Coast to Coast, Day 1

We left LA from Chris Bowling's house at 9 Am. the sky was clear and i was excited to get on the open road.
My eyes were heavy. But my heart was eager to get on the road. We prayed for safety and put our wheels up. As we headed north though palmdale, the roads were clear and construction traffic was light. We were in route to the Grand Canyon, but the road had another destination.

Chris and i had each bought a couple tubes of pringles chips, and Chris loves to snack on em throughout the day. Every time he opens the container and snacks, i get hungry. so, i have to eat a few chips. so, this continues a few times, and i realize the habit. a few hours later, i get a craving for the chips. i look at Chris, and he's not snacking. Did you eat some pringles? i ask. "no" he replies with a chuckle, and shows me the open container. "i had just opened them to see how strong your cravings were." Funny guy!

Around 11AM, the car began to overheat as we entered the Mojave desert. The engine pinged red and a we lost a lot of coolant. I had prepared for this with extra coolant and water. We had to wait on the side of the freeway for the engine to cool off, and shortly (an hour) get on our way again. apparently that wasn't the problem, because Ferdinand (my taurus) decided to overheat again. and again. and again. It was pull over, cool, refill, repeat. We limped into a little oasis town, Needles, CA, just as the shop was closing. They didn't want to start work on it, but we begged them to run a test to see what the problem was. They checked for a blown head gasket while Chris went to get us some cold drinks. Not a blown head gasket. good. we checked into a cheap -yet clean- hotel for the night. As we asked for a good place to get a cold drink, because we had been sitting in the heat waiting for the car to cool down I said "it sure is hot in this town". To which the Indian manager said, "it is ONLY 112* today. This is cooler than 130!" The heat is downright shocking. We walked to a nearby local mom and pop pizza place, The Rock City Pizza Cafe, and when we were eventually done with beer, hotwings, burgers and pizza, we listlessly checked the thermostat back at the hotel to find the rising temperature at 115 after being down to 108 around dusk. As soon as we made it back to the room, we cranked the AC all the way to max power and immediately fell into an exhausted slumber--only to wake up to our hotel room a frozen meat locker in the morning. I didn't mind. I walked outside at 7 AM to take the car to the Mechanic for a radiator back flush and a new thermostat and found the dry heat clawing at my skin again. It was already 108* degrees. I wonder if it cooled down at all. All in all, spirits are high, and God has been good to us to keep us safe. Praise Him!

Pictures to come later!