Wednesday, September 24, 2008


So here we are, sitting on the floor of our empty apartment waiting to leave Los Angeles.  We wanted to be on the road hours ago, it's now 7:30 am.  But we found out yesterday that they won't cut our deposit refund check until we turn in the keys and if we turned in the keys yesterday we couldn't have stayed here tonight.  So the bookkeeper told us that we'd have to wait until this morning....BUT she said "I'm probably going to be in around 6am, so I'll call you when I get in".  Right, sure you'll be in at 6am, she just said that because we were pissed off that we had to wait around.  She's still not here.  We got up at 4:00 because we both couldn't sleep and packed up the mini-van with our life.  I just ate oatmeal with a knife because we don't have any spoons or forks.  

We are ready, anxious, excited and frustrated.  We want to leave now!  But it's always something, isn't it.  Nothing is easy.  I hate it when someone else holds you up  and for a stupid reason.  But if we would have left without getting the deposit check they would have mailed it to us in France and then we would have paid a heafy fee to convert it to euros.  And who knows if it would have arrived at all.  So here we wait.

Today we hope to get to either St. George Utah or maybe to Cedar City, Utah which is a little further.  That's about 8 hours of driving and should be OK for today.  The last time we drove to St.  George Utah was probably 6 years ago when we still rock-climbed.  There is a climbing area just south of St. George called the VRG.  It's right off the freeway (15) not the most beautiful area but amazing climbing.  Bruce actually took a 30 foot fall (we called it a whipper) while climbing there once, actually it was early on in our relationship and I (the green one) was belaying him and it freaked me out.  He was working on this super hard climb and he lost his grip, the rope twisted behind his leg and flipped him upside down and he fell 30 feet.  It was crazy.

St. George is a very strange city.  Very mormon and very weird.  But it was the closest city to where we would camp, so we'd go in for dinner if we didn't feel like cooking.  We'd eat at this Chinese restaurant that was the shape of a big boat!  I hope that we can get further than St. George, so that our next day we get to Carbondale Colorado a bit early.  We are staying with our good friend Chris and we'd like to spend some time with him instead of rolling in late and going to bed and getting up and leaving.   

I'll be posting pictures and updates from the road so stay tuned for the adventures of Bruce, Alisa, Dashell & Stella.

7 comments:

La Framéricaine said...

Congratulations on having gotten right down to the wire. I am positive that your spirits will lift substantially when you find yourself on the road. Mind always do.

There's something about a road trip that just makes one breathe easier and begin to contemplate the possibilities rather the obstacles.

I'll be thinking about all four of you and wishing you well as you make your way to your new home in France. You've done such a fine job of clearing the way to your dream trip. Chapeau!

I finally got our fun times post up and hope that you get a chance to read it. Can't wait to hear all about the B&B get-together!

Bon voyage à vous quatre!

Amitiés,

Randal Graves said...

Some people love the existence of the rules more than the spirit of 'em. Good luck with your travels!

1A said...

Yeah, it's always something. Here's hoping for fewer "somethings" along the road ... and a wonderful journey!

islandgirl4ever2 said...

Hey... You're ALMOST here!! Can't wait!! Have a safe trip with all of your stuff and animals...

Bon voyage!

Non Je Ne Regrette Rien said...

I'm so excited to begin following YOUR journey!!! I feel like we are our own little pioneer movement! (you, me and the rest of the gang plotting!)

Bruce Anderson said...

LF - spirits were lifted once we were out of Los Angeles, which only took 3 hours.

RG - so the lady got in at 9:00 (we knew she wouldn't come in at 6:00), but she put the wrong amount in for the rent we were paying and reimbursed us 2 extra days at the higher rent, so we actually made about 600.00 by just sitting around...not bad.

Becky - you must read the next post (I'll be doing it shortly) there were more "somethings"

Bruce Anderson said...

Leesa - we are almost there...can't wait.

jnrr - it's so exciting. I loved hearing about your journey and still do. Glad we are almost there.