The Drive Home

Ordinarily, I fly home to California. I do this for a couple of reasons: 1) Typically, it's less expensive than driving round-trip by myself and 2) It's faster and more convenient. Nevertheless, I decided to do something I haven't done since 2003. I drove home by myself. Before I get into the details of the drive, I want to briefly mention an important milestone in my college career. Today marked the day when I no longer was roommates with two of my best friends, Chris and John-Evan. We spent the last four years together as roommates and I must say it was a grand experience. In the upcoming months, Chris is leaving behind bachelorhood and getting married to his fiancée, Ashley. John-Evan will continue his trek as a bachelor in Kentucky. I, on the other hand, fall somewhere in the middle. OK, so technically, I'm a bachelor (I'm not married), but at least I am spoken for.

So, what made this drive unique? Well, for starters, I made great time to Las Vegas. After saying goodbye to Diane, I set off on the road trip. I made it about 3 blocks. I had to fill up at 7-11 and eat some breakfast. For those of you who don't know, their taquitos are quite tasty. I highly recommend them to any hungry soul. I also picked up a 4-pack of Red Bull. Having had several late nights this past week, I definitely was a little sleep deprived. I wanted to make sure that I didn't fall asleep at the wheel. Once hit the freeway, it only took 4.5 hours to make it to Las Vegas (approximately 378 miles—you do the math). While driving down, I realized that my buddy, Mark, was driving north from California. He had gone down this past weekend to DJ a mutual friend's wedding reception. I gave him a buzz and we met up for lunch at the In-N-Out off Sahara. Let me tell you, there's nothing quite like an INO burger. Their shakes are pretty tasty too.

Having made great time to Vegas, I thought I'd be home in about 3 hours. After all, I had driven more than halfway home. Well, I forgot was that it was a Sunday afternoon and I was heading towards LA. If that doesn't clue you in, please realize that there is plenty of traffic b/t LA and LV. Just past state line, I was rudely awakened to this reality. For the next 100 miles of so, I was stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. What normally takes 1.5 hours took just over 3 hours. Needless to say, I was not happy. Nor did I remember there being an "agricultural inspection" gate in Yermo, CA. It reminded me of the USA/Mexico border. You drive about 10 mph through small gates while US Border Patrol waves you on by (unless you have a beater car or look illegal).

Once I hit Barstow, there was still traffic, but it was flowing closer to 70 mph. So, what should have been an uneventful 8-hour drive turned into a 10.5-hour journey. Tomorrow (Monday) will be busy. I have to re-pack all of my clothing, take care of some final job-related items, and hopefully get a nap in the afternoon. My flight to Hong Kong leaves at midnight, so I'll be up late. I'm going to take Yale's advice and try and stay up a few more hours (probably 3 or 4 am Tuesday) to minimize the jet lag.