Response to One Last Piece of Apple Pie

This was it.  We had reached the final leg of our trip.  Ethan and I had driven thousands of miles across the United States and we were almost to the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco.  We left Las Vegas at dawn and drove towards Reno and Lake Tahoe.  What a journey it had been, across dozens of states and regions of the United States.  As we drove through Nevada desert, Ethan and I talked about future road trips we could do, a European trip, maybe one in Asia or Africa.  The future seemed filled with fun road trips with my best friend.

            After a quick stop in Reno, we started into California.  Right as we crossed the state line, I put on Led Zepplin’s Going to California.  It was fitting to say the least.  Unfortunately, we had made a wrong turn after Truckee and somehow ended up on California Route 70.  We had been driving for several hours, through the mountains, when Ethan needed to go to the bathroom.  There as a lone gas station in this small town called Belden.  I pulled in and Ethan ran to the bathroom while I walked into the small shop that accompanied it.  When I entered, there was a strong stench in the corner of the shop and I looked over and saw two ladies talking.  One looked like she just came out of the wild, with a huge backpack and a Bob Marley shirt.  That was where the stench originated.  I went over and started to listen in on their conversation.  Apparently, she was hiking something called the PCT, whatever that meant.  The other lady was driving her pick-up around the United States, just driving and listening to the Rolling Stones.  I didn’t want to intrude anymore than I had, so I left and found Ethan waiting by the car, we had to get to San Francisco. 

            After driving around aimlessly for most of the early afternoon, we eventually found signs that said Marin County and I knew we were going in the right direction. We made our way to CA-1 and drove down it towards the City by the Bay.  The sun was beginning to set as San Francisco finally came into view.  Our destination was in sight!  After days and days of driving we had finally made it, well almost. 

I put on I Left my Heart in San Francisco and we slowly crossed the Golden Gate Bridge as brilliant yellow, orange, red and pink clouds dotted the sky.  The Pacific Ocean was to our right, the City to our right.  Both were bathed in perfect lighting.  The golden bridge looked as if it were going to catch fire in the light.  There could not have been a more perfect way to enter a city.  I looked over at Ethan and he had a tear in his eye as well.  We knew that this was an unforgettable experience that we would look back to in 30 years and think: “Wow”.  What a road trip it had been.