Driving Into The Sun

Driving Into The Sun

 

On the morning of Sep 23rd, I left Redlands, CA for Dallas, TX. Stopped overnight in Albuquerque, NM.

Leaving was hard on many levels. I was leaving with a heavy heart. Leaving with the sense of unaccomplishment. I had meant to do so many things in California and I had gotten almost none of those done. I had gotten stuck in a weird rut and not been able to break free of it. Efforts of renting out a new place were not successful since the price per apartment is so high in Cali. In Santa Monica or Los Angeles area it is much more expensive than Redlands. So moving was not gonna happen. Didn’t get to find a band and play. Kept focusing on the wrong things. Had met a new personal low. Feeling rejected by family really does wonders. This was definitely not the plan but it had become the experience.

On my way out I was playing Unbreakable by Fireflight. Every song meant so much at that point. They all brought hope and feeling of everthing being under God’s control.

As the journey kept moving on, as I kept on driving on, I started feeling better. After all, this is going to be an experience that will hopefully teach me lessons. How to deal with similar situations in the future. How to deal with friends and family. How to have correct expectations. How to not get stuck in a rut while running from one!

Towards the end of the journey, I was so glad to be in Texas. As I entered Texas, the warm sun, the friendly faces, the familiar highway design all invited me home with open arms. It was an amazing feeling to feel like myself again.

Left California!

So after a month of some boring and mostly depressing time, it happened Sunday night that things got to a point where I contemplated leaving at that very second. Well, I won’t go into details of what happened. Suffice it to say that I sort of wore out my welcome without wearing it out with the actual host. Weird situation to be in, really!

So decided to leave on Tuesday. This would give my uncle and aunt time to adjust to the thought of me leaving. But I didn’t tell them until Monday. In case, there wasn’t a hotel available or so.

I had two options, 1) Go to Vegas for 4 nights and leave Sat. morning for Dallas, or 2) Take two days off and just drive straight to Dallas.

Option 1 would have given the oppurtunity to work from the Hotel and save days. But would have cost money. Option 2 would use two vacation days and wouldn’t involve Vegas. In the end, I decided to just drive home. I’d be miserable in Vegas. I wouldn’t go out, or watch any shows, or gamble, etc. I wouldn’t wanna do any of those by myself. Yeah yeah, one is such a lonely number and all that blah blah blah.

So left Tuesday morning for Albuquerque, NM. 10 hours and 48 minutse of drive. Took 12 hours including all stops and such. Left at 6:30am and arrived about 6:30pm. used free points to stay at the Marriott, and left in the morning at 7am. Got to Dallas at 6:30pm. Drove a little faster this time. This leg was supposed to be 10 hours and 40 minutes…. Left Tuesday 23rd, Sep. and arrived on 24th, Sep. by God’s grace.

Last few weeks have been some of the weirdest times. It was really depressing. However, as soon as I entered Texas, I  started feeling better. Even tho, it was in Amarillo that I made my first stop in Texas, and it’s about 5 hours away from Dallas, it felt almost like home. The Texas highway design and the warm sun and welcoming people just all felt so much like home.

It’s great to be back here. Thank God.

So What is The Verdict on California

Well, what is the final verdict? Was is all worth it? Was is Is it still fun? What is the city of Redlands like? How does it compare to a place like Dallas? Dallas, TX is where I started. Well Dallas is the offical address but it’s really Addison. But in broader terms Dallas, to the natives, includes Dallas, Addison, Richardson, Carrollton, Plano, Garland, Frisco, Lewisville, etc…. Especially when out of town. Or when referring to the general location. So how does this place compare? It’s only fair to compare with a known alternative to have a relative judgement so one can understand the unknown in terms of the known. Ok, enough big words.

Dallas, is a so much an unfair comparison. Dallas is a big place. A very big place. Redlands, is a small town. It’s a small enough town to where 5 minutes in one direction will take you to Loma Linda, and 10 in the other to Yucaipa. Then 5 minutes past Loma Linda you see San Bernardino. Saint indeed. It’s the biggest of towns. When lost, one is instructed to look for signs pointing to I-215 towards San Bernardino. Then further out you see Ontario. Going east from Redlands then you have Loma Linda, San Bernardino, Rialto, Ontario. These plus other small towns are all together the Inland Empire.

So the comparison is better between Dallas and Inland Empire.

Again, Dallas is a such a big place. Such a melting pot of people and lifestyles. I didn’t appreciate it enough. Inland Empire pales. It’s sort of a town split along further mini-town lines each with their own rules. Very old. Not polished. Sure it has it’s Smiley Heights area which has the million dollar homes. But that area is one main street and some culdesacs hanging off of it.

In terms of Walmart, there’s only one seen around. There’s a Von’s. There’s a Stater Bro’s everywhere. It’s a little annoying. No decent hair stylists. Meaning known stylists. And such other things.

In so many ways there’s no comparison. It would be comparing apples to oranges. So with appreciating Dallas, we leave this topic for a later post.