Stage One: Bakersfield, CA

The objective for today is to escape the gravitational pull of San Francisco. We only need to get a couple hundred miles south and east so that we don't have to deal with the big city traffic on our first full day of travel. This is the only no-nonsense phase of the trip. It's all about getting to Bakersfield.

Once I got to the rental car place I was over-the-moon happy to learn that I'm a Fastbreak member. Thank you, Wifey! The non-member line was 16 people deep. The Fastbreak line? ZERO! Woohoo! To make it even better, Mary, the woman who helped me was borderline too kind. Things are clearly starting out in our favor.

We've got a GMC Yukon XL (call sign: Lil' Bird) for our trip. It's a bigger car than we need but the best option among few others. It's a good thing that we got it too because the bean bag (complete with 2x extra padding) is enormo. It nearly touches the ceiling/roof of the car. Jake job is to keep it down in the middle. We're going to have to do something about this.

We were happy to arrive at the Padre Hotel at about 10:30p. It's a beautiful hotel - probably too nice for a stay as short as ours - and boasts a lively club on the first floor. We were escorted past the line by the valet and quietly proceeded to our rooms to get a few hours sleep before we're off to Flagstaff tomorrow AM.

The day's mission is accomplished!