Rolling to Recovery
Nov. 12th, 2016 02:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeI got away from the office a bit later than expected yesterday, and I had a couple of errands to do before I could leave. First I refueled the Rolling Stone and confirmed that it's no longer throwing gasoline overboard. (9.8 mpg isn't great, but it's better than the 3 mpg that it was getting as it hemorrhaged fuel.) Then I went to my mechanic's shop and paid for the repairs. It cost about a week's salary (after withholding), but besides the actual value of the repair, I effectively got free parking for the Eurocon trip, which can be offset against that cost.
By the time I actually got going, it was too late, and I was trapped in slow-moving traffic from Fremont to Tracy to Stockton to Lodi Junction to Sacramento. There were spots where it lightened up at times, but much of the trip was in pretty congested traffic. I visited my sister at the nursing home in Sacramento after a stop at Fry's Electronics for a minor item that's tricky to get in Reno, then detoured to the Roseville Galleria Mall where there is a Lush store that stocks my after-shave ointment. (No Lush stores in Reno.)
By the time I got to Colfax, I was seriously dragging. Since I got back from Europe, I've been going to bed around 8 PM, and it was past that time already. So I stopped at the Gold Run rest area, buttoned up the RV, and called Lisa to tell her that I wouldn't be getting home tonight. She knew that was a possibility and endorsed the decision.
The rest area was full of big rigs parking overnight as their drivers got their mandated hours-of-service rest. When I woke up about 3 AM, a full-sized RV (not a little one like mine) was taking up a bunch of the parking spaces next to me. California allows up to eight hours parking in a rest area (unlike some states that have foolish short-term parking rules), and thus I was unconcerned about my sojourn at Gold Run.
About 3 AM I woke up initially, and after an attempt to go back to sleep that failed, I concluded that I might as well head home. I stopped in Truckee for coffee (Starbucks having just opened for the morning when I got there) and at Verdi for breakfast (taking my time lingering over breakfast so the sun wouldn't be directly in my eyes when I returned to the road.
When I got home, I started to unload the RV and roll my luggage down the sidewalk, only to be brought up short by a flock of quail that were all over the front porch and surrounding walk. Some of them were particularly interested in the wood box, scratching away for what I assume are tasty bugs, which they are welcome to consume to their hearts content. Eventually I did get closer and the flock of more than twenty birds scurried away. (Click through the photo for more quail pictures.)
I was still pretty worn out despite the five or so hours of sleep at Gold Run. Aside from a visit to Walgreen's to replace the blood glucose meter I lost at London St. Pancras and the grocery store for some immediate needs, I mostly took today off. I would have gone to bed when I got home, but I think that would have made things worse. However, I do expect to get to bed early again today. Although I had little problem making the time adjustment to Barcelona, my body clock on the return has stubbornly remained somewhere out over Northern Canada. It's vaguely helpful with my job given that I have to coordinate with people in the Central time zone, but I'm looking forward to getting back on Pacific time this coming week.
It is good to know, however, that laying up at Gold Run is a viable alternative plan for when I'm traveling between the Bay Area and home.
By the time I actually got going, it was too late, and I was trapped in slow-moving traffic from Fremont to Tracy to Stockton to Lodi Junction to Sacramento. There were spots where it lightened up at times, but much of the trip was in pretty congested traffic. I visited my sister at the nursing home in Sacramento after a stop at Fry's Electronics for a minor item that's tricky to get in Reno, then detoured to the Roseville Galleria Mall where there is a Lush store that stocks my after-shave ointment. (No Lush stores in Reno.)
By the time I got to Colfax, I was seriously dragging. Since I got back from Europe, I've been going to bed around 8 PM, and it was past that time already. So I stopped at the Gold Run rest area, buttoned up the RV, and called Lisa to tell her that I wouldn't be getting home tonight. She knew that was a possibility and endorsed the decision.
The rest area was full of big rigs parking overnight as their drivers got their mandated hours-of-service rest. When I woke up about 3 AM, a full-sized RV (not a little one like mine) was taking up a bunch of the parking spaces next to me. California allows up to eight hours parking in a rest area (unlike some states that have foolish short-term parking rules), and thus I was unconcerned about my sojourn at Gold Run.
About 3 AM I woke up initially, and after an attempt to go back to sleep that failed, I concluded that I might as well head home. I stopped in Truckee for coffee (Starbucks having just opened for the morning when I got there) and at Verdi for breakfast (taking my time lingering over breakfast so the sun wouldn't be directly in my eyes when I returned to the road.
When I got home, I started to unload the RV and roll my luggage down the sidewalk, only to be brought up short by a flock of quail that were all over the front porch and surrounding walk. Some of them were particularly interested in the wood box, scratching away for what I assume are tasty bugs, which they are welcome to consume to their hearts content. Eventually I did get closer and the flock of more than twenty birds scurried away. (Click through the photo for more quail pictures.)
I was still pretty worn out despite the five or so hours of sleep at Gold Run. Aside from a visit to Walgreen's to replace the blood glucose meter I lost at London St. Pancras and the grocery store for some immediate needs, I mostly took today off. I would have gone to bed when I got home, but I think that would have made things worse. However, I do expect to get to bed early again today. Although I had little problem making the time adjustment to Barcelona, my body clock on the return has stubbornly remained somewhere out over Northern Canada. It's vaguely helpful with my job given that I have to coordinate with people in the Central time zone, but I'm looking forward to getting back on Pacific time this coming week.
It is good to know, however, that laying up at Gold Run is a viable alternative plan for when I'm traveling between the Bay Area and home.
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Date: 2016-11-13 06:53 am (UTC)OMG adorable quail!
I often cross twelve time zones, so jetlag is something I'm motivated to solve. I've found taking melatonin before you go to bed massively improves it. Available in my country on prescription only and costing more than $100 a bottle, but in yours over the counter for less than $5. When visiting the US I stock up, with that and other of your amazingly cheap pharmaceuticals, so much my suitcases rattle.