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Notes from the Road

March 4, 2010 by Joy the Baker 142 Comments

Notes from the Road 

This post could also be entitled:  

     Can’t Bake Now… I’m on the I-5.

     Joy the Driver and Lauren the Snack Coordinator

     Joy the Baker eats 6 pounds of Chex Mix between San Francisco and Portland

     or simply… Joy the Baker moves her sister from Los Angeles to Seattle in a Budget moving truck creatively nicknamed Budgie.  

Notes from the Road 

It’s early Tuesday morning.  My Mom makes Lauren pose with her moving truck.  That’s not weird, right?  Not weird at all.  

Notes from the Road 

The I-5 between Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Green, trees, produce and trucks.  

Notes from the Road 

This is a picture of my sister driving.  Let me tell you why this picture is a small miracle.  

Notes from the Road 

See, my sister just learned how to drive last week.  She got her license… last week.  She’s 26.  She was afraid to drive until… last week.  And now… here she is driving a moving truck at 80 miles an hour down the highway.  

I told her to slow down.  I told her to calm down.  I told her that there was no room to screw up.  I don’t think that helped. 

Notes from the Road 

I snapped the picture during the whole 20 minutes that I let my sister drive between Los Angeles and Seattle.  It’s not that she’s a bad driver.  It’s more that I’m kinda a control freak when it comes to things like… my life and living.

 

Notes from the Road 

I may not have let my sister drive, but I sure did let (make) her pump all of the gas.  Not her favorite part.  Fact.  

Notes from the Road 

We stopped at Shasta Lake in Northern California to stand still and look at water and mountains.  

Notes from the Road 

A self portrait seemed like a good idea.  All we got was bush and blurry eyebrows.  

Notes from the Road 

We parked Budgie illegally.  We kinda just stopped her on the side of the road.  That’s cool, right? 

Notes from the Road 

A cool 10 minutes beyond the sunshine of Shasta Lake we hit the snow.  We hit it hard.  Driving through the snow stressed out my Southern California self.  This was deeply disturbing to me.  

Notes from the Road 

Lauren made me pull over so that she could jump around in the snow.  I was still stressed out until I saw her leaping, jumping and eventually falling into the snow.  Cute.  Super cute. 

Notes from the Road 

We finally made it to Seattle.  I’d gone through a Costco size bag of Chex Mix, ungodly amounts of dried apricots… and there’s half of a strawberry cheesecake in the truck that I don’t want to talk about.  

Somewhere just outside of Portland I put my cranky pants on.  I was tired of driving.  I was tired of having to eat Chex Mix to stay awake, and I just wanted to be in the Seattle to drink the cup of coffee that I’d been waiting days and days for. 

We made it.   Thank heavens.  This is the view from my sister’s apartment.  

Notes from the Road 

And then I took my cranky pants off, because I turned around and saw this face.  The darling face of my darling little sister standing in her very first apartment on the very first day in her new city.  I’m lucky to have been able to share this journey with her.  Sisters are friends forever… that’s what we tell each other… because it’s true.  

Notes from the Road 

Then… we unpacked the truck.  It had its obscene moments.

To make up for those obscene moments, my sister bought me a latte and a doughnut from Top Pot.  Holy heck!  This set my world right.  

Sure I drove days and days to help my sister with her big move.  But maybe… a tiny itsy bitsy part of me was in it for the Seattle coffee… I ain’t gonna lie. 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. upload videos

    October 18, 2011 at 3:07 am

    Hi there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Nonetheless, I’m definitely glad I found it and I’ll be bookmarking and checking back often!

    Reply
  2. Amber

    March 18, 2010 at 8:48 pm

    How precious!
    Tell your sis good luck!

    Reply
  3. Elaine

    March 14, 2010 at 1:11 am

    OMG!! You were right up on Capital Hill!!! I go to work right below the Pemco building at the Seattle Times!! I hope you stopped in at the Vivace coffee house near REI or up on Broadway! They’re the BEST!! :)

    Reply
  4. Hettar7

    March 13, 2010 at 6:24 pm

    awww…. that’s so sweet that you have such a good relationship with your sister. I’m glad you got to take the trip with her. But holy heck! A week and she’s driving a big truck on the interstate. Your sister’s got guts. Or she’s just plumb crazy.

    Reply
  5. Lauren

    March 13, 2010 at 12:06 am

    Crazy — my name is also Lauren (obviously) and your sister can’t live more than ten blocks away from me, based on that view. Small world!!

    Reply
  6. Megan Gordon

    March 12, 2010 at 7:22 pm

    What a sweet post, and what a brave sister you have!

    Reply
  7. Sarah

    March 9, 2010 at 12:20 pm

    You must go to Bakery Nouveau in West Seattle. The most amazing baguette you have ever had – promise. Plus the pastries – my fave is the twice-baked almond croissant. And the espresso is great too. You’ll be in baker heaven.

    Also, Verite for cupcakes and more coffee. I mean, you can’t leave your sister in a strange new town with no idea where to get sugar and caffeine, right?

    Reply
  8. Myrnie

    March 8, 2010 at 11:01 pm

    What a fun trip! Top Pot in the break room is the only reason my husband will agree to work on Saturdays. They’re hand forged :)

    Reply
  9. Andrea

    March 8, 2010 at 10:17 pm

    Welcome to OZ

    Reply
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  1. Joy the Baker » Blog Archive » En Route to Seattle says:
    July 18, 2010 at 10:40 pm

    […] Remember that time, earlier this year, when I drove my sister from Los Angeles to Seattle? […]

    Reply

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