its all happening x2

8am: so i am leaving klamath falls, it is 8am. i have broken my fast and emptied my bowels. i am on the road. i have no passengers lined up, but the world at my fingertips. i am driving and mt. shasta is in front of me, a cargo train is cruising next to me and the oldies station is playing very appropriate music.

i am so happy. it is really starting to set in now this new freedom that i am embarking on. i was nervous yesterday and my shoulder tensed up and caused me pain. it is loose now, even after a not terribly comfortable night in the truck.

the night was okay though. after i left waldo's i just drove up this huge hill into a residential neighborhood and found a relatively level place amongst other cars and houses and just parked. i got out of the fron and into the back. simple as that. shortly after, however, the neighbor came out and was just standing on the curb for a long time and i got nervous, what if he saw me and called the cops or something. but he was just letting his dog run around.

after that, no problems. i used some shirts to cover the back windows so folks cant just look inside and i went to sleep around 9pm. like i said, not terribly comfortable, i tossed and turned for awhile, but i slept most of the night and got up around 6.30. then i got dressed and just left. i thought about walking around the neighborhood i was at but decided against it.

then i got some breakfast and took care of some things, and hit the road. the aforementioned excitement and revelation overtook me and i had to pull over to write this down. i am on my way toward weed, ca now. heading south on 97. my plan is to get to redding, ca today and spend the night there.

10am: now i am in weed california. i crossed the border at 8.45 am and was immediately struck with how much poorer the roads were and about a 40 mile cloud of dust on the horizon. dirty california. i drove for awhile and then got stopped by the fresh fruit patrol, which is something i had forgotten about. when you drive into california you have to do a little mini border check to see if you are transporting any fresh fruits across the border...not entirely sure why, but i asked the lady what the dust cloud was and she said that it was just fog...

i just kept on driving with mt. shasta looming ever closer. and eventually i came to a vista where there were a few other people. one of them asked me to take a group photo of them, i did, and in kind they took one of me as well. thanks!

the vista was beautiful, mt shasta is huge! after about 10 minutes of reading and looking i decided to leave. as i was getting into the truck i remembered! binoculars! i wasnt sure why i brought them, but i did, so i got them out and used them. amazingly i could see climbers on the shasta cinder cone. i kind of wished there was someone there to share it with.

then i got to weed and drove around the old downtown, got lost a bit. i always thought that weed would be much bigger, but it is just another little town. i just got some gas and now i have to jump onto i-5 south to redding.