Day 8 - Destination Escondido, CA
As sad as we were to leave Zion, we were also excited to get back on the road and head for California! 
Of course, we had tiny little pieces of Utah and Arizona to drive through, and the whole length of Nevada. It all looked pretty much the same: it got a little browner, a little harder to tell where the life really was. It's all lurking under the surface there, waiting patiently for a little rain, a cool breeze, something hospitable to welcome it out into the world. And then, suddenly, we were out of the mountains, onto this flat plain. 
I felt as if I were at the bottom of a fishbowl; all around, the edges of the world seemed to curve up around us. As Susi dozed, it got hotter and hotter, and I started to wonder if the car tires would be alright. Here we are, driving through Nevada around 75 mph, and it's 105 degrees. My lips were chapped, my throat parched, even my eyes felt dry and irritable. (And this was with the windows up and the AC running.) I wondered once again why people would choose this life, what the first people to see this land must have thought about it. Susi woke up as we rolled thorugh Vegas. I'm sure it's a lot more impressive at night with all the neon and flashing lights and sounds and people and noises. In the daytime it was just sad. A city that's staked itself on a pursuit that's meaningless and fruitless.
We needed gas and food, so we stopped a few miles from the California border and got some cheap food in a casino. Remembering my Grandpa's stories of adventures in Atlantic City, we changed out $2 worth of nickels and played the nickel slots.
I considered that as paid out money, with no expected return, so when we wound up winning back $1.60, I don't count it so much as losing $0.40, but as winning $1.60 of our own money. It's all creative accounting, I suppose, but it was fun to put in the coin, pull the lever (none of this EZ press button for us!) and watch the dials turn and turn. There's that tantalizing hope that you might win big! But as we looked around, despite the lights and the noise and the smoke and the booze (or perhaps because of them?) everyone looked unhappy. As we smiled and snapped pictures, we seemed to be the only ones having any fun, and we paid $0.40 for the privelege.
After that it was on to California (with Katrusi's cool California Dreamin' beat remix accompanying us). Susi drove, I rested, and the temperature climbed again, peaking at 110 degrees. We're grateful for the car, especially that it continues to work well, without problems and for the air conditioning! Can you even imagine the misery? 
We stopped at our first California Starbucks (they make Pomengranate and Targerine Soy frappachinos... vile!) and continued to Escondido, where we were welcomed by Susi's brother's neighbor who let us in to "our place": an apartment of our very own for a few days! But more on that later...
- susi&sara
Of course, we had tiny little pieces of Utah and Arizona to drive through, and the whole length of Nevada. It all looked pretty much the same: it got a little browner, a little harder to tell where the life really was. It's all lurking under the surface there, waiting patiently for a little rain, a cool breeze, something hospitable to welcome it out into the world. And then, suddenly, we were out of the mountains, onto this flat plain. 
I felt as if I were at the bottom of a fishbowl; all around, the edges of the world seemed to curve up around us. As Susi dozed, it got hotter and hotter, and I started to wonder if the car tires would be alright. Here we are, driving through Nevada around 75 mph, and it's 105 degrees. My lips were chapped, my throat parched, even my eyes felt dry and irritable. (And this was with the windows up and the AC running.) I wondered once again why people would choose this life, what the first people to see this land must have thought about it. Susi woke up as we rolled thorugh Vegas. I'm sure it's a lot more impressive at night with all the neon and flashing lights and sounds and people and noises. In the daytime it was just sad. A city that's staked itself on a pursuit that's meaningless and fruitless.We needed gas and food, so we stopped a few miles from the California border and got some cheap food in a casino. Remembering my Grandpa's stories of adventures in Atlantic City, we changed out $2 worth of nickels and played the nickel slots.
I considered that as paid out money, with no expected return, so when we wound up winning back $1.60, I don't count it so much as losing $0.40, but as winning $1.60 of our own money. It's all creative accounting, I suppose, but it was fun to put in the coin, pull the lever (none of this EZ press button for us!) and watch the dials turn and turn. There's that tantalizing hope that you might win big! But as we looked around, despite the lights and the noise and the smoke and the booze (or perhaps because of them?) everyone looked unhappy. As we smiled and snapped pictures, we seemed to be the only ones having any fun, and we paid $0.40 for the privelege.
After that it was on to California (with Katrusi's cool California Dreamin' beat remix accompanying us). Susi drove, I rested, and the temperature climbed again, peaking at 110 degrees. We're grateful for the car, especially that it continues to work well, without problems and for the air conditioning! Can you even imagine the misery? 
We stopped at our first California Starbucks (they make Pomengranate and Targerine Soy frappachinos... vile!) and continued to Escondido, where we were welcomed by Susi's brother's neighbor who let us in to "our place": an apartment of our very own for a few days! But more on that later...- susi&sara
posted by Sara at 12:16 PM
3 Comments:
thank you for sharing your trip with us - as you go. we enjoy reading and seeing the pictures. we thank God for your safety and continue to keep you in our prayers daily.
grandma e says hello and enjoyed reading your blog (i dl'd and she read it offline). she prays for you daily and always says to say hello.
Why yes I CAN imagine the misery of driving a car without air conditioning! I own one! And BOY is it awful. Loving your blog girls! XXX OOO
Sooo, I'm beginning to feel guilty that you're not getting any posting done here. Is it my fault? Do I need to password protect my computer logon so you don't have access to Insaniquarium and Puzzle Inlay? Or is it just that you know your horrendous experience on the One will be a really long entry so you're procrastinating?
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