Road to New Bern...Day 2
"Needle Sharks and Haunted Toilets"
Last night I dreamt my friend Nicole had bought a home on Bainbridge Island near the Seattle ferry. She was just telling me and our friend Damien about it with a lady who worked at the ferry when we heard screaming. We ran over to the right side of the ferry (we were on the dock) and...I don't even know if I can really explain what was there but I'll try. It was like...a side of the ferry had been sectioned off above and below water...and then drained of all water. So you could see the bare side of the ferry that would normally be below water. In that "section," we saw a man and a shark. The man was being attacked by the shark and was bleeding heavily. I remember hearing that they drained the water to kill the shark but I kept thinking this was a retarded plan since the shark wouldn't INSTANTLY die from lack of water and would just keep biting the injured man. It was a pretty gruesome dream.
John and I set off again after breakfast in Sacramento.
The first half of the day we found ourselves passing fields and fields of cherry blossom and orange trees. The cherry blossom trees were so thick in the fields, it looked like a layer of snow with a slightly pink tint. I was struck with horror today to find a gray hair in my hairline. I'm twenty-three. WHAT...THE CRAP. I'm still recovering from the shock. Little did I know that I'd find another in a few days.
When we stopped for gas and then later lunch, both towns smelled JUST like honey. I'm guessing from the cherry trees?
For lunch, we had In and Out Burgers, my first time. I gotta say...all the hype is true. They really are pretty darn GOOD. Simplifying menus is the best thing that ever happened to fast food. I'm tired of all the untranslatable menus the size of billboards. Gimme 5 options max and I'm good. Especially when they're as tasty as In and Out.
To pass the time, John and I each downloaded an audio book to listen to on the trip. I chose a book by one of my favorite authors Neil Gaiman which was just recently made into a movie, Coraline. We began listening to that as I enjoyed and documented the scenery with lots of pictures. As usual, I passed the time taking self portraits. 
One of the coolest things was seeing all the giant windmills on the hillsides. They looked like huge propellers in the sky...hundreds of them. As we drove, the temperature gradually rose. We were heading through Bakersfield, a place I lived briefly when I was younger. Driving by didn't bring back too many memories because I was pretty young. But a few wriggled their way out of my memory storage. Yesterday and today, we watched the green countryside transition to the Mojave desert, the temperature steadily rising. 
We planned to stay in Needles, California for the night which was RIGHT on the border of Arizona. On our way, we ALMOST ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere but after some frantic/silent prayers, we found a gas station off the beaten path. It was pretty pricey so we just got enough to make it to Needles and we soon found ourselves entering the sleepy podunk town. Soon after arriving, we drove to find gas and accidentally drove to Arizona in the process by crossing a bridge. Gas was a good 75 cents cheaper in AZ so it was worth the 1 minute drive. ;) After gas, we found food on our minds and used our GPS to try to find the closest restaurant but each place we drove through looked really sketchy...or deserted and creepy. 
We finally settled on The Wagon Wheel which displayed a sign in the front door that said "Needles, CA. Famous for absolutely nothing. 20 miles from water, 2 miles from Hell." It boasted being a part of the original Route 66 and advertised Route 66 Rootbeer. 
Our meal was surprisingly delicious. There, we were served water in the largest glasses I have ever seen in my life. John took a picture with his phone but it came out too small. But seriously...I'm not kidding. They were this big *motions with hands from waist to neck*...ok not that big but seriously people...they were huge. I couldn't drink water with one hand. I had to use both hands to pick up my cup like a 4 year old. Now, I know my hands are small but come on.
Anyways...that night we stayed at a creepy, creeky, Best Western. Our toilet was possessed/haunted and would refill loudly ever few minutes/seconds depending on its mood. I was just WAITING for it to explode/flood/produce some creepy creature from the black lagoon. Thankfully it never did. I didn't sleep well. To be continued...
Last night I dreamt my friend Nicole had bought a home on Bainbridge Island near the Seattle ferry. She was just telling me and our friend Damien about it with a lady who worked at the ferry when we heard screaming. We ran over to the right side of the ferry (we were on the dock) and...I don't even know if I can really explain what was there but I'll try. It was like...a side of the ferry had been sectioned off above and below water...and then drained of all water. So you could see the bare side of the ferry that would normally be below water. In that "section," we saw a man and a shark. The man was being attacked by the shark and was bleeding heavily. I remember hearing that they drained the water to kill the shark but I kept thinking this was a retarded plan since the shark wouldn't INSTANTLY die from lack of water and would just keep biting the injured man. It was a pretty gruesome dream.John and I set off again after breakfast in Sacramento.
The first half of the day we found ourselves passing fields and fields of cherry blossom and orange trees. The cherry blossom trees were so thick in the fields, it looked like a layer of snow with a slightly pink tint. I was struck with horror today to find a gray hair in my hairline. I'm twenty-three. WHAT...THE CRAP. I'm still recovering from the shock. Little did I know that I'd find another in a few days.When we stopped for gas and then later lunch, both towns smelled JUST like honey. I'm guessing from the cherry trees?
For lunch, we had In and Out Burgers, my first time. I gotta say...all the hype is true. They really are pretty darn GOOD. Simplifying menus is the best thing that ever happened to fast food. I'm tired of all the untranslatable menus the size of billboards. Gimme 5 options max and I'm good. Especially when they're as tasty as In and Out.
To pass the time, John and I each downloaded an audio book to listen to on the trip. I chose a book by one of my favorite authors Neil Gaiman which was just recently made into a movie, Coraline. We began listening to that as I enjoyed and documented the scenery with lots of pictures. As usual, I passed the time taking self portraits. 
One of the coolest things was seeing all the giant windmills on the hillsides. They looked like huge propellers in the sky...hundreds of them. As we drove, the temperature gradually rose. We were heading through Bakersfield, a place I lived briefly when I was younger. Driving by didn't bring back too many memories because I was pretty young. But a few wriggled their way out of my memory storage. Yesterday and today, we watched the green countryside transition to the Mojave desert, the temperature steadily rising. 
We planned to stay in Needles, California for the night which was RIGHT on the border of Arizona. On our way, we ALMOST ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere but after some frantic/silent prayers, we found a gas station off the beaten path. It was pretty pricey so we just got enough to make it to Needles and we soon found ourselves entering the sleepy podunk town. Soon after arriving, we drove to find gas and accidentally drove to Arizona in the process by crossing a bridge. Gas was a good 75 cents cheaper in AZ so it was worth the 1 minute drive. ;) After gas, we found food on our minds and used our GPS to try to find the closest restaurant but each place we drove through looked really sketchy...or deserted and creepy. 
We finally settled on The Wagon Wheel which displayed a sign in the front door that said "Needles, CA. Famous for absolutely nothing. 20 miles from water, 2 miles from Hell." It boasted being a part of the original Route 66 and advertised Route 66 Rootbeer. 
Our meal was surprisingly delicious. There, we were served water in the largest glasses I have ever seen in my life. John took a picture with his phone but it came out too small. But seriously...I'm not kidding. They were this big *motions with hands from waist to neck*...ok not that big but seriously people...they were huge. I couldn't drink water with one hand. I had to use both hands to pick up my cup like a 4 year old. Now, I know my hands are small but come on.Anyways...that night we stayed at a creepy, creeky, Best Western. Our toilet was possessed/haunted and would refill loudly ever few minutes/seconds depending on its mood. I was just WAITING for it to explode/flood/produce some creepy creature from the black lagoon. Thankfully it never did. I didn't sleep well. To be continued...
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Safe travels!