| The Last Bit |
[Dec. 10th, 2009|04:46 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | some Service Plaza | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  anxious | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Christmas Classics & Zsofi | ] |
I once regaled a story about a traveler who was calm and unaffected when most other travlers were incredibly upset over something like flights being delayed. When asked his secret, he explained that he'd been held prisoner and tortured in some central American country once during a border crossing, and everything since has seemed mild.
I expressed the wish of achieving that level of peace, without the grueling experience. I think I got the former, and not the latter.
I think every move and every trip will seem easy compared to this. It has been a steady increment of psychological challenges.
Rented the trailer on Saturday, helped Kevin move. The start of that involved turning my truck and trailer around in a residential street. I didn't want to disconnect the hitch, and his street was too blocked by people parking on it, and the tiny turn-around circle to get 15' of truck plus 12' & hitch worth of trailer around in it. So, I ended up making a million-point turn using a few driveways and did it.
Then we loaded it up. Then it started raining and I had to drive that to my place.
Then we unloaded and loaded it again. Sunday I set out, it was much heavier and I was constantly concerned about the wheelsa clipping the edge of something. I didn't want to drive in the dark, so when it got late, I pulled over at the first pet-friendly hotel I saw. Due to darkness and strange layout, what I thought was a back entrance turned out to be a dirt road to nowhere. So I had to follow it and turn around in a camp ground.
I was starting to get the confidence that the trailer wasn't going to fall off. The rrst of that came the next day. I was in Yemasse, SC, and it was 'by Googlemaps' a 13 hour drive to Vicki & Bard's. So I set out at 6am.
At Noon, it was an 8 hour drive still; at 4, it was a 6 hour drive; at 9, a 3 hour drive, at midnight, an hour and a half. I got there at 3:30 am. I got lost four times. I was on surface streets, trying to turn around from accidentally getting shunted on 495 when I was trying to stay on 95. Then, wandering downtown White Plains, another time, took an exit early. The last leg involved a lot of hills, which were pretty frightening in the dark. In total, awake for 23 hours and driving 21 of them.
The day's break was much needed. Then, this morning, the snow hit. 7 inches, and I get to try reversing the trailer, and hills, with snow-slush and traffic. Also, one of the highways through NYC, with traffic.
Got lost again, missed the 87 exit and ended up in New Jersey. Got into a huge parking lot, and what I thought was a decent exit turned oiut not to be, no acceleration zone, and never enough space in the oncoming to jump out and be instantly doing 50 mph. Eventually apologized to everyone lining up behind me, got them to move back so I could push back, then I parked and went scouting to find a way out of the Mall and onto the highway. Found one.
Took it, and then followed 87 to 90. While wide and flat, it was also wet, foggy and involved mountains. I tried to keep ahead of the storm. First it was wet, then dry, then windy, then raining and windy, then raining and slowly. Eight hours by google from White Plains to Buffalo. Left at 10:30am, at Midnight I'm 30 miles from Buffalo Niagra, and I stopped, and the weather just keeps getting worse.
And it'll be worse tomorrow, and worse the day after, and it never ends. I have to go on, and I can't. There's no place to sleep here. Bombay hides in her carrier, Zsofi has fussed so much she's rubbed all the fur off her nose so much it's bloody. I was talking with a trucker and he told me he was done for the night, his rig was being blown onto the shoulder. He'd seen my trailer and thought it wise I'd pulled off.
It's 30 miles to the border, then customs, then two hours to Toronto, and that's with freezing rain. I'm exhausted. It'll be light soon, but that's when the Lake effects snow is to start.
I have to do this, and I'm shot. It's been so many hours of feeling I was on the verge of a wreck every single minute. The weather channel is saying it's whiteout conditions now, and I shouldn't travel it. This is worse than a couple hours ago. It'll be even worse later. Blizzards are west of Detroit and moving east. The rigs are cutting a path, the trailer is heavy enough the truck's rear wheels push just fine. Steering and stopping is the issue, less traffic would help, and there will be more of that later too.
I want to be in a hotel, but I'm afraid to pull off at a random exit. I really want it to be done.
Otherwise, when Chickitas aren't bitchin' at me for blocking their way and making them late, or Beamers cutting me off on a downhill and the driver giving the finger, it's been fun. I might get a trailer, just a smaller one. |
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