Time for some more driving with mi madre. Today we completed the drive back to Los Angeles from Seattle. For those of you wondering, we did not get a chance to drive down famed California State Route 1 as doing so would have added several hours to our total travel time. Maybe one day I will make it back out here and I can dedicate a week to exploring the coastline, but for now I am happy to be back in Southern California on time and no longer nauseous.
We split the drive again with my mom driving a 175 miles to my 311. She wanted to drive more, but I would not let her. Simply having her in the car has reenergized me. While we were cruising down the highway my mom and I were able to have some great conversations. As I mentioned in a previous entry, I have not lived with my parents since the spring of 2002. I try to get back to Kalamazoo as often as I can, but it can be difficult sometimes. In addition to my failure to visit my home town, I am also not a very good phone person. Now that my mom and I are sitting less than a foot apart from one another for the next week we have a lot of catching up to do.
What we listened to in the car:
Tigers/White Sox game
StarTalk Radio with Neil Degrasse Tyson
How Did This Get Made
While I was behind the wheel my mom started looking for places to get something to eat. The choices in Willows, CA were not the healthiest of options so for the first time on my tour I left a city without any food in the car. Luckily, my mom has been reading this site and remembered that when all else fails, Seasons 52 will come to the rescue. The moment she looked up my go-to eatery on her iPad, we realized that I had just passed the exit where it was located. I turned the car around and picked up my regular order of shrimp flatbread and a box of edamame for my navigator.
As we got back to Los Angeles I realized that I was supposed to stay with my buddy Tree again for the next couple of nights. As much as my mom loves Tree and he loves her, we decided it would probably be better to stay in a hotel instead of sleeping on his couch. My dad once again came to the rescue and found us a great place near Dodgers Stadium that could be paid for using points and we turned in for the night. The first big leg of driving is over.
My mom told me that she did not have to go to the game with me if I did not want her there. She wanted to let me know that she came to help me drive, but she did not want to get in my way. Please read that last sentence again. If that does not break your heart than you sir or madam, are a cyborg. My mom flew across the country and did not expect to do anything but drive thousands of miles. I immediately jumped online and bought an extra ticket to both the game and the tour for tomorrow. I am taking my mom to Dodgers game and we are going to have an awesome time.
Travel Stats
Miles Traveled: 486
Time in Car: 8 hours 20 minutes
Avg. Speed: 58.32 MPH
Gas Money: $57.56
Gas Price: 3.899
Gallons Filled: 14.762
Exercise: None
Sleep Time: 6 Hours 20 minutes
Bottles of Water: 7
Bathroom Stops: 4
Traffic Jams: 20 minutes
Food Eaten: Seasons 52 shrimp flatbread, edamame, apples, grapes, blueberries, strawberries and room service pizza
Total Money spent today $75.14
Cumulative Miles through today 10,989
Cumulative Time in car through today 204 hours 30 minutes