We left off in Nevada, after about 24 hours on the
road...
Nevada continued to be beautiful.
The mountains were amazing, and I remain convinced that I can climb all
of them. Some of them had letters, which I found out was to
indicate which city you were passing (otherwise you might not
know...there's not a whole lot of people in
NV):
At
one point, Ryan spotted a mine in one of the mountains. Carly
was driving and refused to stop no matter how sure Ryan was that there
was gold and adventure inside.
After Reno and about
30 consecutive hours on the road, we finally made it
to...
CaliforniaPros:
Intellectuals, ocean, beautiful scenery.
Cons: Hwy
299.
Overall Rating: 9
We started
in Susantown, which had beautiful redwoods and butterflies - but way
more butterflies. Loads and loads of butterflies...in the road, waiting
to be relieved of life by our white, heavy, juggernaut mobile of death.
It seems the Monarchs are migrating right now, and they were thick. It
was a sight to see, but I think we all felt a little guilty for killing
so many of them. Natural selection...it can be a
bitch.
In Redding, CA, I took the reins for the very
last leg of the trip. In Redding, we saw a Wienerschnitzel - the
world's largest hot dog chain. I know Lauren got a picture of it, and
I'll have it up ASAP. It was also in Redding that I got my
first glimpse of California drivers. Now, I'm probably the
fastest driver in our little troop - the slowest I go is five over the
speed limit, and California drivers were passing me like I was standing
still. Drivers in Cali do not give a good god damn what the
speed limit is. Right on.
Next, we hit
Highway 299. Hwy 299 is the reason that California gets a 9 rating
rather than a 10. Before I talk about Hwy 299, I must say
that I lack the muscles in my hands to type out every complaint I have
about this wretched stretch of road. I also lack the eloquence to
express my displeasure for the parts I do plan to write about. Just
take whatever misery you infer from my writing and multiply it times
ten.
This is a portion of Hwy
299:
This
is one of the earlier, less curvy portions of the road. I know I tend
to exaggerate when I write sometimes, but in this case I'm not - that's
really one of the tamer portions of this road for a couple of
reasons:
1. The chasm of death if you happen to
misjudge a curve is not that bad here.
2. There is a little
piece that almost straightens out at one point.
The
road was full of gorgeous scenery, but it was hell. You're probably
thinking, "JT, this road couldn't have gone on for that long." Oh
contrare, mon frere. It was that way for 210 miles. Think about riding
a roller coaster for 210 miles. It was literally like getting a three
and a half hour-long papercut. Consider also that I grew up in the
Ozark Mountains, on the twistiest roads I had ever seen anywhere. This
made those roads look like Ted Haggard's false exterior - ie,
straight.
But, being hardcore, we survived it, and
shortly thereafter arrived at our final destination of Arcata at
roughly 6:45pm PST - 36 hours without stopping for sleep later, because
sleep is for the weak and the dead, and we are
neither.
First we met Shea, who was bouncing in the
driveway holding a welcome sign. We then met Brett, her
boyfriend, and proceded to beat him within an inch of his life for
advising us to take Hwy 299. They're both very sweet and very
intelligent - I've learned a lot from them both.
We
chilled for a little bit before going out for dinner (remember what I
said about sleep?). It was glorious. I found out
that both Amber and Lauren love fish tacos.
Then
there was sleep. I'll hit you all with the events of day 3
ASAP.
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