Socal to Phila road trip, Day 1....GO!

So I started the day with an appointment to go see my doctor for immunization crap and to go over my blood work. Apparently I'm healthy. Then I went to my friend Shane's shop to get my alternator replaced because it crapped out the day before...luckily...a blessing in disguise. Better to happen while still in town than in the middle of corn country in Illinois, which by the way was THE MOST BORING STATE I drove through, even worse than Texas. More on that later.

Shane's a good guy, got me in and on my way quickly with short notice too...if you need auto repair or maintenance work done, go to him, he is honest and won't rip you off:

Aliso Viejo Auto Service

27802 Aliso Creek Rd #D110
Aliso Viejo, CA‎
(949) 362-1961

Thanks Shane! He also noticed that my tires were bald, so off to Costco I went to get 4 stinking tires. This is becoming expensive real quick...I thought. But, probably a blessing in disguise as well (I heard this term being thrown around by a crackpot psychic on the radio while driving through ohio in the middle of the night).

Anyway I didn't get on the road until almost 1PM!!!! I didn't take any pictures, because, well it's California, you guys can go drive it and be back in a day! Same deal with Arizona, don't be lazy, use those weekends....you get cheap gas in AZ!

There were still lots of SUV's driving fast, probably getting 8mpg, on the highway! The drive ended up being long, with not very much mileage. One interesting thing was I stopped to find food (Subway) in AZ for dinner, but the place I stopped at was closed and it was the only building standing there, so not much ambient light. I looked up at the sky and I could see the slight milkiness of the Milky Way. I thought it was awesome, not only that but you can see lots more stars. I haven't been out in the wilds for a long time and forgot just how pretty the night sky is when not spoiled by city lights. Anyway, I hope to see more of that soon.

I had to stop in Holbrook AZ because I was dead tired. I tried to find a place to stay and found this Teepee motel, you park your car outside your very own WIGWAM, like in that movie CARS...it really exists...apparently one of seven. Unfortunately the wigwams were all booked at 11PM in the middle of the night. TIP OF THE DAY: book your lodgings early in the day so you don't miss out on your teepee!

So I stayed at this budget cheapie motel because everywhere else was either booked solid or only had smoking rooms. So I guess most motels don't wash their pillow cases, because the one I stayed in had stains and smelled like someone's sweaty head after crossing the Az desert! I slept on a plastic bag full of dirty clothes that night because I was too tired and lazy to go unpack my pillow from the car. TIP OF THE DAY: keep your pillow(s) accessible in the car, you never know when you'll be staying in a motel where not washing the pillow cases is COMPANY POLICY!!!!

Stay tuned for more interesting banter AND PICS on my 2nd day travel report! Coming soon to only this blog!