Day 4

Day Four: Smooth Sailing





I awoke to the sound of a speeding car, sat up, looked around, then fell back to rest me head. I unlocked the the car door, and walked around outside taking in the early morning air. I went back to the car, and knocked on the window to wake Brian up. Brian opened his eyes, then signaled for me to come in. I asked,

“What does today look like?”
Brian responded gather his thoughts, “ We’re going to another WALMART in Hamilton, Alabama. But, we need to get more juice, cereal, and apples.”
“Okay, ill go in right now to get that,” i responded quickly.
“Wait,” Brian called as i was about to walk away, “i need to warm up a cup of noodles.”
Brian got out, and walked over to me. We walked in the WALMART, and split up to save time. I was able to easily locate the things we needed. After 10 minutes was able to return back to the car to wait fro Brian. As i unlocked the car i saw that Brian was standing behind me with a steaming cup of noodles in hand. I opened the trunk, and put the rest of the groceries in the back. I closed the trunk, and sat in the drivers seat looking to see if Brian was in the car yet. I asked,
“How were you able to warm up your soup?”
“I just asked the employees, they were kind about it,” Brian said.
I started the car, and headed towards the gas station on the corner of WALMART. Brian got, and filled up the car; meanwhile i got to stretch before the trip began.



 We got back in the car, left the gas station, and headed for the freeway. I emerged paying attention to possible passing cars. But to my surprise i found that the road was completely empty, not a soul, nothing but the open road. I rolled down the window to absorb some of the fresh air, tuned on the radio so that i wouldn't waste any unnecessary battery on music. I bobbed my head back and forth as we listened to strange pop-country music due to the stations being changed based on where we traveled. I looked over the passenger seat to find Brian asleep with part of his head hanging out the window. I shook my head, turned toward the open road and proceeded to look forward. After an hour of driving i saw a car for the very time, and honked at the car enthusiastically. But to my dismay the driver ignored me, and speed up. Thirty more minutes passed before I got hungry, and decided to pull over so that i could grab and apple from the back. I drove to the side of the road got, grabbed the apple from the trunk. The first bit was electrifying, the apple was perfectly sweet, even though i preferred sour. When i finished i put it in a small bag for trash, and decided to wake Brian up so that he could check the engine to see of we would have any trouble like we did the entire week. I knocked on the passenger's window, and he awoke immediately. I motioned for him to come outside. When Brian stepped outside the car he asked,

"What is it?"

I responded quickly, " I need you to check under the hood, so that we can know if we'll have any problems are not."

"Okay," Brian responded blankly.

Brian popped the hood open, and in less then 5 minutes said,

"Looks like everything is good today," he said with a slight smile.

We got back in the car, started the engine, and emerged back on the road, this time with two other cars; one behind, one in front. I rolled up my window so that i wouldn't add more weight to the car. Four hours later my eyes began to drop, and stray from the road, which was sign for me that i needed to rest. I tapped Brian's shoulders, he took out one of his head plugs and looked at me.

I ask trying to stay awake, "Can we switch now because I'm getting a bit tired."

Brian responded buzzing with energy, "Sure!"

Once again I pulled over and switched places with Brian. As I sat down I melted into the seat, and closed my eyes to rest mind. Throughout my nap I thought of numerous things: would we make it, how much longer will we have to continue traveling, when can eat better food, blue,weariness, I will never travel my car again. I was surprised of all the thoughts, and emotions that crossed through my mind as i slept. I was finally able to clear my mind, after I ignored everything going through my mind.



Vroooom, Vroooom was the sound I awoke to, I looked out the window and saw two motorcycles accelerating by the car. I then saw that we were on a street, then made a U turn, and were in the parking lot of WALMART. I turned to Brian in awe,

"How did we get here so fast?"

Brian said with a puzzled look," We've been driving for 5 hours."

"Really," I said still confused on how we were already here.

I started to relax I saw that the sky was completely pitch black, after, things began to make more sense. Brian told me that he was going to get out so that he could get some water, and use the bathroom. I accompanied him, and for the first time today drank cool water, which completely calmed me down. We headed back to the car; Brian slept in the first row, while i slept in the second row. Out of the two of us Brian was able to go to sleep with ease, due to all the driving he had did. For me however, i had some more difficulty. I decided to just lay down looking at the window to waste my time until i could fall asleep.



What we needed:

100% 64 oz bottle= $4.00
apple(s)= $0.75 x6= $4.50
Cherios Honey Nut 21.6 oz= $6.59
gas= $70

money spent= $85.09
money left= $207.95

distance traveled= 589mi
distance left= 540mi

Murphy USA (gas station)
198 Shawnee Mall DR, Shawnee, OK

Walmart (free parking/ "lodging")
1706 Military st s, Hamilton, AL


Picture Citations:

1.Woodson, Brian. Murphy USA gas station. 02.22.12. Shawnee, OK. maps.google.com. screen shot. 02.22.12

2.Woodson, Brian. Our New Home. 02.22.12. Hamilton, AL. maps.google.com. screen shot. 02.22.12

3.Woodson, Brian. Salisaw. 02.22.12. Salisaw, OK. maps.google.com. screen shot. 02.22.12

4.Livingston, Daphne. apple. 09.08.2011. Unknown. longislandpress.com. web image. 02.22.12

Day 3

Fire stone: complete auto care (flat tire)= $100

2536 Carlisle Blvd Ne

Albuquerque, NM 87110-3808

Cheveron full tank= $70

3520 Menaul Boulevard Northeast,

Albuquerque, NM

Walmart (parking lot for sleeping)

196 Shawnee Mall Dr

Shawnee, OK 74804

money spent= $170

money left= $293.04

distance traveled= 576mi

distance left= 1129mi

1.Smith, Steve. Pathfinder Trail A/P tire blowout before 35,000 miles. 07.20.09. Texas. gmtruckclub.com. web image. 02.17.12

2.Woodson, Brian. Firestone Tire Repair Albuquerque. 02.17.12. Albuquerque, NM. maps.google.com. screen shot. 02.17.12

3.Woodson, Brian. Walmart. 02.17.12. Albuquerque, NM. maps.google.com. screen shot. 02.17.12

4.Woodson, Brian. Harrington Discovery Center. 02.17.12. Almarillo, TX. maps.google.com. screen shot. 02.17.12

Day 3

Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring! I looked over at my phone in the charging outlet and realized that it was 6:50, I jumped out of bed and ran towards the bathroom to wake myself up. I turned on the cold water, took a handful, and threw it on my face. As the cold water hit my face i could feel by body being rejuvenated, and awoken. I dried by face, looked in the mirror, and realized tiny lines under my eyes. I moved closer and saw that the lines were more defined; probably from stress i suspected, then walked out the bathroom. When i entered the room is saw Brian with his bags ready, and the beds tidy. I asked,

“Did you looked around the room for anything that we might have missed yet?”

“Yea, we can go now,” Brian said blankly, with a slight yawn.

We headed out the room, down the stairs towards the front desk. I walked up towards the front desk, and saw that no one was there. I rang the bell, and a short man walked forward. The man said,

“Done with your stay already?”

Without hesitation i responded, “Yep, just one night.”

“Might i ask sir, but where are you two headed?” the man asked.

“Where headed to Charleston, SC,” i responded boldly.

“We’ll what’s done there?” the man asked confused.

 “ A chance at peace,” i said, then walked out the door.

We headed towards the car with the key in my hand, opened the door, while Brian checked the engine for any possible problems. I saw a thumbs up, and started the car. Brian opened the car with a puzzled look on his face, i asked,

 “What’s the look for?”

He responded not to sure of himself, “ The car i sort of leaning on one side. Come her and see for yourself.”

I went over to the side Brian was on, looked up, and realized that the car was on leaning over to one side. We looked around the bottom of the car for anything that might be distorted. Suddenly something shinny caught my attention from the bottom of the car, i bent down and realized that their was a piece of broken glass in one of our tires. I kicked the the car, anger began to take over. This was the third day that we were experiencing difficulty with our car. I was tired of not knowing what was going to happen, i was tired of life. I pulled out my phone and searched for any repair shops where we were. Luckily I found one around the corner from the hotel, we got in the car and followed the directions.

2 minutes later we arrived at the repair shop called Fire stone: complete auto care. I drove into the parking lot. Brian got out and headed inside to speak to the manager about getting a replacement tire. I got out the car, and walked to the curb. The cool air hit my face, and i twinged a bit, I looked out into the distance and noticed a mountain range in the distance. I closed by eyes, and took in the air ; the air smelt of motor oil, and pie. I relaxed some more, and noticed that i was closer to falling asleep than i realized. Suddenly, I felt a warm tingle on my neck, opened my eyes, and realized that Brian had started the car. I hopped in the car, and Brian drove away. He turned down the street, and saw a gas station. I asked,

“How did you know that there was a gas station around the corner?”

“i asked the man at the repair shop,” Brian responded.

Brian stepped out into the cold air to fill up the tank, soon the entire car smelt of gasoline. When Brian finished filing up he took a deep breath, started the car, and drove towards the freeway. I plugged in my headphones, and went to sleep. As I relaxed i let the movement of the car move me around, and not fight it.

I awoke to the car moving up and down, i rolled down the window,, stuck my hand out and moved it back and fourth. I  felt the sun shinning down, and my hand getting warmer. I looked over and saw Brian looking blankly ahead,

“Wanna switch,” i suggested.

Brian responded slowly, “ Sure.”

Brian pulled over, and we switched places. As i settled into the drivers seat i sunk into the seat, and tried to find a comfortable position. I started the engine, and drove back unto the rode. I turned on my music, plugged in my headphones, and focused solely on the road. After awhile the road gave my headache, i decided to focus on something different. 4 hours into driving i heard my phone buzz, and saw that i had 20% battery life left. I turned of my phone to preserve what little battery i had left; for the remaining time to thought about everything we had been through. Brian told me that the Walmart that we were staying at was located in Oklahoma. I suggested that he should take over, because i got us lost yesterday. He took a moment to recall the mistake i made, then responded quickly. I pulled over to the side of the road, and moved over to the passengers side. Brian had the directions in hand, and began driving. An hour later we arrived in Shawnee, OK, and found the Walmart 10 minutes later. Brian found a parking spot in the back. I got out the car, and moved to the second row; stretched out, then closed my eyes.

(sorry for all the white, more editing problems)

Day 2

Gas (J’s gas and repair) 301 J Street, Needles, CA = $70 + Water Pump repair= $500.00
Hostess 6-pack doughnuts x2= $2.00
Motel 6 3400 Prospect Ave Ne
I-40 At Carlisle Blvd, Exit #160
Albuquerque, NM, 87107
= $34.19
total cost= $606.19
remaining= $463.04
distance= 532mi
distance left= 1070mi

 93gs, wicked. srt water pump. 7.21.11. Franklin, TN. Neon.com. web image. 2.15.12

Weptlime, Hes. Albuquerque nighttime skyline. 9.6.09. Albuquerque, NM. Flickr.com. web image. 2.15.12

HK, J. Arizona Desert. 6.4.07. Arizona. Panoramio.com. web image. 2.15.12

Hahn, Dan. Repair shop. 9.29.09. Needles, NM. Solarpowerrocks.com. web image. 2.15.12  

Day Two

We woke up at 6 in the morning got dressed, opened a box of cereal, and ate cereal with no milk for breakfast. We checked around the hotel for any belonging’s that we might have misplaced, and left out at 6:30. I walked into the lobby, handed the woman at the front desk the key, and headed out the door to get into the car. When I got outside I walked up to Brian, and asked,
“Who’s drivin’ first?”
“Well, I might as well drive,” Brian said blankly.
Brian got into the car, started up the engine, and drove away from the hotel not looking back. As the sun arose its illuminating beauty blinded me. I plugged in my headphones, and watched the sun. All of a sudden Brian yelled, “Crap!” I snapped out of my trance, and realized the hood of the car was smoking. I immediately remembered that on the previous day he heard a rattling sound coming from the hood. However, the man that helped us insisted that everything was fine. I asked,
“What’s happening? I thought that everything was fine.”
Brian sounded confused, “I have no idea what’s going on.”
Then Brian yelled, “Look there’s a gas station  across the street.” As I looked I noticed their was a gas station across the street from our hotel. Suddenly the car stopped moving, and the smoke coming from the hood increased even more. We got out, and decided to push the car across the street. As we crossed we were honked at, yelled out, and one person even tried to threw a bottle at my legs. After pushing, which seemed like a millennium we finally made it to the gas station. A older man came out and helped push the car into the car repair shop, once done we opened the hood, and realized that the water pump broke. I said to the man,
“well, looks like our water pump, happen to have any extra water pumps?”
The man scratched his head, “Well let my check in the back.” When the man left the garage looking area, we looked around the garage i saw that their were two other cars. One car was off the ground, while the other car was in pieces. 5 minutes later the man came back with a water pump in his hand. The man told us that he would only charge us 500 dollars for the water pump. I asked,
“Is there any chance that you can possibly lower the price of the water pump?”
The mechanic responded,
“I’m sorry sir, this here is the last pump we have, i’ll have to charge you 500 dollars.”
I responded slowly, “Okay, i guess we’ll take.”
Brian went with the mechanic to purchase the water pump. When the two returned, i went outside to get some air, while the mechanic installed the water pump. I sat on the ground and listened to music on my phone. 30 minutes later the mechanic walked out, and then i heard a engine start up. Brian drove out of the shop, i hooped in the car, thanked the mechanic, then drove away. Since we were already at the gas station we decided to fill up,and get donuts. After 3 minutes we left the gas station and headed for the nearest freeway, so that we could get back on course. We headed towards highway I-40, and from there it was smooth sailing.

After 2 hours of driving, i suggested that Brian pull over so that i could take over the wheel. Brian gladly drove off to the side, we switched places, and continued driving. Around 4:30 we started seeing signs that we were getting closer to Albuquerque. As we continued to drive we began getting closer to the city. I asked Brian to tell me the address to the Hotel since were within 30 minutes of the hotel. Within 10 minutes i got completely turned around, and finally admitted that i was lost. During the same time the sun was beginning to set, and blinded me as i kept driving. I decided to pull over, and see if Brian wanted to take over. When i looked over Brian looked at me confused, and slightly annoyed. He told my to get out so that he could drive; we switched and in less than 15 minutes were driving into the parking lot of the hotel. As i looked over i realized that Brian was using the GPS tracker on my phone; i decided not say anything. We grabbed our bags, and headed towards the the door’s of the hotel 6. I opened the door, and Brian headed over to the front desk to check in. Brian came back with the key in his hand, and a tired look on his face. He handed me the key, and saw that our room was on the second floor, room 6. We headed upstairs, and reached our room with ease; unlike we did the night before. I opened the door, and threw my belonging’s on the bed.
I asked,
“So what do you feel like doing tomorrow?”
Brian replied, “ We’ll since we have gone two days without eating out i guess we can treat ourselves.”
“That is if we don’t have any car troubles,” i added.
“Good point,” Brian said remembering the troubles we had today.
I climbed into the bed,  and closed my eyes so i could go to sleep faster; while Brian ate cup of noodles for dinner.

Day 1 Budget and Travel

Groceries= $27.58
Gas= $70
Motel 6= $34.19
Total cost= $131.77
Funds Left= $1068.23

Distance Driven= 556mi
Distance Left= 2234mi

Our shopping List day 1

12-pack Cup Noodles= $6.99
Welch's 100% 64 oz bottle= $4.00
12 oz Doritos bag= $1.50
apple(s)= $0.75 x6= $4.50
banana(s)=$0.40 x10= $4.00
Cherios Honey Nut 21.6 oz= $6.59
Total grocery cost= $27.58

A Link to Our Trip Map for the day

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=SF,+CA&daddr=1131+Oak+Street+%E2%80%AABakersfield,+CA+93304+to:1420+J+Street,+Needles,+CA&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=36.279707,-118.520508&spn=7.472432,11.865234&sll=36.297418,-119.421387&sspn=7.470741,11.865234&geocode=FVJmQAIdKAe0-CkhAGkAbZqFgDH_rXbwZxNQSg%3BFfKsGwIdnprn-Cl18hHF-GnqgDFQI3meDA7MQA%3BFaGWEwIdQCMr-SmtOA1WYyPOgDGe2us4oAU_FQ&oq=1420+J+St.+Needles,+CA&mra=ls&t=m&z=6

Some Pictures from the first day of our trip

Faigen, Daniel. Interstate 380. Quentin Kopp. Interstate California 480. San Jose. web image. 02.13.12

 

 Faigen, Daniel. Interstate 380. Quentin Kopp. Interstate California 480. San Jose. web image. 02.13.12

 

P. Duran, Daniel. Death (valley).  2005. Death Valley, CA. vanderbilt.edu. web image. 02.14.12

P. Duran, Daniel. Joshua Trees.  2005. Death Valley, CA. vanderbilt.edu. web image. 02.14.12

Costco: 
1900 Davis Street  San Leandro, CA 94577
(510) 562-6708

Chevron:

1131 Oak Street

‪Bakersfield, CA 93304

‪(661) 324-7621

Hotel 6 Address: 

1^st night stay: 1420 J St. Needles, CA

1 night: 34.19

Summary of out First Day

Today was the beginning of our to trip Charleston, SC from San Francisco. Brian, and I woke up at 5, and checked around the house before we decided to get into the car. The night before we packed, and had loaded up already so that we could get on the road. We decided that we wanted to avoid stopping for food, so went to Costco to pick up some food that we could eat on the road. We traveled to the Costco in San Leandro to pick up cup of noodles, juice, chips, apples, bananas, and cereal. Since it was early in the morning we were able to get in out by 6, and finally began our migration. 

For the first couple of hours we listened to music, on my phone to pass the time, to add a positive spin on our trip. In the middle of Brain's favorite song we heard a strange rattling sound coming from under the hood. I paused the music, and heard a crisp rattling under the car. At first I was convinced it was nothing, just wind. However, as we continued down the road the noise only grew louder. So we decided to pull over to check if the sound was anything serious. We pulled over to the side, got out, and checked underneath the hood. Suddenly another car pulled up in front of us. A young man in about his early 20's steeped out and said, 

"look's like your having trouble their, mind if i give you a little assistance". 

I responded, " Thank you sir. Are you a mechanic, or just good with cars?" 

" Well.. I grew up around cars, and dad owned a car shop, so i guess you could say im pretty good with cars," the man said with a confident face. 

The man then suggested that we drive to a gas station to that he could get a better look, at the potential problem. He told us that there was a gas station a couple miles ahead. We drove to a gas near Bakersfield, CA. Once we got to the gas station the man opened the hood, and after 5 minutes of waiting announced that everything was fine.  We thanked the man, and he drove away. When we reached the car we realized that we had never even asked for the man’s name. We were so concerned with our trip that we had forgotten to ask a simple question.

We got back on the road, and continued driving in silence. I decided to take a nap, and rest after our scare. When I awoke I looked over, and realized that Brian’s eyes were a bit tired, and then I offered to drive a bit so that he could get some shuteye.  He pulled over to the side of the road, we switched places, and I continued to drive. I plugged by headphones into my ear and listened to music to keep me awake. I listened to my favorite playlist composed of 100 songs. When Brian awoke we saw sign’s saying CA-58 E/ blue Star Memorial Hwy. We knew that we were almost in Las Vegas, and more importantly closer to our hotel. Around 7-7:30 we drove into the parking lot of the hotel 6 were staying at. We grabbed our bags to take up to our room. As we walked into the hotel a wave of relief washed over me because we had finally finished part of journey. I checked in with the person at the front desk, surprisingly there were no hang up’s, and was given the key with ease. We ran up the stairs, searched through the hallways, and found our room finally. I opened the door, ran to the bed, and then fell asleep immediately.