The Open Road Song

I believe I mentioned that Chris and I have been sleeping on the floor? Well we have been negotiating whether we should buy a new bed, ship our actual bed, tough it out....etc. We can't afford to move out of where we are living now but we hope to be able to by May. And back home, we have The Best Bed In The World, but it would cost us over $1500 to ship our belongings down here and we don't have any place to put them. We did the math and it would be cheaper to just refurnish a place when we get one then ship and store the few things we still own.

(Sidenote: When Chris lost his job last November, we sold 80% of everything we own. Our little storage has towels, a lamp, a bookcase,books, art supplies and a table. So if I can fit my computer and cooking supplies in my Honda next month, everything is replaceable.)

Our plan was to go to the Ikea in Covina California on the way back and test mattresses. We had an Ikea mattress for Haley when she lived with us and it was very comfortable, it was also inexpensive. The only hitch would be if we could get it in the car. Chris drives a Honda CRZ. It only has 2 seats.Well sleeping on a bed at the Super 8 made the decision for us: we are buying a mattress. In fact I had a prophetic dream that night.... I had a dream that we bought a mattress and couldn't get it AND myself in the car. So Chris dropped me off at LAX and I flew one way to McCarran while the mattress rode shotgun with Chris. I told Chris this when I woke up and we laughed. When I got out of the shower Chris was waiting with a vary serious look on his face.

" Your a genius babe. You can fly on Spirit Airlines for $34."

We went to the Ikea in Sacramento to check out mattresses. We fell in love with the Sultan fjsdkjf. The best thing about memory foam mattresses at Ikea is that they suck all the air out of them and roll them up like little swedish crepes for you. Example:

 That is seriously a full mattress.

And here Chris is after he packed it in the car, explaining just how much larger a queen size mattress would be. And I fit in the car too!

Uncle Jacks wake was great. It was nice to meet a lot of Chris' cousins and put faces to names. But it was a little exhausting to meet so many new people. And so much of the conversation was about the chronic illnesses of his family members (who has had MRI's, CT's, Radiation) and people asking Chris about the details of his job. I can't handle all that right now.

Little Bodhi was wiped out too.

After the wake we went to The Old Spaghetti Factory in Roseville. I had to take this picture, even though Chris gave me the stink eye, because it was just too damn good to pass up.

Granted, Chris is a big dude (or BFG), he looks extra big next to his tiny Aunt Tammy. And the couch. and the delicate little wine glass. And yes, when he saw the pic he laughed and laughed and laughed.

And finally, we decided to take I-5 home instead of hwy 99. It was absolutely beautiful. California, you finally won me over. This route had a lot more agricultural farmland as opposed to the industrial farmland we saw on the way up. And we drove through the Mojave during sunset. Stunning. This is one of those things I'm glad I saw. My cell phone camera couldn't capture the beauty properly but I will leave you with these parting photos and some Open Road Song.

...I crack a window and feel the cool air cleanse my every pore as I pour my poor heart out...

...to a radio song that's patient and willing to listen, my volume drowns it out...

...Yeah but that's okay 'cause I sound better than him anyway, anyday, yeah my voice as sweet as salt...

...I search for comfort and I find it where I found it many times before, but times before can be forgotten...

...my pile shakes as I hit 80 on the open road...

...this is an open road song!...