Day 2

So the story continues... After a leisurely relaxing time at the Rose Garden Inn we frantically raced around SLO with errands. We lightened our load further by mailing more things to ourselves. We had bagels for breakfast and dropped off a super hero crimefighting kit for scarlet (we forgot to give them one on Monday night). Then we picked up a new way to transport our food goods and headed off again (this time we left around 1PM... getting better!).

Travel was generally off to a slow start as the 46 is a one lane highway and a Monday afternoon is the perfect time for tons of truckers (and one sad man going 55 :( ). Along the path a huge dust storm spun up... to my inexperienced eyes it looked like a small twister. Not knowing how to handle such a beast that was going to cross the highway just as I was I stopped to let it pass by... heedless of it the trucks barreled on through (so I guess it's not a problem, and likely very common). But boy did it freak me out.

After we got to the 5 we raced along at greater than 75 (since that's the actual speed limit I felt inclined to go a bit faster). At that speed we ate up ground and drove a lot further than expected. We passed through Bakersfield, rather than stopping there as we might have. We had dinner in Needles at a Carl's Jr. populated by some of the most unprofessional and incompetent people I've seen working fast food (see how that's saying something). Apparently only two people could be found to work in that one horse town. The first worry came when the couple preceeding us left as we arrived. Next came the patron in the front of the line and the drive thru customer yelling across the counter to each other. With the cashier interjecting and showing that they all knew each other and each others personal lives intimately. I was finally able to order when the cashier confided in me that it was 'just her and the other girl, so it might take a while but we're doing the best we can'. After my order was taken the all proceeded to gab and discuss things, while I waited for our meal to arrive. After being treated to 'Number 44 your order is ready....... Just kidding' a couple of times. We were finally given our food. Only to find about 3/4 of the way through that Kelly's burger was not cooked in the center... at all. Disgusted and certain that any attempt at recompense would be met with 'well I'll have to call my manager' and any number of hours later we'd get coupons for a free meal or something equally inane... we left.

We continued on, I cannot stress how important it is to never stop in Needles. And 60 more miles gets us to Kingman, AZ. So here I sit... in a nice little Holiday Inn with free internet access.