Lay off the whiskey and let that cocaine be

Today's Mileage: 250. Caffeine units: 44 oz Diet Pepsi. Enormous burritos: 0.5. Total trip iPod usage: 350 songs out of 850. Nerdy medical school audio lectures: 16.

Okay, so this post is about 12 hours late, mainly due to finicky internet access. I woke up upside-down in my bed in Reno and took that as a sign to get the hell out of there ASAP. I loaded the car, checked out, and noted that daylight did NOT do wonders for the super-sketchy people that seem to populate the area, whether employed or not.

Soon I was back on I-80 and the second I crossed into California (see good sign pic), the terrain just beautified as if by magic. Pine trees galore over a very arid brown, mountains. The highway quality, on the other hand, gave me flashbacks to Pennsylvania. The road bed was disintegrating and needed some serious TLC. The vibe got tossed around in the right lane, so I decided to commit the sin of traveling in the passing lane.

The ascents and descents in the Sierras were intense. One minute a sign would shout out "Elev. 6000 ft." and two minutes later another would shout "Elev. 2000 ft."

Outside of Sacramento, where the highways suddenly expanded from 4 lanes to 8, I took a detour to Folsom Prison (this one's for Lee "The Man in Black" Smith). On the way I saw the sweetest caramel-colored Mustang, driven by rather hot guy. I digress. Perhaps when the prison was first built, there was nothing around but a beautiful lake and dam, but the prison is presently surrounded by suburban sprawl with a central zone of "historic Folsom." The only parts of the prison visible to the visitor where the outside walls and one of the gates. There were numerous signs forbidding visitors to pass a certain point. I forgot my wallet in the car and was too lazy to go procure the $2 fee for the museum. I did see two beautiful, enormous birds soar above my head, but I am not the greatest bird-watcher to be able to identify them from their undersides.

Back on the road, US-50 this time--an 8-lane beauty that courses along the southern side of Sacramento (I-80 is to the north)--I headed for SF. Back on I-80, I stopped in Vacaville for a giant burrito and took half in a doggy bag for dinner.

Forty minutes later, I was crossing from Oakland into San Francisco, and the skies were clear blue. I made it to my apartment, unpacked, and started cleaning--the construction dust layered all the surfaces. I hit up the local "made in China" store for my cleaning supplies and random house gear. Otis stopped by after a trip to the local home brew store (he's kegging his latest batch today) and ate my burrito.

I met Otis and Elle for beers near Alamo Square (their 'hood), riding my Fuji Thrill there and back, helmet and flashing light attached to my rear pocket. Otis bought me some pizza before I came home and passed out. From exhaustion. From exhaustion, really.

This will not be the end of my blog, superfans, but I'll try to keep to interesting things, not the mundane! Apartment pictures to come.