The First Solo Road Trip

I have written a lot about road trips in my life...and if you think I'm stopping soon you don't know me well!

There are a lot of special road trips in my life that stand above others. Many factors go into making them special: firsts, events along the way, people I was with, etc. The focus here is my first solo trip.

In January 1995, I convinced my dad to let me drive my car up to college and keep it there. My reasons were as follows: I was no longer public traffic enemy #1 like I once had been, and I didn't want to be a passenger in a musicless car. He was notorious for long silences on road trips. I was with him on a multi-day trip from Philadelphia to San Diego  2 1/2 years previously, and the number of miles we went without music, news, political banter, whatever on the radio can be expressed like this: yawn! Oh another reason was I wanted to start dating and not having a car kills possibilities there!

I also had a premonition before the trip, that my parents' marriage was in trouble and my self-reliant mobility would be important soon.

So it was, on Friday, January 20, 1995, I set off on my first long solo road trip. I was already packed to go. My mom supplied me with a cup of coffee and a bowl of oatmeal before I left. The plan was: I-15 to I-10 to I-210 to I-5 to I-580 to U.S. 101...simple, direct, and fast. Well...that was my dad's plan and I crossed my fingers as I agreed to it. Yes, I was 22 and still crossed my fingers for fib insurance! My own plan was much more intricate and interesting...and longer! Heading to my car, I gave my mom a tearful hug goodbye. I knew I was leaving her in a stressful home. Even though my sister and her family along with my aunt were in town, another piece of support for her was gone.

With a full tank of gas and a tape of early 70s classics, I set out on I-15. Just north of Temecula, I took 215 because I wanted to see Riverside and San Bernardino. Yeah, I have strange goals sometimes. I wasn't impressed with either toxic dump. However, I had no plans to stop and check out the city halls so I kept going. 215 ended back at 15. I followed that to CA 138 to travel through the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Pretty lucky for me that it was just a cloudy and not snowy day! Eventually, 138 flattened out in the Mojave Desert to flow into Palmdale (not as pretty as it sounds). At this point, the oatmeal had run thin and I needed a meal. I actually wanted to sit and eat, but nothing on the highway was looking good besides fast food, and I wanted no part of that at the moment. I got onto CA 14 north, which led me to Lancaster, another desert armpit. However, there WAS a Coco's, which filled my breakfast needs  quickly.

Getting back on 14, I drove through more desert bleakness for about 30 miles before hitting the town on Mojave. 14 ceased being a freeway here so I had to contend with lights for a mile or so before hitting CA 58. At this point, I popped in an audiobook by Dave Barry. My cousin Erica had gotten it for me for Christmas. I had never read his stuff , so I had no idea what he was all about. I found him to be a funny author. The actor Arte Johnson reading it made the book an even funnier time!

CA 58 wove through the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains for 30 miles, then dropped into the blah Central Valley, hitting lovely (HAH) Bakersfield before long. This was actually about the halfway point of the trip!

After gassing up, I got onto CA 99, which was once U.S. 99, the precursor to Interstate 5 all the way up to Canada in the old days. Dave Barry's humor got me through some boring stretches(meaning the entire 100 miles!) between Bakersfield and Fresno. Fresno seemed like a good place to grab lunch, and as it was raining a bit, the idea made sense. A Denny's caught my eye (I had no taste then) and by the time my heartburn-inducing meal was over, the rain had stopped. 99 continued to other buttcracks such as Madera, Merced, metropolitan Chowchilla, and Modesto. Soon after Modesto, I cut across CA 120 to I-5 south near Stockton. Within a few miles, I got onto I-205 to skirt Tracy and gas up again. After 250+ miles, I was still in the Central Valley!

205 ended at I-580 to take me into Livermore and the outer Bay Area. Thinking the tripw as almost over, I got onto I-680 north...and into hell! It was late Friday afternoon  in the Bay Area and I was a virgin to those traffic conditions. From 580 to Walnut Creek, it was stop and go, and the renewed rain and dark did not precisely help. By the time I hit Martinez 35 miles and over an hour later, the traffic eased up. After paying a toll, I crossed the Benicia-Martinez Bridge...if the bridge tolls were based on aesthetics, the state should pay the drivers to cross it! After the bridge I got onto I-780, a short connector to I-80 in Vallejo. I wasn't on 80 long before hitting CA 37, which skirted the northern San Francisco Bay. It actually crossed into Sonoma COunty for a bit, where I hit CA 121 to the Sonoma area, then grabbed CA 116 to the outskirts of Petaluma. Adobe Road and Petaluma Hill Road took me to the Sonoma State University campus and the end of an over-12 hour trip!

Looking back, my first solo road trip was successful and quite pleasant. The combo of audiobook and music let me enjoy my own world of travel and personal thought.

Incidentally, 2 months later my mom left my dad, and a long period of adjustment ensued. Coming soon: the first trip back home post-divorce.