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- May 20, 2022, 3:30pm
- ⛅ 79 °F
- Altitude: 69 ft
- United StatesCaliforniaSacramento CountyTown and Country VillageBohemian Park38°37’13” N 121°24’22” W
Landed in Sacramento
May 20, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F
Today was travel day. I woke up at 3 am eastern time to catch my 6 am flight. I had two large rolling suitcases, one for clothing and normal luggage stuff and the other for camping gear. They weighed 42.5 and 48.5 pounds. I brought my gun, so i had to declare a firearm. That went pretty smoothly. They looked at my ID, had me fill out a little card, and walked me across the airport to the security section. The TSA officer asked me if the gun was loaded and where the bullets or magazine was and if the magazine was loaded. I assured him that nothing was loaded, because as he said, "if i find that it is loaded, we're gonna have a problem." He was friendly, not intimidating, and I didn't get arrested.
The flights were great; I changed planes in Houston. The last leg of the trip I had a north facing window seat, and after watching a movie on my laptop, I sat and stared out the window for the last 2.5 hours of the flight. There were no clouds and the topography was amazing. From the plane, I saw buttes, rockies, red rocks, amazing rock formations, sand dunes, desert, snow capped mountains, lakes, rivers and Lake Tahoe. I thought about taking pictures but I didn't because I didn't think the pictures would do it justice and I didn't want to ruin the moment.
It really was the longest morning ever. After being awake 11 hours, I landed at 11 am in Sacramento. I hoisted my checked baggage, all 100 pounds of it, off the carousel, and managed to get both rolling suitcases and my 35 pound backpack to the Lyft. Today is majorly windy in Sacramento. The Lyft driver Chris said that it hasn't been this windy since the fires 4-5 years ago. It was difficult to push the suitcases in the wind, my hair was blowing everywhere in my face... Chris had a Prius so one Suitcase sat in the backseat with me.
Gas prices are $6.40 a gallon here; $5.85 at Costco, the highest in the country.
I had my drop off set for Thai Chef House which is close to my Airbnb. My place wasn't available until 3 pm, and I hadn't eaten all day besides little snack, so I ordered some spring rolls, fried tofu and a Thai iced coffee...all delicious. The Thai people that owned the restaurant were so nice and were asking me all sorts of questions... since I rolled in with 130 lbs of suitcase. They gave me 2 bottles of water and offered no less than five times to drive me 0.6 miles to my place. I needed the exercise, so I walked. But 130 pounds through gusty winds down narrow sidewalks, navigating around homeless people, crossing 5 lane boulevards, then down a street without sidewalks, uphill... is not easy. I walked right down the middle of the street, moving to the side every time a car passed. I found my way to my destination, dropped my luggage and hung my hammock at the Bohemian Park across the street.
The Airbnb cottage is so cute and perfect. It's like a little pre-retreat. The backyard is shady and quaint with beautiful ornamental trees and shrubs. I'm sitting outside in the lounge chair now as I write this. I met Cynthia the owner and Mike who lives here and helps maintain the place. A tree in the back yard blew over today, so he was cutting it down and trimming up the other trees. He's originally from Latvia, been here since 1996 and works nights as a plumber. Everyone here has been so nice.
I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep. It's only 3:30 but I'm going to turn in and will probably be asleep by 6 pm. Matt and Christy (I've changed their names to protect their identity) will be picking me up tomorrow at 11 am. I'm ready and so looking forward to this journey.Read more