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I’m in L.A., and I’m alive.

That’s the best short version that I can give you.

For the long version:

The drive was tough. Let’s start with the fact that the car broke down in Delaware. Yep. The first day of driving, and I end up breaking down. With smoke pouring into the passenger cabin of the car, I’m pretty sure that I can’t go much further. On the other hand, I haven’t seen a place to pull off in a couple of miles. Just as the smoke (it’s really a type of anti-freeze based steam) has gotten so bad that I can’t see out of the windshield, I open the window and see a Chevy dealership just across the road to my left. At 4:30 on a Friday afternoon, I pull in and see if they can take me. They can. On Monday.

They loan me a car (there’s a cost, but it’s much less than an ordinary rental car would be), and I call all the relevant people. I also find a motel. I’m there for two nights before joining my friend Elle in D.C.

For those of you who’ve never driven from the Eastern Shore to D.C., there’s an interesting bridge to cross. There are longer bridges, though at five miles this is pretty long. There may be higher bridges, but most of the ones that I can think of start high and end high. This one goes from sea level to sea level, and the three miles in the middle are high enough for a tall ship to go under easily.

I usually make it across from the Eastern Shore to the other side by going through the middle lane. I’m terrified of heights, and this bridge is scary. I’ve driven it before so I’m confident. Then I actually get on it. It’s under repair and the middle lane is blocked off. Not only that, but the two exterior lanes are narrower than usual and I’ve just discovered that it’s too late to change lanes. This is before I see the high winds advisory in effect.

The speed limit is 45 miles per hour. I hit 42 and keep it in that zone on the dial. I start up the steep curve and glance in my rear view mirror. This giant SUV hoves into view. It’s too late for it to change lanes, and he wants to go fast. We haven’t even finished mile one and he’s flashing his brights at me. Because I’m in a little car, his lights are right on the level of my rear view. For the next four miles, there’s constant flashing. I’m so far over to the right that I keep thinking I’ll go through the guard rail. The fog is dense enough underneath the bridge that I can’t see the bay. All I can see is the bright lights flashing off my mirror.

The experience is so bad that when I come back a few days later, I call the police escort service and have them drive me across. I’ve never done it before, I’ll probably never do it again, but they felt like real life savers. Still, I felt like a wimp.

The car repairs took several days. On Thursday morning, I find out that my car is ready. I drive back up to Delaware, and finally start the journey. When I’m told that my only way to get to the route I need is to go back over the bridge, I buy a map. It’s the long way around, but I drive north before heading west to Baltimore. From Baltimore I pick up the I-70 and start the real journey.

I sleep that night in BFNowhere, PA.

One of the things Mapquest doesn’t mention is that the I-70 winds through the Poconos to get to Ohio. It snows right after I leave the Allegheny tunnel.

Ohio is beautiful. I didn’t stay long enough to notice anything except the rest stops are clean, well-laid out, and convenient and that the traffic through Columbus was awful. I make it into Indiana past Indianapolis.

Just as I pass an exit, there are cars stopped in front of me. For the next two and a half hours, I sit there while ambulances, fire trucks, tow services, and police drive past.

It seems that an oil tanker went off the road. The oil spilled. They finally laid down sand to give us all enough traction to drive over it.

I pull over and find a motel room at an exit between Indianapolis and Terre Haute.




More tomorrow.
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