1 A Beetle Crawls Across America

May 16, 2006

One week working on the retaining wall with my Guatemalan workers, planting a few vines, installing a timer to water them, and generally fixing up the outside of the house again and I'm finally done. Now begins the drive from Redwood City to North Hampton, NH. The record breaking rainfall should be stopped by the time I get there around Tuesday. The distance is 3,200 miles, and it should take me 5 or 6 days if I drive 500 to 600 miles a day. I don't plan on rushing; I'll stop along the way and enjoy the scenery. I was going to start driving tomorrow at 6 a.m. but I discovered the turning radius on my '73 Super Beetle is not the same in both directions. I went back to to the guys at Donsco who installed a new steering box last week, and they said they could do it first thing in the morning. So maybe I'll leave after that. Now, if I could just figure out where the fuel smell is coming from....

I really haven't had much time off this past week, so I'm kind of tired. So, if I don't leave until Thursday morning, I'll get to do nothing (hopefully) tomorrow, which won't be so bad. I'll just rest, then jog on the trails at Edgewood Park near my house. My driving route will take me through San Francisco, over the Bay Bridge, past Sacramento then up through Donner and Reno. I was planning on getting at least as far as some place called Elko, NV tomorrow, but now we'll just see. Later on I'll go through Denver, Salt Lake City and just south of Chicago.