Long Drive to Las Vegas

May 31, 2017 Tuesday

The last time Edmund drove for 8 hours here in America was when my daughter was 2 or 3. We went from North Cal to Anaheim. Yes, you guessed it right. We went to Disneyland. That was the farthest he had driven here in America.

We’ve had talks about crossing the whole country from the West Coast to the East Coast but by car (driving) would never happen especially at our age now. Kaya nga puro talk lang. We should have thought of doing that a long time ago, maybe when we were 30 years old.

On May 31 we braved the freeways by driving to Las Vegas from the Bay Area. Instead of 8 hours, it took us 10 hours. But it was okay. It was a leisurely drive that included one lunch stop, three gas stops, one Starbucks stop and getting lost twice. Plus two packs of sunflower seeds, a few munches of the super bantot beef jerky. Snickers chocolates, potato ships and anything that would keep him awake and alert. We made it!

He blamed me for missing exits because I kept on making kwento daw. Perfect timing pa daw ako, when we were nearing intersections, that was when I would start “Alam mo tart…” He got distracted daw. The anti-distraction law in the Philippines should include the old rule “Do not talk to the driver while the bus is in motion”.

We haven’t even reached the freeway 580 we already got lost. We stopped at a gas station, bought coffee, sunflower seeds, etc. and tried to figure out where we were and where we were going. Edmund didn’t want to use GPS. He relied on his built in radar. He’s good at it so I cannot dispute that.

We missed the freeway entrance. It was not so bad. We were able to see another town and some leaning trees.
We ended up beside the freeway, looking up and wondering how we could enter the freeway. We made two turn-arounds before we got it right.

After two and a half hours of talking about how good the waterway is from LA to Tracy, we reached a major crossroad. Husband turned right but we were the only one who turned right. All the other vehicles just went straight. Ooops, how come they were going that way and not this way? We made the smart decision to just follow them, maybe we would end up in Los Angeles. At least not here, wala ng tao rito. This is an agricultural area with miles and miles of orchards.

After an hour more, we reached a dusty intersection. We gassed up and my OC husband cleaned the windshield.

We ate lunch at Popeyes, where our good neighbors were eating too. We saw them getting off a big brown tourist bus.

It was burning hot outside so ice was what we seek.

I like Popeyes kitchen. Edmund does not.

Looks like chicken joy.

After we ate, Edmund said he prefers KFC.
A—–“Nung isang araw inaya kitang kumain sa KFC, ayaw mo”.
E—–“Wala pa ako sa mood”.

So ngayon nasa mood na syang mag KFC.

Coffee is his regular dessert.

Before we left the restaurant, I made another trip to the ladies toilet to wash my hands. I caught our neighbor refilling her empty water bottle with Coca-cola from the Popeyes’ beverage dispenser. Tipid tips.

Ay ang init dito.

We couldn’t figure out which way we should go next. I called my sister and she sent me an instruction. I showed it to my husband. He looked at it but he said he wanted a map, not words. Again he relied on a picture of a map he saved on his phone and of course on his reliable sense of direction. And I am saying this in a good way. Magaling talaga sya sa directions.

On to the next leg— crossing the Mojave desert.

Ang haba pala nitong Bakersfield. Parang Tarlac, walang katapusan ang kalsada.

We drove through endless roads. Hindi lang pala nasa ikapitong bundok ang Las Vegas, daang-daang bundok.

There are hundreds of electric fans / wind farm on Highway 58, at the base of the Tehachapi mountains which border the Sierra Nevada mountain range and the Mojave Desert.

Popcorn to keep me awake so I could daldal my husband to keep him awake.

Wee break at Starbucks. I asked the one cleaning the floor how far Las Vegas is from this spot. She said an hour.

I forgot to verify if one hour by car or by helicopter. Kasi malapit ng mag-gabi hindi pa namin natatanaw ang Las Vegas.