Fading Fast in the Fog

Before I fill you in on our day's travel, let me tell you about our night's sleep, or rather the lack thereof. Just before turning in, I went to the car to grab something and right beside me was two teenagers in a older Toyota talking quietly and listening to some music on the radio, subdued enough that I did not even give it much notice. We tucked ourselves in at 10:30 and almost right away the continual talking and walking past our door began. It was only mildly annoying as it was still early and there were a lot of guests at the hotel. The suite above us had a TV going just a bit too loud and the shower kept running. By midnight I was getting a little annoyed as nothing was changing. It was not rowdy, just continual noise, loud enough to keep a light sleeper like me awake.
Then, there was an authoritative voice right outside our window (ground floor) and that prompted me to peek through the window. There were 3 cop cars right there and six cops. Lis was now awake and we heard the entire conversation. It went on for 1 1/2 hours so in a nutshell here it is. A forty something mom was there with her 15 year old son and a girl who I gathered was not with her own family and was homeless or something. The cops were there to inform the mom that the kids were high on crystal meth and were dealing the stuff out of the car. They had told the mother that they did not have a radio in their room so they wanted to sit in the car and listen to their tunes. She was shocked! She was on the verge of getting arrested herself for various offences regarding her responsibilities to the kids and not knowing anything about the girl.
That business finally died down by 4:30am but the TV and the shower every 20 minutes upstairs did not let up. Use your imagination. I certainly did as I lay there fuming in the dark. The management was very apologetic in the morning, but it was not reason enough for a refund, and I agree. They could not have very well chased the cops away. Maybe in Canada, but not here. :-)
The drive through the Mojave Desert was excellent with bright sunny skies and very clean crisp air. The drive from Mojave through Tehachapi and on to Bakersfield is stunning and was a highlight of our trip.
But, then the situation changed and from Bakersfield to Sacramento, where we are now, was gloomy, foggy, dirty, brown, grey, drab, and quite awful. We were on the 99 instead of the I5, almost as fast, but I think more dangerous. The traffic was very heavy all day we hit big delays just outside of Sacramento. A lack of sleep and freeway stress resulted in the title of this blog post.
After being in the car all day except for a brisk 1/2 hour walk in Madera, we asked the desk clerk for a dinner recommendation within walking distance. She pointed us to a new place called the Boston Market. Mmmm. Excellent rotisserie chicken and terrific value.
I had a wonderful visit with a recently widowed retiree at a rest stop this afternoon. We chatted for 20 minutes and I heard his story. Again, fascinating, and we exchanged names. Why is it that everyone we meet is lonely and needs friends so badly? Perhaps God is placing these people in our paths just so we can encourage them. It is happening in such strange ways that it has to be the explanation.
Tomorrow we will head to the Napa valley and then continue north from there.