Thursday, August 14, 2008

On the road...

Here is a breakdown of my trip with my mom from Los Angeles to Seattle:

Sunday, August 3, 2008:

9:15 am - 53,683 miles - I pulled out from in front of my cousin's house with a full tank of gas and began our trip up Interstate 5.

10:55am - 53,762 miles - We stopped for a bathroom break and mom took over driving. It took this long to get through the grape vine portion of the 5. My poor little car couldn't do that much over 20-25 miles and hour going up hill.

12:27p-1:36p - 53,838 - We stopped for lunch at a roadside Denny's. Mom continued to drive.

3:00p - 53,894 - We stop to fill up on gas. Mom continues to drive.

5:46p - 54,029 - We fill the car up with a half a tank of gas, use the bathrooms and I take over driving. Mom buys some post cards and we seem to be somewhere around Sacramento at this point.

7:50p - 54,120 - Bathroom break and leg stretch. I ask about how far we are to the Oregon border and I get the reply "about 2 hours." I continue to drive.

9:35p - 54,209 - Fill up on gas, bathroom break and leg stretch. I ask about how far we are to the Oregon border and I get the reply "about 2 hours." I continue to drive.

11:00p - 54,248 - We stop for the night and check in to the Comfort Inn. We tried a few other places, but they wanted way too much money and one place didn't have air conditioning. Apparently, a bunch of places were booked up with fireman returning from helping fight a California fire. We run over to Wendy's and we get some food. I didn't realize how hungry and/or tired I was until we stopped. I was a little cranky to say the least. I ask about how far we are to the Oregon border and I get the reply "about 2 hours."

Monday, August 4, 2008:

6:37a-7:20a - 54,248 - We check out of the hotel, load up the car and find that the battery is totally and utterly dead. We don't think we left the lights on or anything, but it is dead. We find two nice gentlemen that jump our car. They want nothing in return, but to ask us if we know about Jesus. I say "Yes" and he says "How?" and I reply "Catholics." I turn at this point and put the jumper cables in the car while mom talks to him. Eventually, they head off and we sit in the car for a bit before taking off. Mom drives.

9:00-9:31a - 54,313 - We stop at McDonald's and get some breakfast. I ask about how far we are to the Oregon border and I get the reply "about 2 hours." I beginning to think no one really knows how far it is to the border. The car starts right up so we figure the battery just need a jump and a bit of recharging.

10:47a - 54,300 - We finally hit the Oregon border.


11:06a - 54,375 - Fill up with gas and bathroom break. I take over driving so mom can enjoy the Oregon scenery. Jill from work had recommended doing this portion of the drive in the morning and now I see why. We would have missed a lot of beautiful scenery otherwise.

1:00p-2:15p - 54,465 - We stop for lunch at a little cafe. I realize that there is no way we are going to be in Seattle by 4:30p to do the walk through on the apartment. I call the landlady and we reschedule for 8:30a the next day. We get back to the car and once again the battery is dead. There is a auto shop, but they won't install it for us or can tell us if it is the battery or the alternator. We end up just getting a jump from a nice family at a gas station. We decide not to turn the car off until we get to Seattle. Mom drives for a bit.

3:59p - 54,572 - Bathroom break and leg stretch. Mom continues to drive.

5:08p - 54,622 - Fill up the car with gas at a Costco that happened to be right off the interstate. I think it was the only time we found gas below $4 and it was only $3.99. Mom's still at the wheel.

I should mention that my car is really liking driving through Oregon. It doesn't have as many hills as California. We were able to go as fast as 55-60 mph for most of the state.

6:53p - 54,689 - Bathroom break at a rest stop. I took over driving at this point.

7:36p-7:52p - 54,717 - We sat in the car (keeping it running) and ate some Burger King so I wouldn't get as cranky as I did before. I keep driving.

At some point during this time we crossed over into Washington. I couldn't get a picture of the sign because it was on a bridge as we were leaving Portland. I didn't realize Portland was so close to the the border.

10:06p - 54,829 - Last fill up of gas on this trip. I kept on driving.

11:22p - 54,855 - We arrive in Green Lake and end up stopping for the night at a Days Inn. As soon as the car is turned off, the battery goes dead so we will need a jump in the morning.

So for those keeping track that is:

1,093 total miles
3 states
2 drivers
2 battery jumps

And thus concludes the hauling of all my stuff from LA to Seattle.

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