Life - Traveling

Yesterday (Wednesday the 25th) was my last day in California on this trip.

I went for a ride, a pseudo recovery one after my Palomar ride the prior day. I got about a hundred yards down the road and seriously contemplated turning around. But with the sun shining (albeit with an extremely chilly breeze), I decided to keep going.

It took me an hour to warm up, literally and figuratively. I think it helped that I had turned around and the wind was behind my back. I had the GoPro but only captured a second here, a second there. The battery life in the thing is frankly terrible (45 minutes? Less than the memory, that's for sure) and since I couldn't tell if it was recording (no easy to see indicators), I couldn't verify that I was recording (or not).

I got home and spent some time bonding with one of the two kids. Both of them realized that I was leaving, but they're also young enough not to be able to express it. This meant both of them acted a little differently, one quieter than normal, one louder than normal. They're both terribly affectionate kids though, and it make it kind of easy for me to sit on the couch and watch TV (not Clone Wars, surprisingly) instead of doing laundry and packing my bike.

With a 7 PM pick up scheduled (shuttle to the airport), I only started the laundry at about 5, packing my bike at about 5:45. I got a bit stressed at the end, all my fault I know, but the bike was packed quickly (20 minutes?). I checked the dryer every few minutes and took out the dry stuff and jammed it in my bag.

The shuttle came and it was a Town Car (!). So I felt like a big shot. Too much of a big shot. I asked the driver if I could sit in front, because, well, it'd be weird sitting in back.

Plus the guy had a detachable steering wheel in the trunk off of his Integra.

The 35 minute drive went by quickly, chatting about the area, cars, and bikes. Apparently he spent much of the day (from 4 AM!) picking up folks with bikes who had come out to the area to watch The Race. He seemed perfectly alert though, and I got to the airport in plenty of time.

I found my gate, and with my cough still around, took my second last swig of Nyquil before I boarded the plane. The stress of the day, the fatigue from the riding, and the aforementioned Nyquil made me so drowsy I literally couldn't open my eyes for the take off (and I had a window seat). I listened instead, hearing the different pitches of engine noise as the plane accelerated, took off, turned, then throttled back.

I woke up over Pennsylvania, about an hour before we landed. I had to take my last bit of Nyquil to avoid coughing up a lung, and I managed to control my leg/feet discomfort until we landed.

Now just one more leg and I'll be at home. And then... well, I have a lot of things I have to get done.

Sigh.