Having just traveled 7,000 miles by plane and automobile,
(no train travel but saw plenty of them), I’d like to share a few experiences
and observations.
The Premise: My
parents-in-law moved from Portland, OR to St. Augustine, FL. They have both
retired from the working world in the Pacific Northwest and are ready to settle
down and relax in the steamy Southeast, (at least they’re close to the beach).
A moving company was hired to pack and transport all but two of their prized
possessions: Art and Ray, two beautiful rescue greyhounds who, I was about to
find out, couldn’t be further apart in personality. Rather than impose the
trauma of flying upon the dogs, it was decided that Dad in-law (I’ll call him
Phil for Father-In-Law) would drive the
dogs between nearly the two furthest points in the contiguous 48 states. His
co-pilot? Moi.
As an aside, let me add that Phil and Millie (as in Mother-In-Law) preceded this trip
by taking a train from said Pacific Northwest to destination Retirement, a trek
totaling 3,000 miles over 3.5 days. After arriving in Jacksonville on Wednesday
morning, Phil boarded a plane that same afternoon to return to Portland so we
could begin The Drive (with all due respect to John Elway, see NFL Playoffs,
Denver-Cleveland circa 1987.) Millie, clearly no fool, stayed behind in Florida
to enjoy a little R&R, and was joined a few days later by her daughter, my dearly
beloved.
In preparation for the trip, I logged on to Alaska Air to
check-in the night before my flight from Boston to Portland. I got an error
message stating I was trying to check in too early. Since it was less than 24
hours before my flight I was suspicious but not too concerned. My newly
Mastered Degree of Library Science wife however took on the challenge and put
her research skills to work. Within about 4 minutes she had uncovered the
problem, in his midst of moving overload, Phil had booked my flight for the wrong day. I was scheduled to arrive
in Portland at about the same time he would have been ending Day 1 of the trip
in Ogden, Utah.
She called Phil, who was traveling by less than high-speed
rail through North Carolina, and was able to stay connected by phone long
enough for him to understand the conflict. He in turn called Alaska Air and got
my flight corrected. First disaster averted.
The following afternoon, I enjoyed an uneventful direct
flight from Boston and arrived in Portland at 8:00pm local time. Wait, did I
say “uneventful”? I guess that would be unfair to the 1st class
cabin crew of Alaska Air. Yes, I flew 1st class for the first time
in about 30 years – my how the other half lives. I didn’t think indulging in
free alcohol would be a good idea the night before a 3,000 mile drive, but the
3-course meal of mixed greens salad, Prosciutto-wrapped Cod with linguine,
followed by scrumptious blueberry cheesecake was definitely worth the extra
bucks. Oh yeah, Phil set this up with his sky miles so technically it didn’t
cost me anything. It will cost us going forward though as I have decided to
never fly less than 1st class again. As I heard a young boy ask his
mother when I was boarding, (1st class boards first folks), “Mommy,
are we second class?” Yes kid, I’m afraid you are…
After arriving in the Portland airport, I searched out
Phil’s gate and waited for his arrival from Jacksonville by way of Detroit.
Sucks to not fly direct, doesn’t it? He looked a little disheveled but none the
worse for wear (he had already traveled 6,000 miles) and we proceeded to exit
the airport for the ride he had arranged with a friend who was also putting us
up overnight at his house. Our ride appeared as scheduled, and on the way to
his house we drove by Phil’s old residence to make sure it hadn’t burned to the
ground since he and Millie left; the closing wasn’t until the next day so there
was a little anxiety about the financial end of this arrangement coming
together successfully. (The house was still there, no sign of any flames, new
or old.) After a quick visit with the evening’s host, we called it a night, and
although we didn’t know it at the time, got the best night’s sleep we were
going to see for the next 3,000 miles.
Day 1: 7am First task – Pick up dogs at boarding kennel. I
was told that Ray will probably bark at me as he doesn’t seem to like tall men.
(This piece of information was shared with me at about 6:55am which was rather
discomforting since it might make this very long trip even longer with a dog
barking at me from the back of a Rav4 for 4 days.) The dogs were released from
the kennel, were excited to see Phil, and jumped into the Rav4, unaware of the
trip ahead of them, poor bastards. (No barking, Ray and I got along swimmingly.
Clearly the “barking trigger” was not height.)
By 7:15 we were headed east out of Portland, a misty
overcast morning which required having the windshield wipers on for about 30
minutes, THE ONLY 30 MINUTES OF LESS THAN SUNNY SKIES FOR THE ENTIRE TRIP!
AMAZING!!
Our goal for Day 1 was to drive 732 miles to a Motel 6 in
Ogden, Utah. No matter what else happened the rest of the trip, the scenery
through Oregon, Idaho and Utah was worth all of it. If you have never seen the
landscape out West, (from a plane doesn’t count) make it a goal in your life.
Nothing puts the human existence into perspective better than being surrounded
by the beauty of mountain vistas which have existed for millions of years and
realizing you are simply a temporary guest on this magnificent planet. Nothing.
And after fawning over the scenery for a few hundred miles,
nothing screeches you back to reality faster than stopping at McDonald’s in
West Overshoe for a #1, that’s a Big Mac, fry and a drink, “Super-Size it
please!”
The scenery was ever-changing but remained stunning right up
until 6:30pm, when we arrived at our goal destination, Motel 6, Ogden Utah.
Ironically, or coincidentally, sometimes I’m not sure which is appropriate, I
took a cross-country vacation as a teenager with my parents and our evening
quarters of choice: Motel 6. Funny how some things stay the same….FOR 35 YEARS.
News flash: Motel 6 sucked then and still sucks now.
We checked-in and entered the room which was not horrible,
but not great. We were booking for 2 adults and 2 dogs so the options were
limited. Phil noticed there was no clock in the room and the only “hygiene
amenities” were two small bars of soap, no shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, etc.
He also noted there was no tissue in the room. (I solved the tissue mystery the
next morning when I discovered Motel 6 had cleverly disguised it as bath
towels.) The dogs settled in nicely into the room but Phil felt we needed to
leave a light on for them. We didn’t have a night light and the first two
options were 200 watt lights facing the beds. Kind of beginning to look like an
“interrogation” situation developing (that’s why they use a bright light, so
you don’t feel relaxed and fall asleep…so I’ve heard.) We compromised on a
portable lamp in the room that we were able to rig under a counter by the sink
and block some of its light with a dog blanket. Second disaster averted. Got a
reasonable night’s sleep but the decline in restful nights was well under way.
Next Up: Day 2
