Trip 1: Off to Sacramento… and SF while I was at it.
Just before Valentine’s Day 2012 (the first I have not had a valentine since I was in junior high) I hit the road to Sacramento. Sacramento ballet was performing Cinderella. This was my first time seeing Cinderella and seeing Sacramento Ballet perform. After the performance we finished the night off with pizza, drinks and going out. I told myself I was going to take class in Sacramento then hit the road home, but the building was locked up when I got there. After some contemplating I decided, off to San Francisco for class that evening. THEN I drove home. And just as I was crossing the line into Humboldt County, my car hit an even 160,000miles. Good thing it is a VW.
Trip 2: the length of California
This trip was mostly for auditions, but turned into an interesting adventure in itself. In total: 1,880 miles, 35 hours on the road, 17 days.
The first day on the road the plan was to drive to the bay area, San Francisco to be exact, so that the following day’s drive to Southern California wouldn’t be so long. I left later in the day and this leg of the trip was uneventful. (Thanks to the PulpMX show for being exactly the length of time from Garberville to SF). Day two was class in the city before hitting the road. Have I mentioned how boring I think the I-5 is? I personally prefer the roads where you actually turn the wheel and maybe even do some shifting. After the minor hiccup of my GPS freezing in the middle of the last of LA traffic, only to find out it was wrong and just get back on the road I made it safe and sound to SoCal. I had a day to relax and let my body not be in a seated, driving position all day. It was Friday, the day before my audition.
Day four was audition day. A Saturday morning drive south to San Diego, only a few nerves getting to me, but mostly calm. Considering I was auditioning. Over all it was a mostly calm and uneventful day. Unexpectedly they told me then and there after class that I was in for the summer program. I thought they usually waited and sent a letter, but I left with the papers in hand. I met with one of my past dance teachers for lunch and a brief walk over the ocean before hitting getting back on the 5.
Sunday day five was a day of rest. I had been sick since before I left, and it ended up lasting through the whole trip, almost 3 weeks of coughing and blowing my nose while on the road… no fun, but I managed to have fun anyway.
Back on the road again, Day 6. It was cold and wet. It was wet and cold enough to be snowing through the Grapevine. Lucky for me, it was wet when I went through but they closed it a little while later. I will say stormy weather makes for interesting and beautiful clouds (and you certainly should NOT be looking at them instead of the road…). I made it safe and sound back in the bay area after traveling through just about every type weather you could think of, sun, clouds, rain, hail and snow…
One week on the road I met up with a friend in San Francisco, but instead of resting or being lazy we found someplace to take a hike. A real hike, 5 miles total and mostly not flat! The next few days were mostly just killing time before another audition in Sacramento. A few days here, a class, some visits with family and all that jazz.
Day ten was the day before the audition and time to hit the road to Sacramento. It was a beautiful day for a drive, the kind where you roll down your windows to get some fresh air. And that’s exactly what I did. Unfortunately my car window decided it was the day it was going to stop working. While down. At about 4:30 on a Friday. I knew it wasn’t getting fixed, but was lucky where I was head had a garage I could park in for a few days and people willing to drive me where I needed to go.
Day 11 another audition. There is something about a room full of girls in black leotards, pink tights and pointe shoes that make me smile. It seems weird that I was the oldest one there, but I was. I left there figuring I got in, hungry and tired, but happy. Monday, day 13, I hit the road again (I-5 and I are becoming friends). Back to the bay area to another place with a garage, and closer to a shop to get my window fixed. I had figured I would be headed home around here, but it turned into another few days of an extended road trip.
Two weeks on the road, I dropped my car at the dealer to fix the window and some other things that had been on the back burner anyway, and spent some time waiting with family. And since I was in the bay area, I borrowed my grandma’s car and headed into San Francisco to see SF Ballet perform Romeo and Juliet. My original plan was to go to see the ballet for the first time ever for my birthday in April, but since I had the opportunity and was just waiting for my car to get fixed I went.
I finally got my car back with a window and other work done. I decided to head back into San Francisco, take class and see a dance documentary that had been recommended to me. It was a fun dance filled evening by myself in San Francisco, it put a smile on my face. Another night in the city another class and then I was on the road home.
And that’s a wrap. I will do a post with photos at a later time when I have better internet service to load them all… until next time, thanks for reading I’m off to the ballet.
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