Monday December 20th
I immediately got lost trying to get out of San Francisco, it was teaming down with rain, so immediately the GPS came to my rescue. Getting out of San Francisco took a good hour or so, and it was already 6:30pm by the time I was on the I5. I set myself a cut off point of about 11pm where I would stop and find a nearby Motel. By 10:45 I pulled of the I5 and found a Motel 6. I was in Lost Hills, California. Still a long way from Phoenix. I lay in bed in room 102 thinking about my (ad)venture. Was it the stupidest thing I had ever done? I could end up on the road for 10 days, no couchsurfing, spending $40 a night on motels, on my own for Christmas, pretty much going out my mind with loneliness. I was effectively living the life of a trucker. Only without the truck. Or a beard. I logged on to couchsurf and sent out a few requests and posted some messages on the Phoenix and Arizona pages.
I watched the weather on TV, and the impending deluge of wet weather from the West Coast was heading inland. I went to bed and set the alarm for 8:30am.
Tuesday December 21st
I got up, showered and checked my messages. There was one message from someone saying they couldn't offer me a place to stay, but there was a Foodie Tuesday meeting going on, where a bunch of people meet up to have dinner. I noted down the address. I munched an apple for breakfast, got in the car, and punched the address into the GPS. I had 526 miles to go. There was no way I could do that in a day. Could I?
I drove. And drove. And drove. I flipped between the radio and my ipod to keep things interesting. I drove. And drove. I stopped for lunch. It was pouring down with rain. It continued to pour with rain. I continued to drive. It continued to rain. Before dark hit I stopped to take in the surrounding desert, and it was spectacular. Then it got dark. Then it stopped raining. Then it got foggy. Then it started raining again. But I was getting closer. The GPS said I would arrive at about 8pm, and I wasn't feeling tired, I was still good to keep going. As I drove through Phoenix to reach Tempe, just a few miles east, the rain stopped. I pulled up outside the Blue Nile Cafe, and walked in. There was no one there. I got online and saw a few other people had posted saying they were going to a bar called Four Peaks, and one guy, James, had left his number. I checked his profile, decided he wasn't a crazy axe murderer and sent him a message. He replied; "yes, here with Matt, also a CSer, corner of bar, black jacket". I ate up, chatted to the (hot) girl working in the cafe, then made my way to the bar. For the first time in the US, my driving license wasn't accepted going into the bar, so I went back to the car to get my passport. Inside, I rang James and met up with them. We chatted for a while, and I thought it suitable to mention I didn't yet actually have anywhere to stay. James immediately said I could stay at his, he has a spare guest room with a bed. He double checked with his housemate, she said fine, and I was sorted. The girl serving us, Renee, turned out to also be on couchsurf, and said she'd be up for hanging out when she wasn't working. I'd arrived in Tempe at 8:30pm with nowhere to stay and no one to hang out with. It had stopped raining, was a comfortable 15 degrees Celsius, and by 10pm I had accommodation and people to hang out with. The difference a day makes. From a lonely Motel 6, to a comfortable Tempe bed. All in a days work. Or drive.
I went to bed with my fingers crossed that the rain would stay away...
The desert view from the I10
The car view from the desert
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