9-26-2009
We set out this morning from Yreka, smuggling one of the dogs out of the room so as not to have to pay the additional overnight pet fee, which I was overcharged for anyway with the other dog. On our merry way we went, Nikko falling asleep shortly after we filled up the cars and we were making good time. We were about one hour away from Vacaville, the next stop on our journey, when Nikko started stirring, wanting food. So we pulled into a very nice rest area and set up lunch. Peanut butter and jelly on oat-nut bread, soup (-in-hand), hard-boiled (baked, actually) eggs, apples and some cool, fresh water. Nikko loved being under the tree, seeing and hearing new things. The dogs finally had some time to wander, drink water and beg for food. Of course, since they'd rejected their food for the last two days, I handed over two eggs to each of them and they gobbled them up effortlessly. At one point, I had heard a bird, which in and of itself is not unusual, but it was the call itself that struck me. And there, on the barbed wire fence separating a grove of fruit trees from the rest area was a cockatiel! Lucas, on my request, went to offer it the apple core, which it was not up for, and a piece of the bread which it chowed down on rather quickly. I was stunned that someone would just let a bird free like that at a rest stop or that they might have lost it during their trip. I wondered how it would survive, undoubtedly having little to no natural survival instinct left and likely clipped wings. Would a cat or predatory bird take it? What was life like with no one of your kind around? No sooner had I shared my thoughts about this that it came swooping over to us, with its long white wings, and perched itself in the tree that provided us shade in the 107 degree heat. And there it sat, not begging, and looking very healthy, clean, young, and content. I tossed up another piece of bread, or rather bits of a whole piece, then went back to our table, ready to make our way to our next and final stop for the day. On our way to the cars, another group of travelers sat at another table under a tree. They had discovered their own exotic bird in that tree! Amazing! It was a treat indeed. And off we went, knowing that just 70 miles away lay our destination ... just 1h.
As we drove down I-5, Nikko snoozing happily (which makes the chauffeur very happy), I pulled out from behind a big rig to pass him on the left. Suddenly, as though from out of nowhere, is a Toyota 4 Runner going what seemed, and likely was, just 35mph! Outrageous! I luckily had already gotten sufficiently ahead of the big rig to pull in to the right lane, and the Ram250 conversion van behind me lucked out similarly. Unfortunately, Lucas was not nearly as lucky, being pinned in behind this nutcase of a driver, cars behind him and the big rig next to him. His only outlet was the gravel median to his left. But at 80mph this is not the best route. I was in the shoulder by then, watching in horror as his Jeep skidded and fishtailed on the sloped median. His car came close to hitting the nearly 10ft high weeds that separated the northbound from the southbound highway. Thankfully, he managed to avoid a totally disastrous accident, one that would likely have been fatal for the dogs. As he attempted to merge back in to the left lane (he still had decent forward motion), the driver of the 4 Runner stared blankly at him as though he were crazy. Lucas stopped and I had him on the walkie talkie, asking if he were ok. Thank heavens, everything was alright. After a couple of minutes to collect ourselves (mostly myself), we headed on. About a half mile down, there was the woman, pulled over on the left, hunched over the steering wheel. I did call 911 after the initial event and then after seeing that to inform them to send out medical services. I think that the big rig managed to get her to pull over, since, before passing me as I sat on the shoulder, he had witnessed what happened to Lucas and was honking his horn at the woman. Who knows what happened to her in the end. But, Nikko was now thoroughly agitated, and thus began the 10min trips.
Around 2pm everyday, Nikko has his moments. These moments consist of extreme fussiness if his demands (play, food, nap) are not met. Something about going more than 20-30mph and driving on a freeway sets off his "get me the hell out of here" instinct and so the hysteria begins. I tell Lucas over the walkie talkie that I need to take the next exit, not so easy since it's a good 10-15mi between exits in this neck of the woods. Nikko meanwhile takes no consolation in me telling him that we're almost there. Once we get there, the bottle and toys come out and all is quite. This kid makes me look like a loon, insisting that he's crying only to pull over and have him be full of smiles. But the tears on his eyelashes give him away. We calm him down and return to the freeway .... but it happens again. And again, and again. By the time we'd made it the 70mi to the hotel, it'd been three hours since our lovely impromptu picnic. And, of course, by that time, Nikko was asleep in the car. Go figure.
But the night was not awash. Nikko got to play on the jumbo king bed for a couple of hours, we had our dinner and now Nikko is asleep on his lambskin inside the pack n play. What a life. Tomorrow is a day off for us but we'll get to visit with friends!
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