2002 Story Set
| July 13, 2002 First, did I say it was HOT! [July 7th drie] Of course, we have a brand spankin' new Tacoma truck - the ice machine. Second, at a 11AM start (as opposed to 4 Am - when I normally drive), it is light out! I am not used to that. My son is awake. I am not used to that either. He controls the radio. He comments on "How green was my valley" through his Polaroid lenses. I need some. Moving his head leads to strange colors in his lenses. Checked out cows and the wind towers on 580. I said that he needed an airplane ride after seeing the radio controlled planes dip and soar. He said no. He didn't like the feel of falling. We discussed survivors falling from aircraft - into a haystack. Prompted by the guy who just fell 14 stories into a pool and lived. My son chatted and joked most of the way down. We opened up the truck to 85! OK. Enough. 80 is OK (limit is 70, traffic is faster). At 80 I am routinely passed. We make Chowchilla and the heat hits us as I run for bathroom and coffee and food for him. He is usually sleeping so this is new. He gets a chicken sandwich, fries and a soda. I have a small soda too. By Bakersfield (we are making really good time). It must be 120 degrees easy and hotter on the ground. I brought the kid inside MacDonald's to keep him cool. I fetch his slippers for him as boots are too hot. I get stuff to drink, and more food for the bottomless pit that is my son. We race up the grapevine, and get up in the fast lane! But, traffic is heavy and has been all the way down. It is home-bound traffic for the 4th holiday weekend. The four-day escape from LA is in reverse. I am ready to ram a white car that can't make speed and doesn't know road rules. You are slow - then you go to the right. We have turned off the airconditioner - also one of the rules. We watch in amazement all the idiots who ignored the signs (just like on the road to Vegas) and who are now boiling over. The Grapevine is rough. As we hit Castiac, the traffic ----- stops! Interstate 5 at a dead stop? What's this? Dead stop and then a slow crawl under 5 MPH. Of course, I run to the AM stations and find---- there is a fatality up ahead and lifeflight on the freeway, on the 5-14 interchange. We crawl. By 6PM, we have cleared Magic Mountain. I step to use facilities at McDonald's. I know where they all are from Fremont to San Diego. LA is just on the way. We get another small soda - and my son has grabbed one of the big diet soda bottles out of the ice chest, which no longer has any ice. The water is cold and the medicine (GCSF) is OK. By now, the traffic, while heavy, begins to roll. Of we go, ditching the car pool lane because the road is too rough and we could bounce off a wall. We find the correct exit. Way down below where I wanted to be! 30 minutes from Century City! And, after a moment of panic, I stumble over the hotel. First I find that I cannot park the car. OK. Get a sledge! We check-in. And there are no adjoining rooms! OK. I will streak the hallways when I need to shoot him up later. The rooms are actually 15 feet apart. The rooms are big. King beds, couch, table, big tubs, cable TV, fridge (which is not working). I unpack me and then the kid. He is rattled. Lonesome. Separation anxiety. I fix myself up and he comes over to join me to go down to dinner. We drift down and he gets the halibut. I have yogurt and fruit. Too much fruit! I have some of his rice and veggies, and little fish when he is done. I have decaf. And I am dizzy. Dehydrated? Probably. We check the entrance for photos. He is edgy about the lights. We get back upstairs and the boy comes to my room to watch TV. Should have gottne one room, two beds as usual! He's a funny kid. Wants to leave home. Hates to be alone. Time to start shoving the baby out of the nest. Slowly. He is meanwhile fussing about how to take photos tomorrow and worried he won't get good ones. Why I love this child of mine. I give him his shot and send him to bed after Leno. |
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