And I’m off!

So I finally leave San Francisco and get underway at 3:30 pm, Wednesday, September 14. Why so late? Well, I only got the go signal from work that I was good to go at around 11:00 am. Then as I was loading the car, what do I see? A two-inch crack on my windshield!! Geez. How did that happen? It wasn’t there last night when I got back from sushi dinner with Arnie (the new Director of Development @ eBay: Congratulations again and thanks for dinner, even though it was *I* who lost credit card roulette) and the gang. So now I had to figure out whether it was safe to drive or if the crack would get worse.

Then Rob from New York calls. He’s in town just for the day, so I have lunch with him at El Toro (Jon’s favorite Mexican place in SF) and then head to the dealership to have my windshield checked. No help there. “it might be safe, it might not be safe.” Wow. Thanks for that insight. So I take off anyway, figuring I can get it fixed somewhere along my trip. I hit the bay bridge almost 4 o’clock, of course hitting the afternoon traffic on I-80. Ugh.

6 hours non-stop later, I’m in Klamath Falls, Oregon where I check in at the totally appropriate Maverick Motel. After a bucket of chicken wings (they only had appetizers available at 9:30 pm at the restaurant next door) and a couple of microbrews for dinner, the first day of the adventure is over.