Road Trippin'

Leaving town Friday to drive to Santa Clara turned out to be a bitch and a half. I won’t go into it, cuz it really belongs on another post but I will say I left town much later, and MUCH tenser than I had expected to. It was around 11:45 a.m when I exited Stockdale Hwy and merged onto the interstate.

The I-5 was hell. SO many people park their cars in the left/fast/passing lane and then go to sleep, or stick their head up their butts, or WHATEVER – it’s scary. I almost envy them. Sometimes I wish I had the ability to forget the world around me and ONLY think about myself. I already knew there was a huge crack down going on by the CHP, and me, being the almost old (no longer crazy - mostly) person that I am, decided I would set my cruise control at 80 and coast my way north. The speed limit is 70 so I figured I would make good time while still flying under the radar.

Unfortunately, I found that simple endeavor to be impossible. Some cars were driving too fast, some cars where driving too slow, some semi’s tried to pass other semi’s - which really screwed everything up. What a nightmare. The highlight of the voyage was when a semi full of tomatoes almost took me out by merging into my lane even though I WAS RIGHT NEXT TO IT!!!

Then there was the fact that the ONLY directions I had were printed out from Mapquest. This might sound all good, but I had in the past followed directions from Mapquest (with an equally intelligent woman in the car with me) and ended up in the middle of no where. Let’s just say, I was not confident with the information I was operating off of.

Nonetheless, I made it to the junction necessary to head west – the 152 (a.k.a A Scenic Highway.) (b.t.w. there was talk after the conference about how So. Cal. people say “THE” whatever, whatever, when referring to highways and interstates, and No. Cal. people just say the number.) Keep in mind I have yet to stop for gas, or to pee, or for food. My ass was numb.

I headed west, singing full throttle to Billy’s Joel’s “Piano Man” and enjoying the Ipod I won from Bakotopia. At first it was pleasant. Peaceful even. But then, for whatever reason, I began to feel tense. I started sweating. Sweating like a whore in church. The entire journey seemed like an obstacle course. A course I was definitely NOT in shape to complete.

I gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles and tried to breathe deep, slow breathes. I changed my iPod to George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass.” I imagined doing yoga, peaceful, green valley’s, and a cool lake with gentle waves lapping ashore. It helped. But mostly I just held on and hoped for the best.

After what seemed like hours I found myself on the (sorry – just ON) 101 north towards San Jose and San Francisco. Cool. I knew I was close. Traffic was sorta heavy and I seriously needed to pee. “You can make it,” I thought to myself, and soldiered on. A few times there were “decisions” that had to be made regarding which way to go, that had NOT been alerted to me by Mapquest. So I used my keen intellect, natural propensity for direction, and basic common sense, to guide me. If I just stayed on (THE) 101 north, I would naturally…eventually…FINALLY, happen upon my destination. RIGHT? I guess so.

Driving in L.A. I can handle. Being from Bakersfield, I consider myself sort of a So. Cal. Girl. At the very least I have more experience driving in L.A. Driving in the Bay Area, however is, with out a doubt, hell on wheels. I don’t know where I’m going and everything is unfamiliar. I hate it.

Traffic was heavy and I was tired. I had not stopped driving for almost four hours and was still coming down from the perspiration induced, desperately focused, haze I was in. I just wanted to find my hotel and lay down. I kept looking for signs to that said SOMETHING about Santa Clara on them. I saw none. There were signs for San Jose, and San Francisco, and even Santa Cruz, but not one for Santa Clara. The fear that I might be lost started creeping into the back of my mind. I hate that feeling.

Right about the time I was ready to pull off and confirm my direction, I saw a sign. “Santa Clara – Next four exits.” I have never been so happy to read a traffic sign. I pulled off the highway and parked my car with out incident, but as I began to walk toward the hotel, I noticed another obstacle.

Four or five people were standing in front of the entrance handing out fliers and yelling at the people walking inside. They said The Westin was evil and that we should not stay there support such a bad company. One woman was really screaming at another who apparently had mouthed off to her. I was tense already – walking into to a pack of screaming protesters was the last thing I wanted to do. I kept my head down and politely accepted the flier as it was handed to me. Luckily, I did not get yelled at.

When I FINALLY got inside and laid down on my bed, I pulled out the flier to read it. It said that, “The Westin Santa Clara is under a strict boycott by local, community, faith, labor & student groups.” Then it went on to describe all the atrocities the company has committed against the people who work there. It may have been a bunch of B.S., but it made me feel bad. I don’t like crossing picket lines, but I sure as hell was not going to get back into my car and look for another hotel.

I think because I worked as a waitress in high school and in college, I have a certain appreciation of people who take of others needs. Recently when my friend Amy from NY was here visiting her family, we out to dinner at Bill Lee’s. When the check came, (much to my chagrin) she insisted on paying the bill. “You’re the one who taught me how important it is to tip well” she said, “when we were in high school. That’s come in really handy living in New York.” I didn’t remember the incident but apparently we had gone to a Denny’s or something late one weekend and, being in high school, naturally we didn’t have a lot of money. There was talk of not tipping, or at least not very much, and I guess I freaked out and gave them all a lecture on how important it is to tip. And tip well. It is – and you should.

Okay – back to the story… I didn’t go to another hotel, but I did purchase a can of Ajax and scrubbed out the toilet, bathtub and sink. (crickets chirping) Okay, I didn’t really do that either, but I did think about it. Instead I felt a tip with a note on my bed saying “PLEASE DON’T CLEAN MY ROOM. I AM USED TO LIVING IN A PIG STY!” When I returned nothing was touched.

I still have yet to give y’all my take on the Blogher conference, other than I thought it was amazingly, wonderful and far superceded my expectations. I am still working on that post. I will say that my return home was a breeze there were no complications whatsoever.

Even on the Pacheco Pass.