This blog post is my official reminder that 17 hours of driving is too long. We left just before 4 a.m. and got to Modesto just before 9 p.m. That's a long day of driving. Fortunately, we made it here safely, but the trip was not uneventful.

The most unfortunate thing that happened was... well... I fell asleep at the wheel. Or something like it. One of those things that only other people do, and I went and did it. In fact, only an hour before we had seen someone fall asleep at the wheel and spin out of control, fortunately into the median without hitting anything or hurting anyone. There I was, driving along, minding my own business, not a care in the world, listening to music, thinking about something or another, occasionally glancing at my happily sleeping family, and then -- rumble strip. Thank God (literally!) for the rumble strip, which startled me out of my light slumber, at which point I made a safe maneuver back into my lane and counted my blessings (primarily the four that were still safe in the van). We switched drivers at the next rest stop. I'm just thankful that this lesson learned was not a hard one.

Fortunately, I was able to prove my driving skills later that evening, where I successfully managed to eat Nachos Supreme while driving at 70-some mph, mostly thanks to my Mom, who taught me from an early age (by example, in our old Volkswagen bug) how to drive with my knee. :-) Don't worry, I was very careful...

Anyway, we've had a very nice time with our good friends Rob and Nell, who graciously allowed us to sleep in their comfortable bed last night. The weather is beautiful, I feel great, and I'm ready for the trip down to Ventura, which should be a lot more pleasant than yesterday, if only because I can count the hours of driving on two hands.