day nine, santa barbara to las vegas

to get back to riverside to pick up the truck from susan’s house we have to drive through l.a. it’s as if l.a. is as sad to see us go, as we are to leave it. it keeps us trapped in it’s legendary traffic for many hours. one day of this commute is enough to make matt resolve never to live here.

finally we get to susan’s. i’m sad to say goodbye to her. she was a really great friend and the only reason i kept my sanity working at the dentist office. susan’s 4 year old grand daughter is so cute holding the flashlight for us as we strap the car to the trailer and asking us if we need anything else. and susan’s husband is so great to make sure we have the car on securely. he offers some wise words: “if it falls off just keep driving. the insurance you have won’t cover enough for whatever it hits.”

surprisingly, we don’t have any traffic on the way to vegas and we make good time. i actually cry a little bit when i think about what it means to be driving out of riverside in a moving truck with all my possessions in the back and with my brother in the cab instead of my husband. up until now our roadtrip has seemed like a vacation. now the reality sets in that i’m moving.

also along the way i resolve that i will save up and take myself on a vacation every year for my birthday since January 2008 was record-breakingly sucky. plus, i want to travel more. i think if i set aside just $20 a week for a whole year i could take a pretty sweet vacation.

driving into vegas is pretty fun, especially at night. first you drive by the pre-show casinos—terrible’s and whiskey pete’s. then, at still about 20 miles out you can see the beam of light from the luxor. then you crest the hill and all the lights of the sprawling city open up in front of you. there are as many lights as there are possibilities in vegas. vegas, baby. vegas.