Remembering my very slow departure from Breeze Avenue......

Now that I'm here--and have even managed to get away for a night, I'm marveling at how difficult it was for me to actually leave California. 

I was originally hoping to arrive in New Jersey at the very beginning of June--or perhaps even earlier--I could put in a garden, supervise plumbing, make bathroom and kitchen plans, etc.

Perhaps it was just procrastination, but the  floods, fires, tornadoes and record breaking heat along my various routes (and on the east coast) did not encouraged a swift exit.

Finally, after many delays and plan modifications I decided I'd leave on my birthday.    I was making preparations towards that end--many mini-celebrations, desultory packing efforts, etc., but as the day neared---well--I just wasn't ready, plus Friday is not a good day to leave Los Angeles.  All hours screamed traffic, so I decided I would leave the next day--Saturday.

I planned to devote my birthday to serious packing--but (and this is certainly not something to lament), there were so many calls and surprise visits starting with  a delicious breakfast egg sandwich with kale at the new Gjelina take-away with Lisa that my packing efforts, never very brilliant, fell seriously behind.

When Natasha and Joe dropped by for a sunset walk--they took note of my half-filled suitcases, cluttered surfaces and gaping cabinets and easily convinced  me  there was no real  reason to rush off.      Instead of a final swoop of packing,  I joined them for  a sunset walk--followed by an an excellent meal foraged from the remnants in my fridge--a frittata with  the Trader Joe's brown rice medley with black barley and daikon radish seeds to which I added sauteed green garlics and roasted tomatoes.   I'd planned to nibble on it as  I sped eastwards--but was happy to share instead.  Also a very small salad--avocado, oranges, celery, carrots.  Some melon and prosciuto and perhaps a fruit salad too?  Not quite sure, but everything was delicious, impromptu and festive--a bit of a surprise birthday dinner.

Awoke on Saturday--seized once again by the demons of delay---continued my desultory packing efforts.  I knew that if I focused I could easily do it all in an hour or two--but alas focus didn't seem an option.  At some point, I did decide I should have just left--I worried I'd keep delaying until my tenants showed up. 

Luckily Carol came by around 3pm.  The house was still a mess,  though the dishes in the dish washer were now clean, and I'd packed up a few more items.   I decided that I needed a specific destination for Sunday night.  I had an actual destination---Winslow, Arizona, where I was planning to eat my first traveling breakfast at the Turquoise Room at the Posada Inn --an old Railroad hotel, the next morning before heading towards New Mexico.  I've actually eaten there two or three times.  I do this route ridiculously often.  Once a Harvey Restaurant, it  now  serves high end southwestern food--very delicious-- a welcome treat and relief on relatively desolate route 40.  Here's the restaurant site-- from there you can easily get to the hotel(on line and in reality): Turquoise Room

La Posada would have been a fine place to stay, but provides much more than I  need for my basic pit stop--so with Carol's astoundingly patient co-operation, I embarked on an obsessive and quite unpleasant search for a cheap motel  in either Winslow or Flagstaff.   Priceline, Expedia, Orbitz, I was checking them all--growing increasingly depressed by the combination of high prices and dreary chain motel accommodations.  Quite by accident, I stumbled upon many words of praise for The Delta Motel
in Winslow and instantly called and made a reservation.  The owner, Chuck, was so lovely on the phone that I knew I'd manage to leave Sunday morning--no matter what my house looked like on Saturday. 
I was expecting to stop for meal in Santa Fe (my friend Nancy, from Las Vegas New Mexico had moved there two weeks ago) but wanted to sleep a bit further east. 
More internet work led met to the  Brown Hotel in Springer, New Mexico--two hours from Santa Fe--where I was told by the desk man I'd have no trouble getting a room with a complete breakfast on Monday night.  There wasn't much data--but it  was in the right place--so fit my own peculiar set of demands.   And miracle of miracles--once those plans were made--all travel anxiety evaporated.  I became ravenously hungry and was about to see if I could eke one more meal out of my cupboard and fridge--but Carol insisted we go out.   Patty called at that exact moment---and we all three ended up going to one of the Thai restaurants on Lincoln--which was fast, delicious, and perfect, and I even got the leftover rice with fresh crab to take on the road (an upgrade perhaps from the fritatta).

Of course when I got home I did not accomplish great things in the packing department--and went to sleep in that by now familiar scene of pre-trip chaos.

Actual departure:

Woke up  at about 6:30 for final prep.   This time I had it down (it is a mystery why I couldn't manage it before, but such is life).   My immediate incentive at that moment was that Linda had wanted me to stop by as I left (she lives around the corner from the Freeway entrance) and I'd told her I would arrive before eleven am.   I zipped through the rooms, packed up every last item, cleared all surfaces, even oiled the kitchen butcher block and by 10 was ready to leave. 
Andrew, downstairs, offered to bring out my many bags while I pulled the car around from the garage—so my exit was even quicker than planned.  He did have a small accident—dropping the cooler—breaking a bottle of beer , and spilling the milk which destroyed a few other food items ---but I graciously excused him (though as you might note, I am mentioning it—but only because I had to slightly adjust my road food plans).  Nonetheless I thanked him profusely and sincerely and headed out.

Thermos resting on Camry in NJ

I got to Linda’s at the appointed hour.  She met me on the street with a cup of coffee in an excellent red thermos cup and a bag full of what looked to be excellent snacks from Whole Foods.   She admired my well-packed car (she'd  brought me to the automatic car wash at the shell station on Lincoln the week before--i didn't even know there was such a place---we sat in the car while the machine soaped and rinsed it--and then we dried it to a grand shine with many paper towels and vacuumed the inside--excellent work all around--and it still looked good).    We bid our farewells--and off I went.....