[Todd writing] When we decided to say goodbye to Russia and hello to America with an epic surface-transport-only trip from Moscow to Oakland, we expected to be landing in California long term. When no opportunities appeared in California, and we decided to sign up for the "Lake Hart STINT" furlough/re-entry program in Orlando, we realized that we would have to make a final drive across the country in the heat of August. I drove our mini-van, the "Silver Bullet", while Julia drove her 1991 Mazda Miata, the "White Cheetah," which had been brought out of storage after 10 years.
DAY 1 was to be the longest day, a 12-hour push over Altamont Pass, down the San Joaquin Valley, over Tehachapi Pass, across the Mohave Desert, over the Colorado River, and then up onto the Colorado Plateau of Northern Arizona. We rolled out of Oakland at 9:00 a.m., on a morning so foggy that the tree drip was like rain. But at the first gas stop at the turnoff from I-5 to Bakersfield, Julia put down the top on the Cheetah and announced that the air conditioning wasn't working on the Miata. It had been too cold in California to notice. She drove on through the 100+ degree heat with the top down, stopping in Barstow for Gatorade, to fend off heat stroke. Not long after we crossed into Arizona,
a massive lightning storm hit, and she had to pull over right on I-40 as the clouds opened. That added stress to a very nerve-wracking and exhausting day. Well after sunset, racing past the most scenic part of the day's drive, we finally reached Flagstaff and checked in to the Travel Lodge just in time to see Michael Phelps receive the first of his Gold Medals.
DAY 1 was to be the longest day, a 12-hour push over Altamont Pass, down the San Joaquin Valley, over Tehachapi Pass, across the Mohave Desert, over the Colorado River, and then up onto the Colorado Plateau of Northern Arizona. We rolled out of Oakland at 9:00 a.m., on a morning so foggy that the tree drip was like rain. But at the first gas stop at the turnoff from I-5 to Bakersfield, Julia put down the top on the Cheetah and announced that the air conditioning wasn't working on the Miata. It had been too cold in California to notice. She drove on through the 100+ degree heat with the top down, stopping in Barstow for Gatorade, to fend off heat stroke. Not long after we crossed into Arizona,
a massive lightning storm hit, and she had to pull over right on I-40 as the clouds opened. That added stress to a very nerve-wracking and exhausting day. Well after sunset, racing past the most scenic part of the day's drive, we finally reached Flagstaff and checked in to the Travel Lodge just in time to see Michael Phelps receive the first of his Gold Medals.
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