Road trip across America… daily reflections by Ema and Elle.
By Ema ~ I got up and went to get the Uhaul. I left Elle at the house, as Celeste is on her way home and Brandie has taken Destiny to school. I was a little nervous to get the Uhaul, but they hooked it all up for me and I was soon on my way back to begin loading all. It was my first time pulling a trailer and there were all sorts of new sounds to get accustomed to. It feels like I am dragging something, and I suppose I am. I had to begin by unloading Glenn’s old trailer and getting the rest that would not fit last night loading into the Uhaul. I got everything clear that was mine from the storage shed and trailer, as well as the things of mine that Glenn had brought from his home.
Glenn stopped by again to see his mom and when they returned from their outing he brought Elle Boba Pearls. She was excited, as Celeste had introduced their yumminess to her just recently. I ran out of energy, but thankfully all was loaded. We said our goodbyes and took selfies and a roll of Polaroid film with my darling Destiny, her mama and baby brother.
On the way out of town we stopped for dinner at the Natural Cafe here in Santa Maria. I had a vegetarian tamale. It was so good!
When we got back to the van I sat for over an hour trying to decide what to do. There was no camping available around, and no 24hr Walmart’s, so I decided we just needed to just get on the road and would head to the Walmart in Lompoc, which was not 24hrs either, but only closed for a couple hours during the night to clean and stock, so I figured that was the best option to rest for the night. I got us set up under a tree near the back of the lot, but when I got out of the van again there was a very shady guy standing in the next spot over, past the tree. I told Elle to be quiet so he did not know she was in there. The man and I had an intense stare down and then he finally disappeared, but his truck was still there. I decided to move the van, and moved us way across the lot under an even better tree. I could no longer see him and figured we were out of sight and hopefully out of mind. I got Elle re-tucked in bed and went to sit outside under the tree to write this journal. I thought I saw him drive by, but then he seemed to go out of the lot, so I figured that was that. A moment later he was driving across the lot, across the empty parking spots, straight towards us. When he reached us he slowed, turned to face me parallel, and gave me another one of his intense stares. As soon as he had driven off again I woke Elle from her sleep. I got Elle to pull the shades out of the windows without having to open anymore doors than the back end and got them into the back of the van. I only wanted to have one door open at a time, so from there went up front and got her seat clear. I told her to crawl up into the front, but not get out of the van. She asked a moment upon coming out of her sleep what was happening, but when I just restated the directions for her to follow she went into action. I was very proud of her. We went to a gas station near by to figure out where to go now and amazingly he was there. I did not even stop, but rather just continued through the parking lot, and exited again. We went to a hotel that was well lit and sat in their drive through check-in space at the front door while I got the address to Joshua tree. I figured we would at least get out of that area and I would find something along the way for us to stop and rest at. Strangely enough a cop began to follow me when I pulled out of the hotel. He followed us all the way through town until I got onto the freeway. I guess it was a blessing and our escort out of town. The fog got bad on the windy roads of the Hwy 1. I finally found a place and stopped at a vista point where there were others parked and no, no over night parking signs. I think we shall wake to the ocean. The moon is full tonight, but it is too foggy to see anything. It’s almost 1am. I need to rest soon.
By Elle ~ Today I awoke to the mutters of sissy and the other guy. They were talking about the trailer. I was tired and honestly didn’t want to get up, but finally got the energy to get up and start my day. Once inside sissy informed me that I would have to hurry and get ready as we would soon be driving to get the trailer, so I would have to hurry up and take a shower, brush my teeth, etc. I started after a few snacks. Once finished I put my hair in a ponytail and got ready. That’s when Ema told me Celeste would be coming back and I had to stay there, so the house will be unlocked for her she arrived. She told me this would be good so I could catch up on journaling, so I agreed and got my supplies. I’m headed off to journal, I thought, but I forgot I had dirty clothes in my hands, so I ran back to the car and put them in the dirty clothes. That was when I was really ready and I started my journal, but before Celeste got back sissy came in and seemed to be very excited as she had got the trailer, so I came out to check it out. It looked small at first, but I figured it would work. Sissy started loading and I helped her out by carrying light boxes and extras or taping boxes and putting hangers away, but soon Celeste came back, and it was not long before Celeste and Glenn headed to Michael’s to get shells, starfish, and popping pearls for me. Once we were all packed up we took some Polaroids and headed off. We went to the Natural Café in Santa Maria. I had their kiddy pizza and sparkling apple juice, Plus some cheesecake. When we finished we decided to sit in the parking lot looking for a place to stay tonight. After a really long time searching sissy just decided we would go to Walmart parking lot even though they weren’t open 24 hours. We decided it was our best option and headed towards there. When we got there and I did journaling as I am very behind and started laying down to go to sleep. Sissy told me to be quiet as there was a sketchy man outside. She mentioned he disappeared, but I didn’t think much of it and went to bed. Soon sissy decided it was best to move across the parking lot where she couldn’t see his truck anymore. I went to sleep but not for long because soon sissy was waking me up and telling me I needed to take the shades out. I was curious and asked why, but by the tone of her voice I knew she was serious and jumped up to do what she asked. We quickly left the area and headed to gas station. She told me there was that man, and he was driving up around us and wouldn’t leave us alone, so we had to leave. When we found the gas station sissy freaked out and said that his truck was in the gas station we were going to, so we went to a hotel and sat in the check in area while we searched for a place so we can get out of this town as quickly as possible. We drove for a while and found a place, so I an finally go to sleep. Good night.
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