Tricky Traffic

Tricky Traffic

Actually, Treacherous Traffic might be a more apt title, but since we only saw two accidents on our way home from seeing our son in Los Angeles, and weren’t actually involved, I’ll stick with Tricky.

            Since we’ve moved from the Inland Valley in San Bernardino County in 2010, the number of miles we’ve put on our car has increased exponentially. I won’t go into all the reasons we’ve driven back up to our old stomping grounds, but suffice it to say, each trip was necessary as was yesterday’s jaunt to a different destination.

            Our trip yesterday began on the 5, the longest freeway in California. We drove along the coast, out of San Diego County and into Orange County, then driving farther inland, eventually landing in Los Angeles County. Since Don usually does the lion’s share of driving, I have the option to really observe who and what shares the road with us.

            First the drivers: The cell phone enthusiast who may be either driving fifteen miles under the speed limit or twenty over because their ear is directing their brain; The texter who swerves all over the lane as he/she looks up and down, up and down, checking the text on their phone; The quick-and-constant lane changer who seems to think progress is a ”Z” shaped path which doesn’t need any signals, because after all, isn’t there a 5 second rule about that? And finally in this short list of freeway marauders, the guy whose car is his own personal, mobile boom box.  At that volume, I can almost make out the words but the vibration of the car sort of drowns them out.

            In the “what shared the road” category on this trip, there were several interesting vehicles: The shiniest black and silver Rolls Royce with a grill any self-respecting bug would die to end up on; The cutest, perfect VW van with red and white Hawaiian curtains to match its paint;  a completely restored wine-colored ’39 Chevy coupe, way too many yellow school buses for a Saturday, and two identical pickups traveling together, both loaded unbelievably high and wide with what must have been a whole Bekins Van Line cargo.  The terrible wreck we saw involved a semi and a car which had turned over, backing the freeway up for miles and miles.

            Signs I noticed along the way were the speed limit signs, now the same as

our age, the occasional billboard I would change if I could (Plumbing Utilities Supply) and the license plate I cannot figure out (PBVGLDY).

            We were on the road a total of five hours, and got about twenty-five miles per gallon for the ten gallons we bought at $4.35 a gallon., Definitely worth it, but for our sanity, we’re going on the train next time.