Hope Arrives in California

No, not the democrats, me. I shall attempt to drag you away from Super Tuesday results and rehashing to tell of my cross country odyssey. I have arrived in California from Mississippi, and let me tell you the trip was anything but uneventful.

I picked up the U-haul truck on Sunday last and had scheduled movers later in the day. The movers didn't show up. I called Monday morning to get other movers and couldn't get anyone to come before 5PM. By the time the movers finished loading, it was 9PM and too late to pick-up the auto transport. I had to wait until 9AM the following morning (Tuesday, Jan. 29) to get the transport hooked up. Drove back to the house and proceeded to load my car, the animals, my luggage, etc. Finally, left at 11AM, about 4 hours later than planned.

The first leg was to Austin Texas, where I met friends who had made arrangements to fly my 2 cats to California in a few days (you try driving across country with two cats...)Because of my late start, my arrival to the 750 mile away Mecca of Texas was going to be sometime in the midnight hour. About 40 miles from my destination, one of the straps came off of the tire on the auto transport. I got out, re-secured it and coming around the large, truck and trailer, smacked my knee (my service-connected disabilty knee) on the solidly metal trailer hitch. I saw stars and a knot swelled up the size of citrus fruit. Tired and in pain ( did I mention emotional?), I limped into Austin and the loving arms of my waiting friends.

They convinced me to stay over an extra day, rest my leg, my battered soul and sore body. It was a good decision. I took my sweet dog to doggy daycare so I could rest, and spent the next few hours sleeping and taking hot showers to ease my soreness. I need to really acknowledge my friends in Austin who took such good care of me. I don't think I could have made this journey without their help.

Next morning I start of bright, early and fairly well-rested with the goal of making it to New Mexico. If only I hadn't been stopped by a State Trooper and rerouted nearly 80 miles around the huge fire that closed I-10, I probably could have made it. I did manage to get nearly that far, and stayed in El Paso that night.

The following morning I awoke early with debilitating menstrual cramps. Sorry to be so graphic, but the necessity of mentioning my malady is the accompanying hormonally-challenged emotions that come with them. Not to mention the vomiting...
I dragged my on/off crying ass into Tucson. I was supposed to stay in Phoenix that evening but because of the extra night in Austin, and the Superbowl, the price of my room tripled. It had been a relatively short day, so Tucson it was.

Morning brought the welcome hopefulness that today, I would finally make it into my beloved California. Fifty miles over the border, in the middle of the Mohave desert, I had a blowout on the moving truck. I found the last chance Texaco and waited there for the repair truck to arrive. Being the trooper I am, I soldiered on after my repair determined to make it over the I-5 Grapevine.

As I wended my way through the greater Los Angeles Basin, I received a phone call from one of my posse members who had been following my progress across the country. She warned me of the advancing winter storm warning that threatened to shutdown the Grapevine but that if I hurried, I could make it.

I did indeed make it to the treacherous highway hauling my tonnage. Unfortunately, coming down the steep 6% grade on the other side, I had my second blowout of the day(!). Have you ever heard of two flat tires in one day? Whatever. As I crawled into the first gas station at the bottom of the Grapevine, and it began to snow. I waited in the cold night for yet another tire rescue. After completing the tire-swap, I drove the 40 miles to my final destination for the night.

My saga ends the next day uneventfully, thank God, with pulling onto my mother's street and a cold beer during the Superbowl with my family. You may want to finally know the why of my sudden pulling up of stakes, rush back to California, and the traumatic experience that brought it all on. If you've been checking on me here at DeepCon, you may have been able to surmise that my marriage has ended unexpectedly and suddenly. It's a saga in itself and I'll save it for my next installment.

I want to thank everyone who encouraged me through the last weeks as it has helped tremendously. Thank you all.

And for good measure, just to let you know I haven't given up the ship, a video courtesy of reader Mary that speaks to the abuses of power the Bush regime has inflicted upon our great republic. I add that in no small part, this war/occupation in Iraq has played a definite role in my break-up.