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I drove through L.A. once. On I-5 heading south. Camped in Joshua Tree. Woke up at 5 a.m. and headed east. Left Seattle in June with a U-Haul with all my belongs. Stopped in San Francisco and left everything in storage. Drove through Phoenix at 125 degrees. Walked around K-Mart just to enjoy some AC. Made El Paso by nightfall planning to camp for the night. But decided to drive straight through. Flash floods, couldn’t see the road. Drove through all of Texas as a sheet of water. People said I didn’t miss much. Got so tired I rolled down the window, let the water and cold slap me awake. Listening to Mexican radio. Talk radio about a pigeon shoot in a stadium. Finally pulled over around 5 a.m. somewhere around San Antonio and slept for a few hours. Two kids asleep in the front seat. All we could fit of our belongings in the back seat and trunk. Sharp knife under the seat for protection, or necessity. Woke up and headed for the final stretch. Made it into Louisiana and drove across that swamp all day, made it to New Orleans just as it was getting dark on a hot July night.
