October 31. 2017
I rose early, packed my things, and made my way to the Love’s Travel Stop that was only a block or so from the house.
After arriving I sat myself in a booth at the adjacent Arby’s and organized some of the food-stuff I had picked up during a grocery run the day before.
I hardly had time to finish before a man approached me. He said he was going west, but not far. Then, having overheard the conversation, a woman approached. “What part of California you going to?”, she interrupted.
“Sacramento.” I replied.
“I’m headed to Tracy. Let’s go.”
And with that, we were off.
She was very chatty, and she was determined to drive through the night. Turns out she was supposed to be on the road yesterday, but she stayed an extra night in town with her boyfriend. She had been sitting in the Arby’s with her boyfriend when they overheard my conversation with the other westbound driver. He told her to go over there before that guy tries to take me. He suggested that with my company, she might be able to stay up all night driving to make up for the time she lost by staying in bed with him.
The trip would not be a straight shot, however. She needed to take I-15 down through Las Vegas eventually connecting with I-99 and I-5 up through California. That was fine with me. I was just thrilled to be going home.
The drive was beautiful.
We passed through Las Vegas as the sun was setting.
Somewhere in central California, along I-99, we stopped to sleep. We both slept in the back, heads resting at opposite ends of the mattress.