driving north on Hwy 15

I woke up this morning and started packing – something I was supposed to do yesterday. Caleb got home after 11:00 am and I was still rolling up sleeping bags. The cooler was packed and his bag ready. We just had to wait to pick up the car from the shop at 1:00 pm when it would be good as new. We get to Enterprise, they gave us a ride, and the inside of our car looked great. The shop, Caliber Collision, did an amazing job detailing the inside for us.

Then it was off to Econo Lube N Tune for an oil change. Back to the house to load the car full of clothes, food, gear, and dogs – Sparky thought the whole day that I was going to leave him behind – not this time. Get gas at $4.55/gal and hit the road. We are taking the 15N towards Montana – currently LA. Traffic is terrible and we are doing 25mph for a while. Maybe three miles on the 215 and a marine in a Ford Fiesta is in more of a hurry than we are. He hits our car, not once, but twice.

The first time I was willing to just keep driving, but the second time he cut in front of us allowing my car to receive rug burn-looking damage on the passenger side (opposite side that just got out of the shop) while remaking the shape of his rear driver door. Of course he tried to blame it on us, but the officer saw the evidence – and we had right of way. No ticket was written, but information was exchanged and an hour later we were back on the road.

I really don’t look forward to this type of activity, but it seems to be happening a lot. I would like to extend a thank you to Mazda for first introducing me to the Protege – I had a 2001 that I loved until it got murdered in a ditch. Then I set out to find a Mazda replacement, years later, and ended up in the Tribute 2011. It’s great in keeping me safe against all the crazy drivers on the road – where my Hyundai constantly needed new bumpers, I enjoy the minimal damage to my vehicle.

surprise light painting of a train

We are stopped for the night at Afton Canyon, 20 miles from Baker, CA where we will see the world’s largest thermometer tomorrow before going through Vegas in the daylight. Caleb has set up the tent and it’s time to let the dogs out. No wi-fi here, but I will post in the morning when we hit town. I had coffee and a chocolate bar for dinner and made sure the dogs ate. We are off to a great start – as usual. At least I’m blogging on the road this time – it feels great and seems easier than trying to write in a notebook and then make out the scribbled writing when I get home. By then I have forgotten some of the juicy details – or I just decide not to share them with my readers for respect and privacy of others involved – even if they did hit my car!