"Is your heart rate back to normal?"

Road trip time. We somehow managed to squeeze the last remaining tools in the truck. My summers spent loading trucks and years of playing Tetris seem to have paid off because after the first day of driving there hasn't been any shifting back there. It was sad leaving Santa Cruz and Rosemary after only being there for a few days, but at the same time I was anxious to get out on the open road.

A feeling that quickly went away.

California

I drove by myself from Santa Cruz to San Jose in the truck because we had to drop off the rental car at the airport. I'd never driven a truck this large, and this was the hardest stretch of our drive so it wasn't an appropriate time to put my jams on. I kept my hands at 10 and 2 and got to San Jose just fine.

My sensei had to fill up the tank before dropping the car off, so I drove into the airport and seeked out a good spot to wait to pick him up. First, a disclaimer: I made sure to look at the clearance height of the truck before driving it, 11'. So I'm driving into the airport and I remember that the rental area is right next to a big parking lot. I see the parking lot and pull in thinking that it'll be worth it to pay a dollar instead of driving around for who knows how long while he's getting gas. But as I pull up to the gate I realize that it's only for long term parking with a flat rate of $22 a day. There weren't any cars around so I reversed back to the main road. I wasn't about to spend $22 to park for 10 minutes, but the combination of the airport, where I feel like I'm being watched by the NSA at all time, and breaking the rules led to sweating. That was my fault though, I take full responsibility for not properly reading the sign that probably existed saying "Long Term Parking Only" 

So plan B, pull right up to the rental car place in the first floor of the parking garage. There were two "you must not be this tall to ride this parking structure" yellow hanging tubes spaced out along the one lane road leading to the entrance.

The problem is, the numbers telling me how tall it is were chipped off. It appeared much taller than 11', but I played it safe and drove under it an inch at a time. It was on swinging chains so worst case scenario I tap it, realize I'm too tall, and drive away. But there's no problem, I clear it easily. So now I pull up to the entrance and there's another second yellow tube, which should be the same height as the one I just went under because they both lead to the same place, right? Wrong. I can't relive it yet so my description will be brief. 

BANG. In shock. Stuck in parking garage surrounded by yellow tubes that I can't fit under. Reverse around the side of one of the yellow tubes to exit structure. Pick up the other Kowalski. Drive out of California as quickly as possible. 

The green hills and winding roads were beautiful but I was too busy questioning my intelligence to notice. I tried to explain the whole ordeal to him, but I was still too in shock. He stared at my worryingly for a while, but after a few hours of white knuckles on the steering wheel, he must've noticed I was feeling better. "Is your heart rate back to normal?" Yes it is, time to enjoy the trip.

Nevada

Casinos everywhere, easy driving. I was a just passenger for the first half of the state and we listened to a short audiobook. We made it through Donner's Pass without eating each other. Gas station clerk told us they normally get 400 inches of snow, but we haven't an inch on our drive so far. I got a call from a number I didn't recognize in California and automatically assumed it was the police coming after me for the airport fiasco, but thankfully it was just my mom's cousin Tim. Switched drivers in Winnemuca, and then stopped for gas at the Utah-Nevada border where they crammed as many casinos as they possibly could.

Utah

I was the anchor for our 14 hour drive and got us to Salt Lake City around midnight. The only time thats matter to us now though are how long since we've last ate and slept. The night's sky was the clearest and brightest I've seen in my life. I was tempted to pull my grandpa's telescope out of the back and do some star gazing. I crashed as soon as we checked into our hotel, but the Insomniac couldn't fall asleep, I'm blamed my snoring. Next up, 14 hour drive to Omaha.

Note: I started off trying to take pictures of the drive, but my phone just doesn't do the views any justice so I stopped.