Reflections on driving for 50 hours

By Stephen Wright. Learn more about Stephen.

April 21, 2006

Well, I made it! After leaving from an Easter dinner with my family
in DC on Sunday night, I left to drive almost 50 hours across the country to
Placerville, Cali. I’m currently sitting at the Ponderosa Resort, where
they have free internet access. I thought that I’d pass along a few
thoughts on the LONG drive:

1. It’s great to be able to sleep in my truck…this enables a person to be
able to simply pull-off anywhere (behind a billboard in Kansas, on a hill in
WV, or on the side of a mountain in NV) and sleep for the night with little
prep needed.

2. US 70 through Kansas is really boring, and the winds make it impossible
for my small-engined truck to use 5th gear.

3. When dealing with 40+ MPH sustained cross-winds, driving in a large
tractor trailer’s blind spot for hours on end (so that they block the wind)
may be the lesser of two evils.

4. 80 West though Utah is beautiful.

5. It’s better to be back in your kayak at the end of the drive, than in
the middle of the drive.

It’s great to be here at the American River. I got to paddle with EJ, Dane,
Jay, Phil, and a few others yesterday, and the hole we played (Maya?) was
SICK! Some of the biggest loops I’ve ever thrown, plus monkeys, supa clean
cartwheels, flip-turn, orbits, etc. This place is beautiful and green
after the long brown desert.

Live from Coloma, CA,

Stephen Wright

Almost there …