(This is part 2 of my attempt to get from Apple Valley, CA to Petaluma, CA. I only had a couple days to get there, see a few sights and get settled in before my next nursing assignment at the new hospital started.)
It's Friday morning. According to mapquest, if I take the ol' boring Hwy. 5 up the middle of California, it will take us 7 hours to get to our new destination. I'd rather not go that route. We went down Hwy 5 when we went to Sacramento to pick up my California nursing license and it really is quite boring. If we can get everything done by this afternoon, we'll head for the world-famous Hwy 1 and drive along the coast. If we have to leave tomorrow, it will have to be the quick, boring route on Hwy. 5.
My plan is to take two days to get to Petaluma, and take our time, see some sights along the way and still get to Petaluma in time to settle in before my first shift at the new hospital. I tell Matt all of this hinges on whether or not we get the car loaded and the apartment cleaned by 3 pm today. If we get a later start than that, everything will fall apart.
Matt is ready to go. He's been without a TV or internet access since yesterday and doesn't want to go through another night of that, thank you very much! He's a whirlwind of energy, bringing things out to the Jeep for me to pack, climbing on top of the Jeep to fasten our carry-all that fits on top of it and helping me pack it, vacuuming the empty rooms, cleaning the bathrooms..at last, I've found a way to motivate him! Our deadline is looming though, and there is still a LOT of our stuff laying by the Jeep waiting for me to find a place for it. And, Matt is still bringing stuff out to me and with each load he brings, he shakes his head, and says, "We're screwed." I decide to help out the stituation by taking pictures of it. I'm not sure how that helps, but it gives me something to do while I'm trying to figure out what to do.
But, somehow, it all gets in there. Okay, there's a chance our dog could be crushed by the computer if I have to stop suddenly, and Matt will have to ride with his knees under his chin, but it's all in. And, it's 3:15! I turn my keys into the office and we're out of there! Well, first I consult my map. I didn't print out mapquest directions for the first part of the trip because mapquest keeps trying to make me take Hwy 5, and I don't want to go that way. Besides, according to the good ol' folding out map, the first leg of the trip is pretty easy. Any idiot could follow it. (cue ominious music)
I can't say I'm sad about leaving our high desert home. It's pretty, in a stark, arid kind of way, but I'm ready for green grass and tall trees. And the smog is so bad today, you can't even see the mountain tops that ring around the valley. Yep, it's time to go.
4 pm. Two miles before my first exit, traffic has come to a standstill. Four lanes of traffic have come to a total stop. I take my foot off the brake and put it in park. We're not going anywhere. I turn the engine off.
4:15 People are getting out of their cars, standing in their truck beds, walking between the cars, trying to see what the holdup is. The news comes back to us there's been a horrible wreck. We're going to be here awhile. A guy in the van next to us opens the back of his vehicle and pulls a beer out of his cooler. Great...I make a mental note to be sure and get in front of that guy so I won't get stuck behind another wreck further down the road...Another person takes the opportunity to walk their dog. We decide to do the same with our Scottie. We see a helicopter fly over us and back out as they mediflight someone out of there. Several tow trucks rumble by on the shoulder of the road. But we're still not moving.
4:30 It's a full-out party on the highway. Someone is blaring some kind of hard metal-rap music with a real heavy bass sound and people are "bouncing" in the back of pickups. Now, this is the way to have a traffic jam! Matt and I are thinking about bartering some of our candy (hey, we can't throw out ALL the food) for something to drink, but all I see is the guy with the beer. Matt's not old enough to drink liquor and it wouldn't be right to drink in front of him, so I decide against it.
4:45 A young man runs through the line of cars telling us we're going to start moving, they got two lanes cleared. Yay! And so the inching forward begins as we try to cram four lanes of traffic into two, but at least we're going forward. Our time is all thrown off, but I'm not too worried. We still have three hours of driving we can do today and then we'll have all day tomorrow to get to Petaluma.
5:10 It's taken us over an hour to go two miles to our first exit, but we make it. Traffic is finally picking up. Now I just have to take the exit that will keep us north of LA, Hwy 101, and that will take us around LA to the coast. If I can just make it to the coast tonight, we'll be okay. I just won't be able to make as many stops as I wanted to tomorrow, but the drive will still be fun along the coast.
6:30 I'm now in south LA about 100 miles from San Diego. Something's not right.....
6:40 I pull off an exit and into a mall parking lot to consult the map that any idiot could follow. Too bad there's not an idiot here...Somehow I've missed the Hwy 101 exit, but I never saw it, I scream calmly to Matt. Instead of the California map, I go to the inset of Los Angelos and find the problem. The exit I wanted was Hwy 210, which then turns into Hwy 101, but it doesn't show that on the general map of California. Now, I can either back track on Hwy 15 which is backed up with people trying to leave LA, or make a big loop through the city and catch 101 further out. I decide to do that. Oh, did I mention it's rush hour traffic on Friday night in LA? Oh, and I also discover the route I decided on takes Matt and I through some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in LA. We're seeing some sights, all right, just not the one's I'd hoped to see.
7:30 We see the sign for North Hollywood. Yay! We're in the north section of LA. At least, I think that's what that means...Okay, we're not on the coast and we're still not out of LA, and we left the house at 3:15, but I think we're finally making some progress, depending on how you define progress.
8:00 Now, according to the map, I need to get off off Hwy 101 and hit Hwy 1 soon. I miss the exit. I should have traded the candy for beer when I had the chance...
9:00 It's dark. I'm not sure if we're near the coast or not and I don't care, but we did find Hwy 1, and it only took me six hours! I don't mean to brag, but I think I may have set a new family record for getting lost while driving. (Try to beat that, Sarah!)
The next day, we did drive along the famous Hwy 1 coastal road and were alternately awed and terrified by it. These are a few shots of our trips along this highway. And, yes, we did make it to Petaluma, find our apartment, and I made it to my job on time. We really loved our time in northern California.
What an adventure!
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