On the open road

In a couple weeks I have driven some 3000 miles up and down the west coast, and next week im headed up to the bay area again. I have been wanting to take a road trip up to the bay for a few months now for pleasure, but all these trips have been work/school related. The trip next week is also for law school.

Driving up the I-5 is a wonderful experience, if you can stay awake. Since the rains over winter, much of the land flanking the highway is green and alive. The trees look healthy, even as they are subjected to napalm-like strikes of pesticide from planes flying above. On my first trip I made it as far as San Francisco for an interview over the course of the weekend. Man, the City is such a charming place. I think I would love it up there if I had to live there for a while.

The next time I drove up I went all the way to Portland, Oregon. So it was deja vu all the way up to Sacramento. From there on I got to see California like I had never seen it before. I had my road map open on the passenger seat and at one point I knew I was approaching Mt. Shasta but I still couldn't see it. According to the map it should have been right in front of my face. I stop in the town of Mt. Shasta to have lunch and the fog begins to lift. So I get back on the road and all of a sudden I look up in front of me and see it. Have you ever seen a natural wonder so awesome that it gave you the chills? That was the feeling, I got so nervous for some reason as if the power of the mountain scared me to my bones. Its the kind of feeling I get when I look down into the Grand Canyon or feel an earthquake. It was amazing.

Then, driving back was just as pretty. It was late at night on a full moon. The moon was sitting low in the sky, shining but sort of glazed over with orange like it was drunk. The silhouette of Mt. Shasta become sharper as the moon moved behind it. At one point, the moon was fully hidden behind the mountain and shone its light creating an aura of light around the mountain that looked magical. After a few minutes the moon peeked out from one side and then fully came out again leaving the dark mountaintop behind. What a sight! And to think, if I didnt decided to drive down that night I would not have witnessed that.

That didn't really make up for the rest of the 15 hour trip that was pretty boring overall, though. Remind me next time not to decide to drive up that far by myself again. Thats all.

...keep it fresh

- Neil