Day 1 On The Road To L.A.

I drove 733 miles and made it to South Bend, Indiana where I'm calling it a night. It took me about 11 hours. I stopped three times for gas and snacks. One interesting thing happened. It started to rain hard and the sky turned black. This took place somewhere in PA. During this ten minute period of gloom, the lights were flashing above the "If lights are flashing tune to channel...AM for an emergency message." So I tuned in to the AM channel and heard a bazaar message from an ominous sounding robotic female voice. It said, "IF TRAVELING ON ROUTE 80 WEST, DO NOT PICK UP HITCHHIKERS. A PRISONER HAS ESCAPED....." I was traveling on route 80 West at the time and could not see five feet in front of me. The corn maze seemed to go on forever on either side of me and it was cloaked in fog. Spooky right? The message and weather didn't give me the optimism about the long trip ahead I was hoping for. Luckily for me "Something About Mary" taught me not to pick up hitchhikers anyway, so that was a non-issue. But I was still worried about stopping for gas since my car and body needed refueling. What if the convict is hanging around the rest stop? I thought to myself. Thankfully some humor ensued and all my worries went away. When I got to the rest stop, I saw two bearded, rugged looking truckers were holding towels and went up the stairs by the bathroom to what I can only assume were the showers. That put a smile on my face and calmed my nerves. It was the sign I was looking for. Then the sun came out, and I soon made it through the scary Amish, escaped convict country and kept on truckin'. Very long, odd first day on the road. I can only imagine what tomorrow will hold in store for this weary traveler.


Man On The Can