By the time we reach San Francisco tomorrow we will have driven 10,000 miles. Pretty impressive, eh? And it only took us 11 weeks! Do you realize that if we had driven straight to California, we could have gone back and forth three times already?
Anyway, we’re still having fun, even though our lives are pretty much up in the air and we don’t know where we’re going to live. No big deal, right? I figure as long as I’m with Eric I could probably live just about anywhere, but the idea is for me to get a good job working in an office, and the bigger the city, the better the jobs. For that reason we will look at bigger cities, rather than smaller towns, to settle. San Francisco is fabulous (we were there on our honeymoon 23 years ago). It is SO much like New York, but I was freezing in June and I’m afraid I’m going to be freezing there this coming week, since it’s the end of October! I really didn’t want to be so far north, but – hey – anything can happen!
We woke up at the crack of dawn this morning (it was still dark out when I got out of the shower), because we had an appointment to be at TED WIENS TIRE & AUTO CENTER in Las Vegas at 7:00am. 
We got there and there was a STARBUCKS right across the street. I knew right then it was going to be a good day! We got drinks and a little something to eat and then went across the street. I sat in their waiting room, which was really nice, and watched their big screen TV, read PEOPLE magazine and wrote out postcards.
Eric went for a test drive with the mechanic and told him what was wrong with the RV, which was that whenever he went 70 mph or faster, the RV shook. It didn't feel like it was going to fall apart, but it was annoying. Eric thought it might be the alignment of the front tires, but it ended up being all in the rear tires, and they were able to fix it in just under 4 hours. We were on the road by 11:00am and made it to Barstow, California for lunch at BUN BOY RESTAURANT, which was a little run down and not the cleanest, but the food was okay.
We got back on the road and made it to Bakersfield, California and A COUNTRY RV PARK in time to have dinner in the RV (leftovers). We watched TV (there’s cable!), and I answered emails and went through all the mail Geri and Larry lugged to Vegas. I felt so bad, because they brought it with their carry-on and it probably weighed 30 pounds. They’ve been getting our mail since we left NY. We changed our address to theirs, and all our mail is being forwarded. They will continue to get our mail until we settle somewhere. It’s been so great having them do that for us, and it’s been a big inconvenience for them, because they’ve also been depositing checks we received, and opening bills to let us know how much to pay. They’re good friends, to say the least!
Speaking of good friends, we are going to see our friend, Jimmy, tomorrow. It’s been a LONG time since he visited NY, and we've never visited him in San Francisco, so we haven’t seen him in a few years. I met him in 1991 when he lived in Manhattan and worked for THEATER WEEK MAGAZINE. We became fast friends and have stayed in touch even though he moved back to San Francisco years ago.
We want to thank all the friends and family who have called and emailed to make sure we were okay and find out what we’re doing next. My parents told me their phone has been ringing off the hook with all their friends and relatives calling, because they thought we were already in San Diego. We feel so lucky to have so many people thinking of us, praying for us, and wishing us the very best.
Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected in any way by the fire. We are praying that the fires are all out soon, so the healing process can begin.