Moo Y'all

 

If you keep up with the blog, you will find that my mom passed away on the 8th of August. Here it is the 11th, and off we go to Tennessee. I wish our trip was for something fun and not such a dreary meaning behind it. My daughter Dawn and her daughter Kylee were traveling with me, so off we went to the airport on the morning of Tuesday, the 11th to rent a car. 

Mom's funeral was set for the 17th, or it was the first day of the viewing anyway. Our trip was quite the adventure, filled with sorrow certainly, but also held moments of laughter, joy, and pure spiritual moments along the way. Mom was definitely traveling with us. I could feel her and at times, she was leaving signs for us. 

Driving across the United States is quite the trip, yet seeing all of the beauty and experiencing the ability to see what this country has to offer is so worth it. At least once in your life, take a long trip via car to enjoy all that Mother Nature has to offer in the way of her artwork. 

Dawn and I snagged a car. It was a compact SUV. A Mitsubishi of some type. We were happy with the result and headed outside to locate the car we would inhabit for at least a week and a half. With key in hand, Dawn located the car in the parking lot and we were excited that our trip would officially begin. 

As we walked around the car to inspect it, we noticed an odd detail - the driver's side door was hanging open. I slammed it closed and we made sure it was a solid close and would not open on us as we drive down the freeway. It felt snug, so we figured someone had just not shut the door all the way when they parked the car. 

We put Dawn's pup, Bella, into the car, packed some stuff in the backseat, and headed for home to load the rest of our necessities and a few other items into the car. 

Arriving home, we all went inside Dawn's house to grab suitcases, blankets, pillows, and even a makeup bag or two for Kylee and Dawn. The stroller had to fit into the vehicle in some manner to ensure beautiful 17-year-old Bella had a place to ride in luxury on this trip. If you ever plan on taking a long trip, take a Bella. Best dog ever! Never barked, moaned, bitched, complained, or showed any signs of objecting to any of this trip. As long as her momma was around, she was golden. 

There. We pushed, pulled, and played Tetris with the items to squeeze them all into our confined tiny compartment they called a trunk in this car. As long as we never opened the door again, we were fine. The only issue we had was that as we were loading, we noticed the driver side door was open once more. 

Being about two hours past our designated leave time, we were getting a bit depressed and talking about how many signs were telling us not to travel. Our trip may not happen at this point. I guess I could say my goodbyes without going to Tennessee to do so. Dawn and I were both becoming a bit pissy and depressed. 

We chose to return the car. There is no way we could take a car along with us when traveling about 2,500 plus miles across the United States with this door opening on its own. Dawn spoke with the rental agency about exchanging it and they came up with another brilliant idea - giving us a Mitsubishi car. A sedan. Yeah, because that would fit three grown people in it, plus all of our luggage, a dog and dog bed, plus another adult when we meet my sister in Las Vegas who is flying out to meet us to give us another driver. Yeah. Great freaking idea. 

The woman behind the counter searched again and informed us the only car they had besides the sedan was a Chrysler Pacifica minivan. Now we're talking. Hell, at this point, give us a bus. We thanked her profusely and headed out to see the van, load it all up with our stuff from the SUV, and finally begin this trip, only three hours late. Awesome. 

Black on black and plenty of space, we grew excited to have this car. It got about the same gas mileage as the SUV, was decent looking, and had a huge trunk, plus three layers of seats to accommodate our long drive without sitting on top of each other or killing one another by the end of this long trip. Little Bella had the middle seat all to herself. Kylee had the entire backseat, Dawn and I were up front, and the household's worth of luggage claimed the entire trunk. We were happy. The best part of the van? The front door remained shut. It was perfect. 

It was time to put our foot on the gas and get in as much driving time as we could before nightfall. Since it was already 1:00PM, we had to really hit the road and get some miles behind us. Excitement built as we drove along, heading toward California. 

Goodbye to the Ducks. Goodbye to our family, and goodbye to our beautiful state of Oregon. In a few days it would be hello to Tennessee, my birth state. I could not wait until I wrapped my arms around my siblings and hugged them so hard it would take their breath away. Seriously, not wanting to stop them from breathing, but wow, have I missed them. 

Highway driving can sometimes be a bit intimidating. We had a woman in a small car in front of us, in the passing lane, for quite some time. Dawn was patiently following behind, at a good distance. After a while, Dawn decided to pass her to get up to a decent speed again. We had miles to burn after all. 

There was a semi in the slow lane, head-to-head with this woman. She refused to get over even when she had ample opportunities to do so. Dawn did not get upset and kept a level head, waiting for this woman to move her car up or slow it down to let us by. We had stayed behind her, like I said, for quite a while, and still no effort on her part. 

The semi realized what was happening and sped his truck up to allow us to pull into the slow lane to pass her as she kept her same pace in the fast lane. As we passed her, the truck sped up again long enough to allow us plenty of room to go up and around her. Dawn gave her lots of space before turning on the blinkers and moving over in front of her. My daughter kept her speed going, leaving this woman behind quickly. 

As Dawn turned to watch the road in front of her and behind her, she began to giggle. I looked over at her and asked what was funny. She informed me the little elderly woman in the car was back there flipping Dawn off with not one, but both middle fingers flying in the air. We both laughed hard and joining us was Kylee from the backseat. Kylee looked out of the back window to catch a glimpse of the upset woman who was flinging those fingers like she was swatting flies. Road rage, anyone? Gave us all something to giggle about for a while. 

We chatted for a bit until the roadside began to look familiar from the many times I have driven to California in the past. Watching the scenery fly past, the drive was interesting again. The mountains were beautiful, however; they were a bit dry. Rain had been scarce in most states this year. Other states were being flooded. Crazy times. 

As we drove, I noticed we were still having issues with a lot of smoke from fires. Even as we crossed the state line, we encountered more smoke than from Oregon. I looked out of the window and saw exactly why. 

While it's not a huge fire, this was the tail end of a fire the fire fighters had just worked on. Many miles of the hilly areas were black, their small areas of brown, dried grass and small shrubs fried beyond recognition. Sadly, we drove through the areas with sadness in our souls. It's disheartening to see the beauty of earth on fire, the smoke plumes poisoning our lungs. 

I was suffering from a horrid cough from an illness I had for about three or four weeks now. Plus, the smoke in town was horrible, so that did not help. Each time I thought my cough sounded better, it would flare up again. People kept telling me I needed to go in to get it checked but I knew, I knew deep in my soul that it was getting better. It just sounded awful. It was all upper respiratory and would be okay. 

Once again, back to the details of the road. Still in California, we were seeing such dry landscapes when I'm used to seeing California as pretty green and beautiful. Palm trees swaying in the wind, grassy hills, and all that comes with a place that is typically pleasing to the eye. Now it was dry grass and tumbleweeds basically. Smoke billowing up from the ground and across the stretches of land on either side of the road. 

A couple of hours inside of the California border, I was getting a bit bored of being on the road. My ass hurt from these seats, and I could tell the girls were getting tired of having their butts meld into the vinyl on the seats as well. The van held many comforts, but after an all-day drive, even a fluffy cotton seat would feel like metal after that many hours. 

We were close to the town of Shasta where we knew we could get some sleep or burgers, either one sounding very good at this point in the game. I yawned wide enough to make my jaw crack and looked out at the road again while I wiggled my jaws back and forth to ensure that last yawn did not require stitches or wires to hold the jaws in place. As I'm staring out of the window trying to get over the shock of the sound my jaw made, I noticed a van driving alongside of us. Nothing special, really, except for the driver as we moved up to be side by side with the vehicle. I glanced and then looked again at the driver's seat of the van. There was a dog driving the dang thing. I swear to God, a dog was driving the van. I must be tired!

This van had no humans in the front seats that I could see. I'm getting old but I am not blind. A little scraggly haired white poodle mix of a dog was standing with his hind legs on the seat, front paws on the steering wheel, and turned to stare back at me as if to say, "What are you looking at, bitch?" 

My mind was numb. I looked at Dawn and said, "Um, dog." 

"Dog?" she asked me. 

"Yes. Dog. Dog driving the van." I replied, sounding rather stupid now that I could hear my own voice saying it out loud. "A dog." 

"Mom? Are you okay?"

"Dawn, there is a freaking dog staring at me through the van window as it was driving the van. No humans." 

Dawn pushed the van to do a few more miles per hour just to see the driving dog. It took us a while, but eventually we pulled up even with the white van so Dawn could look. We both turned to glance in to see the dog driving this vehicle, but no such luck. This time, there was a man in the driver's seat and a woman in the passenger seat, and no dog anywhere in sight. Both of them looked back at us and smiled. Dawn punched the gas to get ahead. 

As she got ahead, she noticed they were behind us, visible in the rearview mirror. She caught them giggling. Dawn then suggested that they were screwing with peoples' minds as they drove by, just for fun. Ha, ha. Very freaking funny. You could have at least shown me the dog again, ya freaks of nature. He or she was very cute, especially with its paws up on the steering wheel and the look it gave me. We giggled a bit and moved on. 

We drove a bit longer and finally rolled into the town of Shasta. I knew it was Shasta because of the familiar sight ahead of us. Beautiful Mt. Shasta. Without much show this year, I might add. Of course, this is summertime. 

It was getting into the evening hours after driving through the California lands. Not dark yet, but we knew if we did not stop here for the night, there would be nothing for miles. 

Shasta was a great place to call it a night. There were eateries that were pretty cool, with great smelling food, a small-town feel, and several motels and hotels that looked great. Dawn pulled into an area that had several hotels. We picked one and parked. I sat in the car, as did Kylee, while Dawn went in to register us. 

She came out and we all grabbed our belongings. It was a long first day on the road, with smoke, plenty of middle fingers, and a dog that drove. Pretty interesting day, I believe. I was ready to settle in for the night. 

Ah, a nice, cozy hotel room with a restaurant called Harvest attached. Perfect. 

Nothing super fancy, but hey, after being on the road all day, it looked and felt like a palace. 

It was clean, cute, and it was home for the night. 

Bella was even settling in for the night. She figured if mom and Kylee were sleeping there, she would sleep on the second bed. Screw grandma. 

We snagged some food from downtown, ate it, then settled in to watch TV. Yeah, right. All of us were out like a light within a few moments. 

A good night's sleep made us feel better. I was missing Terry and wished he could have come with us, but he couldn't. He had to stay home and take care of our babies. He wanted to come with me to be there as a support since mom just passed away. Knowing I was upset, it was hard for him to make the choice, but alas, we had no other option.

 After surgery, we had also missed out on some income too due to him taking time off to heal. This was his time to work again and bring in the paychecks like the good man he is. My man is definitely a good provider. I miss him dearly and wanted him to be with me and meet the family living in Tennessee, but we needed the care for the animals just as much as concern for me. It was our second time of being apart and I have to say, I don't like it much. 

But onward we go, toward Tennessee. During our morning drive, we stopped to let Bella use the bathroom for a moment or two. There was a stop along the side of the road that was not really meant as a rest stop, but hey, it worked. We let Bella out to do her business, and all three of us did ours beside her. I have to say, "awkward." While I waited for everyone to finish peeing so I could go, I took some photos of the beautiful surrounding area. 

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I'm ending this post here. There is far too much to share with friends to create one post for all of this. Our trip continues in the next post ...

Tennessee, here we come. But first, travels through California.