Saturday, October 04, 2008
Road Bites Men
Usually roads are hit by people with travel itches. Not today. I just took rocky knuckles to the chin, the kidney, and had my ear lobe nibbled off by one ruthless Highway 101. My brother and I left Portland, OR and our lovely grandmother at 830am, to arrive at the residence of our family friends the Purkeys, in San Francisco at 1130pm. Of that 15 hour time span, maybe 90 collective minutes were spent not driving. Much of that non-driving time was spent urinating. We both endorse hydration.
However, it was the most grueling 13 or so hours of driving/riding I have ever experienced, this coming from someone who voluntarily rode a bus from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Guichille, Ecuador. Not to mention the relentless downpour of rain that new no ending. It was raining when we left Portland and it was raining on the Golden Gate Bridge when we crossed it. The verb raining itself really did not apply to todays situation, firehosing would be a much more satisfactory fit. All because I chose the scenic HWY 101 which runs along the west coast, and is a hilly, curvy, oscillating boa constrictor of merciless pavement. Interstate 5, which runs from Canada, through the States and even down through Central and South America, should have been the choice.
¶ 12:48 AM 
Usually roads are hit by people with travel itches. Not today. I just took rocky knuckles to the chin, the kidney, and had my ear lobe nibbled off by one ruthless Highway 101. My brother and I left Portland, OR and our lovely grandmother at 830am, to arrive at the residence of our family friends the Purkeys, in San Francisco at 1130pm. Of that 15 hour time span, maybe 90 collective minutes were spent not driving. Much of that non-driving time was spent urinating. We both endorse hydration.However, it was the most grueling 13 or so hours of driving/riding I have ever experienced, this coming from someone who voluntarily rode a bus from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Guichille, Ecuador. Not to mention the relentless downpour of rain that new no ending. It was raining when we left Portland and it was raining on the Golden Gate Bridge when we crossed it. The verb raining itself really did not apply to todays situation, firehosing would be a much more satisfactory fit. All because I chose the scenic HWY 101 which runs along the west coast, and is a hilly, curvy, oscillating boa constrictor of merciless pavement. Interstate 5, which runs from Canada, through the States and even down through Central and South America, should have been the choice.
As light from the wet grey sky wilted away and darkness set in, driving grew difficult. Wes, in his +75 year old style of driving, (a lot of squinting, frequent unnecessary breaking, driving 10 miles under the speed limit) had to be relieved if we wanted to arrive at an almost decent hour. So I took over the reigns with my fleeing suspect of grand larceny driving style (eating a burrito, steering the wheel with my knee cap, going 25 
over the limit) and we finally arrived. Our moods were not sour enough to enjoy driving over the Golden Gate Bridge.
I estimate our loss of time at taking 101 to be around 4 hours. So if there ever was a kernel of truth or a morsel of wisdom to be gleaned from one of my entries, it is to just avoid 101 and take I-5. The former fights way too dirty.
over the limit) and we finally arrived. Our moods were not sour enough to enjoy driving over the Golden Gate Bridge.I estimate our loss of time at taking 101 to be around 4 hours. So if there ever was a kernel of truth or a morsel of wisdom to be gleaned from one of my entries, it is to just avoid 101 and take I-5. The former fights way too dirty.
