last day Friday was the toughest because I was simply sick of driving and I had to drive through the boring states of Nebraska and Iowa in the day light. I told myself that I was going to drive until I made it to Rockton or stay at a hotel that night because I didn't feel like sleeping\living out of a car for 3 days in a row. Fortunately I made it on schedule. Omaha was very busy with lots of cars and honking and rubbernecking and tailgating as I went through there at the end of the day rush hour. Also 80 East was a little busy from Omaha to Iowa City as I believe everyone was driving to Iowa city to party before the University of Iowa Hawkeye football game. Other than that there's not much to say on the last day because it was pretty much a boring straight drive at low elevations with grain and cow fields to the left and right of me for the entire drive in the day light. I was only in Illinois for about 2 to 3 hours and I arrived in Rockton about 8:30pm Central time.
Thanks everyone for all your prayers on my trip. I'm sure it helped.
