In Search of America: Megan's Quick Bay Trip, September 2019

Saturday

Left around 7:20 to drive up to Walnut Creek. I stopped in Santa Clarita at the last Target before the barren stretch of the 5 so I could go potty and make a return AND get gas. Killed a couple birds with one stone there. Then.....There wasn't much traffic but I managed to get a speeding ticket while passing a group of slow cars on that barren stretch of the 5. 😭 This guy was on a mission to fill his quota; he had already pulled another car over (on the side streets, this time) by the time I had done a U-turn and found my way back to the freeway. Major bummer.

I listened to podcasts almost the whole time. I was trying not to stop again, since the ticket incident set me back another ten/fifteen minutes, but I ended up using a rest stop for potty purposes. There was bad traffic in the Bay Area on 580 as I made my way closer to my old stomping grounds, but I made it to Walnut Creek around 2:30. So overall, roughly 7 hours. I was glad I didn't have kids with me, but MAN my body starts to ache and get antsy when I'm sitting for so long.

I met up for lunch at Va de Vi with Steven, Ben, Erik, and Jenna. Hopefully Jenna didn't mind hanging with me and my high school buddies. It was good to catch up, but very short! We had a nice tapas meal and then I rushed off to change in my car and head over to Brentwood.

Ugh. MORE traffic. Hwy 4 was pretty bad, and THEN there was an accident. I ended up missing the ceremony. I felt so bad about it, and nobody seemed to notice, so I didn't mention it. I didn't know anyone at the wedding, which was rough for a socially anxious person like me. It was touching to see my high school buddy dancing with her dad! Well and of course her hubby.

I had told Colleen I would be staying at her house and taking care of her doggies, but I just wanted to get to my final destination and be done with driving. I probably would've gotten more sleep if I'd just gone to Colleen's and stayed there, but knowing my parents would still be up and the prospect of waking up where I needed to be sounded appealing. So I went by Colleen's to feed her dogs and we chatted on the phone a bit, then I left for Monterey. Wow! STILL traffic (I guess not surprising on a Saturday night). Somehow I ended up going Hwy 24 through the tunnel and through Oakland. I don't know if Google had me go that way cuz of an accident or if I made a wrong turn in WC and it just routed me that way instead. I kept thinking 'Gee, I don't remember going this way to Grandma's when we lived in the Bay.' Durrrr. That's because we never went that way! Ugh; the whole week just felt kinda doomed/wonky and I couldn't correct it.

Anyway... After a sketchy gas stop, I was on my way and made it to Pebble Beach just after 11pm.

100° in Walnut Creek...

Kilts!

Fairytale princess bride!

Sunday

Meant to sleep in but forgot about my 7am pill alarm. Oops. Sigh. Again, I can't win! LOL. Mom and I spent the day purging and rearranging and putting stuff away. Breakfast at Crema, mini lunch at the Crema cafe later (gross quiche), and that evening dinner takeout from Peppers (also gross. Just no.). We saw so many deer in the front yard! And a wild turkey when we drove around town after breakfast! Video chatted with the kids right before their bedtime.

One of many beautiful deer we saw in the yard. I think there's a family. 😍

Marie Kondo-ing and rearranging

Video chat

Monday

Breakfast leftovers, a depressing talk about wills/estates, then more purging etc. It sprinkled in the morning!

Lunch at Red House. Pretty good. Went back to the house and we all took a walk around the neighborhood.

I left around 3pm. Traffic was a bit congested on 68 and it felt like forever getting to 101. I made one stop in Buttonwillow for bathroom/dinner/gas! After that it was pretty smooth sailing other than annoying drivers passing in the slow lane all the time + semi trucks travelling with us until they split us before the grapevine. Forgot about that. Then LA still had traffic. Ugh. It wasn't horrible though.

Made it home at 9:40, exactly when Google maps said I would arrive! Impressive. 6hr 40min with one stop.

Already scheming/strategizing the drive to Monterey for Christmas :)