Comedy of Errors

We have arrived in Santa Barbara and I sincerely hope that our departure for Prague later this month goes more smoothly than the trip today did!  I thought I would remember it all, but I think I've lost bits by now, some 12 hours after the chaotic start to our trip.
 

Remember how easy it was to go on a trip in the days before we all had "gadgets."  For me, now leaving involves:  a camera, a cell phone, an iTouch, a GPS, and my Kindle.  Each has a different cord.  I started putting the cords in plastic baggies to put in the glove compartment to avoid cord tangle.  But we now rent a car to drive to Santa Barbara and so we had to make sure we transferred the proper cords.

We finally got the car all packed and Walt said he needed to pass by the Verizon store because his phone would not come to life.  We drove to the store and I must have waited in the car at least 30 minutes while the fix-it guy tried (unsuccessfully) to fix it.

While I was waiting, I tried to find the spot in the car where I could plug in the iTouch and I swear we got a car without one.  I was a little bummed about that, but decided that if worse came to worse I could always listen to the iTouch with my earphones.  Which I had left at home.

Walt finally returned with the sad news that they had decided to order a new phone for him.  In the meantime the guy reactivated Walt's old flip phone.  Which was at home.

So we returned home, I got the earphones (even though Walt found the plug in slot for me in the car after all) while Walt was trying to find his old phone and his old charger.  We finally left the house again.

We had gone half a block before Walt decided he wasn't 100% certain he had locked the front door, so we returned to check (he had).

We finally got on the road 2 hours after the time we expected to.  

We were an hour or so down the road before I decided to charge my cell phone, which was at about 50%.  That's when I discovered that instead of bringing the cell phone charger, I had brought the Kindle charger (which I didn't need because I had fully charged the Kindle last night).  I knew I could charge it with the charger Walt had brought for his old phone, but it would need to be plugged into a wall socket rather than the car, which meant I had to be frugal in my use of the phone on our travels.

On our way to San Jose and from there south to Santa Barbara, Walt got so involved in listening to Says You on the iTouch that he missed a turn and we ended up heading back to San Francisco.  We had to find out where to turn around and how to find the freeway heading south again.

(you should never let old people travel alone, I've decided!!!)

Finally on the right road, we stopped for lunch at McDonald's.  I got a second cup of water to bring in the car with me and ended up falling asleep while drinking it and pouring it into the side pocked in my door where I had stored my cell phone, the Kindle, and my camera.  I was VERY lucky.  Everything had water on it, but there appears to have been no damage.

We stopped in Gilroy, which I LOVE to do at this time of year because they have gorgeous Bing cherries for sale.  We always stop at our favorite cherry stand.

We continued on to Paso Robles, where we got gas and changed drivers, since Walt was getting sleepy.  While he was filling the gas tank, I got a bit of local color watching the police questioning a guy they had in handcuffs.

I drove for a bit, but when I started drifting into the next lane because I was falling asleep, Walt announced he had taken a nap and could handle the drive into Santa Barbara, which he did.

It was about 9 when we got here, too late to see the grandkids, so we just came directly to Alice & Joe's house.

We are all zonked and hope to get a good sleep tonight.  I will miss Polly curled up on my back, though.  At least we arrived safely despite our many delays, my cell phone is charged and I don't even need my cane tonight.  Life is good.