Thursday, June 12, 2008

DAY ONE: El Cajon to Phoenix

This log begins at the Budget Truck rental site in El Cajon, CA on Friday, May 30, 2008. J indicates me (Jesse), and S indicates my wife (Sarah). On this leg, we were joined by Sarah's mom, Mary Ellen (M). Notes added during posting are bracketed and italicized.
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J: All right, so here it is. It's 11:43, we're about to take off, heading for Phoenix.
S: Heading for Phoenix and missing Abi [one of Sarah's best friends] already.
J: We know that Lili's [our dachshund, who went to Phoenix the previous Sunday with Sarah's sister Heather to get out of the way of all the packing] waiting on the other end though, so that'll soften the blow somewhat, I'm sure.
S: Hopefully.
J: And here comes Mary Ellen, so we're just about ready to go. We'll be providing periodic updates as we go along, and, uh, hopefully I'll get this transcribed on the blog sometime. Bye.
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J: All right, take two. After the great seat belt escapade [we were missing one of the buckles - it was stuck behind the seat]. It's 11:46. We're taking off, I'm handing off to Sarah.
S: Yes, so I'm supposed to narrate about yesterday, which was packing day, which was not fun for anyone. It was a lot of work, and in the middle of the work, my glasses broke. Yes, you heard right, my glasses were on my face, and I was walking, and I looked down, and half of them fell off while the other one stayed on.
[blank spot on the tape]
S: Yeah. That wasn't good. So I ended up having to fork out money for new glasses last night, and that was a pain 'cause it took me away from all the activity that was going on. And my computer cord got lost, and I didn't know it until this morning, but my husband found it, and that was great. And we are much better now, even though I still miss Abi very much. And now we are on our way, and we are not allowed to back up the truck. Bye.
M: You should mention everybody that..[cut off]
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S: OK, so Mom would like to know who all helped yesterday. Um, Abi helped me, and Abi's kids helped me to not break down too much, aaand...
M: Kira and...
J: Kira and Tanis.
S: Kira and Tanis, yes. And Megan was there helping keep them entertained. She was at the loading place, but she got bored.
M: She worked hard.
S: She worked hard until she got bored.
M: Really worked hard.
S: And then she wanted to go home. And so she came with us to the eyeglasses place. And now we are leaving the mall. The mall where my friends and I met for coffee. And for good bible talk female time. And the mall we went to movies with. Bye mall. OK, and other people who helped were Shannon and Sara Stiner, and they were both very very hard workers, and their daughter Megan, as previously said. Aaand...then after I left, George Cullins and his son Zach came, and they were also very big help. Aaaand Albert Calvedores and was also very big help. This is all while I was not here. There.
M: Steve.
S: Oh, and Steve Dill, and he was a great big help too. He helped clean afterwards and that was wonderful. And then, by the time we got back, everyone was already eating pizza. Actually, they'd eaten it, and then I got some pizza, and that was good 'cause I was hungry. And then we finished up and said goodbye to some people, and we will miss the Cullinses and we will miss the Dills and we will miss the Stiners...and I will miss Abi. And I'm going to end this now so we have some tape for later.
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J: It's now 1:13. We just made it out of the mountains. Just thought I'd bring a brief update. Everyone else seems to be napping. Oh well. It's just me. Um, doing fine. Guess we're going to stop in El Centro for some food.
S: I'm not napping, I was just resting my head on my mommy.
J: OK. Sarah's not napping, she's just resting her head on her mommy. So. We'll, uh, catch up in El Centro.
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J: All right, 1:46, El Centro, McDonald's, hairy parking job, but we made it. So. We're going to go eat now.
S: Yep.
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[weird sounds that sound like the tape speeding up, and the Lord of the Rings audiobook being read in the background...I don't know if someone was trying to record and failed, or what]
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S: Hello! And we are just crossing the state line into Arizona.
J: Hooray!
S: It is officially 3:40 PM, and we have had to say goodbye to California for a very long time. And that is sad. But now we're in Arizona, and soon I will get to see Lili, and that is what is keeping my spirits up right now. And, also that we are listening to the first volume of the Lord of the Rings...
J: The Fellowship.
S: ...which is pretty cool...
J: The Fellowship.
S: ...while my mom is sleeping.
J: The Fellowship.
S: Yes. Jesse says it's The Fellowship of the Ring.
J: Book One.
S: I did know that.
J: Book One.
S: It's Book One, and apparently he wants to get all the information down.
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S: OK, quick update at 4:30. We just left Burger King in Yuma where we stopped for bathroom breaks and yummy shakes. On our way to Phoenix.
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J: Well, it's five til seven. We're in Buckeye, Arizona. Stopping for gas. Uh...we'll, uh...yeah. We're almost there. Looking forward to it. I gotta call my parents now. Say hi Sarah.
S: Hi Sarah.
J: Thank you.
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S: OK. 7:13 PM. Leaving Buckeye on our way to Phoenix to see my sister and my dog, Lili.
J: Just spent $153 on gas!
S: Yeah, that was expensive. If you didn't hear that, it was $153 on gas. Yeeah. OK.
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S: [in the background] I'm going to call Abi. [various clunks, Mary Ellen saying something in the background, truck turning on. I think this is when Mary Ellen wanted to see if the lights were working]
J: I can't hear what you're...I CAN'T HEAR IT! [maybe she was asking to see the turn signals here? Beeping, then truck turns off] What time is it?
S: 8:00.
M: Want to hand me that towel 'cause that's something I can wash...
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J: Well, apparently I was recording through all that testing the lights thing [aha! I was right!], but it's 8:00, aaand 352.8 miles later, we have arrived at, uh, the Cholla Street house, the Morrow household.
S: We're here to see Lili!
J: And, and others, but, uh...
S: And my sister!
J: Yeah, so, successful day. We made it, one piece. Took us a looong time, but we're here. All right, so we'll, uh, talk again later.

So ends the first day of our journey. Some pictures for your enjoyment.


Left to right - George C., Zach C., me. Loading day.

Me and Kira. That's my hat, and Sarah gave her the shirt. I took the hat back.

Abi and Tanis (he's the short one).

Me driving in California.

More California rocks.

Sand dunes in California, just before Yuma.

Self-portrait by Sarah.

Entering Phoenix at sunset (the sun's the other way).

COMING SOON: Day Two on the road - Phoenix to Albuquerque!

2 comments:

Peggy said...

Well, I am looking forward to more about the move. I particularly enjoyed the pictures!

Meiqi said...

Fast trip! El Cajon to Phoenix and then straight to Illinois ;) I'm glad you made it safely. --Michelle