California Dreaming
Trip Start
Sep 16, 2011
1
31
290
Trip End
Nov 20, 2011
Yucca Valley, California
Saturday, October 15, 2011
What is becoming the norm, sugar filled brekkie and a swim, and then (this is the good bit), skype with Tracey, Dave, Aimee and Erin. Super. It was lovely to see the girls and Elwood was mega excited. So excited he put his powerpack on (his backpack) and flys between the furniture and Aimee laughs her head off. It was such a lovely start to the day. Thanks guys!
Next, Noah does some sensible things and I hang out with Woody until it is time to go. It is hot, so we get ice-lollies for the road. We are feeling good.
About 20 seconds out of Vegas we hit crazy desert. Now, in hindsight, this does make sense. But, we were not expecting this, and so, did not refuel the car. Damn. So, the fuel gauge starts edging closer and closer to Empty and there is nothing, not a thing, on the horizon. The roadside signs are advertising Alien Beef Jerky (I don't even know what that is!), but you can’t get any of it for another 80 miles . This is not looking good. And Elwood is wanting lunch. We just assumed we could be able to get him something on the road. But there is nothing and we are feeling tense. I feel like I have heartburn and Elwood keeps saying he is hungry. Noah attempts to reassure me by pointing out an emergency phone on the side of the highway. Not the kind of reassurance I was seeking actually. I start mentally rationing the water.
And then like a gift from God, the town of Jean appears. And when I say town, I mean Correctional Facility, Casino, and a service station. We don’t care. It is the best place we have ever been to in our lives. They are charging a king’s ransom for fuel and we give them the dosh happily. We love these people in the service station. There is not a lot to get Elwood for lunch, so he eats a hot dog, a stick of cheese, and a banana. Noah and I still have the chest pains from the stress, so we eat a packets of crisps about the size of Elwood and we drink 1L of 'Dad’s Root Beer’. It actually works and makes us feel like winners again.
And then, we drive and drive, we enter a new state (Hello Cali!) and then out of nowhere, we are in the middle of nowhere. More rocks than the Flinstones, those crazy looking Joshua trees everywhere, and tiny specks of homes in the distance blending into the landscape. I feel eerily isolated and we are both very pleased to have fuel in the tank. Noah thinks he's in a Queens of the Stone Age video, so he's happy.
I end up sitting in the back with Woody who develops a bit of a case of cabin fever. I then move back to the front when I catch his cabin fever, and leave him to watch the first 10 minutes of Toy Story 3 over and over again.
Yucca Valley appears over a hill and we all feel very happy to step out from the car and into the most glorious afternoon. We check into the hotel and spy a park and grocery store in walking distance. So, we dump the bags and hit the park. Elwood is happy and the sunlight is beautiful. We hang out happily in the park for ages, the boys play Fireman Sam and I listen in on other people’s conversations. We are all happy.
Elwood takes a fall from a hanging thing, whilst Noah and I are both standing right there. When he hits the deck he looks up at us both, and says ‘Well, I wasn’t expecting that.’ We all then crack up laughing. And then he asks us if he can fall off some more. He asked nicely, so we let him. People look at us like we might be crazy.
We then wander over to the grocery store, and Elwood refers to Noah and I as his crew. This takes me by surprise, but actually it is fairly accurate and it feels quite good so we go with it. He has taken to calling us Aunty Bree and Uncle Noah – so we feel ‘Crew’ is a step forwards.
We wander around the shop aimlessly before picking up salad, cheese, bread for today and tomorrow as well as snacks and drinks.
We make it home and have the most lovely dinner. Elwood was so chatty and was telling us the least funny jokes I have ever heard. But we were falling about laughing and Elwood looked delighted and kept making up even less funny jokes. Brilliant.
He zonked out pretty quickly leaving me to work on the mini wines and Noah to tackle the behemoth beers. We are laughing out loud watching a children’s movie (although that may be the sweet, sweet liquor) and I am half heartedly attempting to something about the state of my feet.
So, our friends, we wish you good night from Cali.
