975 miles and 17 hours later, we made it safe and sound to sunny southern California.  We left at 6:15 am and my mom drove until 1:30 pm.  I took over at a gas station and continued the rest of the way until 11:00 pm.  When my dad died, my uncles made the same trip from California to Oregon in 14 hours!  We would have been here earlier, but there were a lot of rest stops and I refused to drive five miles faster than the speed limit.  Maybe I’m getting old, but over the years, I’ve become a lot more laid back.  Why speed and endanger yourself to get to your destination 10 minutes earlier?  I don’t even get annoyed in traffic jams anymore.  Why stress yourself out over things you can’t change?

 

(L) On the road in Oregon.  (R) McKenzie enjoys the view

The view on the open road.

 Still in Oregon.

 

(L) “Oregon thanks you. Come back soon.”  (R) “Welcome to California.”  Why, thank you.

 

It starts to look dry once we hit California.  I made a point to notice where the landscape stops looking like Oregon, and starts looking like California.  It’s somewhere near Yreka, where there are no more lush trees.

Mt. Shasta had some nice trees, though.

Above are typical snacks to keep me awake.  Unfortunately, I didn’t find ANY Icees.

Tonight we’ll be making the drive to Palm Springs to visit my aunt “Nicole” - one of my mom’s four sisters.  I heard plans of visiting a casino, buffets, and shopping.

Whoa, Milan has a lot of pickpockets.  Watch the video and see how many “scatter” when the police come.

I’ve never been pickpocketed in Asia, but from personal experience, watch out for the subways in Athens.  There wasn’t anything in my pocket, but the kid had the audacity to attempt stealing something from the velcro pocket of my board shorts.  VELCRO!  Um, don’t you think I would hear that?  I had to swat his hand away and turned around to ask, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”  He sheepishly pretended not to understand what I was saying.  After I turned my back on him, few seconds later he tried AGAIN!”

Looking back upon it, we (me, Ras, and Ian) were targeted by a gang of pickpockets.  The subway wasn’t that full, but five or six guys got in the subway with us, and jostled us around as if it was a packed train.  I didn’t think about it at the time, but they were just trying to get near us to attempt to pickpocket us.

[Elderly ex-Marine pummels alleged pickpock - MSNBC]

Tonight is my second night back home. The journey here wasn’t too bad. I arrived at Incheon Airport around 8:30 am for my 11:00 am flight.

While walking around, I found the free cell phone battery charger near “J” section. There were a set of instructions in English, but they weren’t very clear. After a few failed attempts at putting the battery in, I finally saw the yellow charging light come on. There was also a way to lock the battery in the box and come back to get it later.

I also noticed at least four couples with “couple shirts” walking around the airport. This was by far the worst.

I then had a stopover at Narita Airport.

After the stopover, it was a direct flight to Portland. I was pretty happy about that because the Seattle Airport is a terrible airport to go through (due to lack of signage and too many shuttles).

I didn’t use the power outlet under the seat like I had hoped. Instead, I watched: Breach (my rating of “A”), Zodiac (B-), The Namesake (A), and Never Been Kissed (C+).

 

For two friends (and Korea alum) who share the same birthday.  She’s kickin’ ass in Vienna.  He’s beachin’ it up in Hawaii. 

Guess where I’m going, and what I’m doing tomorrow???  Here are hints.

 

 

 

I don’t plan on telling my parents until after I get back, but I’m going skydiving!  Hopefully I’ll be back tomorrow telling you how it was.  Oops… I probably jinxed myself, didn’t I?