THE TRIP: DAY 18

Asleep at 4am, awake by 9. I sent some e-mails this morning to ensure my meeting with Tarentel is scheduled in San Francisco. When Matt awoke we decided to go out for breakfast. The first place we tried had a 10-15 minute wait, which we decided was too long. Matt called Adrienne to find out where we should go. She said, “If you don’t go to Millie’s you won’t be happy.” We scoffed at her remark and chose instead to eat at a vegetarian joint called The Garland. At The Garland, we were not happy.

Matt had work to do, so I took care of errands that required addressing. I stopped at FedEx and sent my steer skull home. I reveled in and relished the opportunity to once again breathe freely in my car. I shipped the thing to my father’s office, and told him I didn’t care where he stored it, as long as it’s not in my car. I’ll have to have it hosed down and probably bleached once I get home before it’s satisfactory for wall-hanging. This is the price you pay for buying a dirty skull from Mexico on the side of the road.

I dropped the car off to be serviced. They told me it would take two hours, so I walked down the block to a mall. I ate a candy bar and drank coffee. I sat around making phone calls and sending text messages. After two hours I returned, and the car was not ready. They said another hour. I drank more coffee, picked up the local newspaper and filled out the crossword puzzle. The rear parking lot had a decent view, so I sat out in the sun. Eventually I was able to leave.

It was 5pm. Matt was at class. I was told to take Speedway Blvd. west as far as it goes. I did. Once outside the city limits, I began to ascend into the mountains. The roads that snake through the cliffs are deathly narrow and winding. There are scenic points where you can park and look out in either direction forever. The sky was nearly without clouds. It was 103 degrees. I decided to forge a path up the side of a particular peak and made my way to the top. I kept my head down and tried not to think about scorpions, rattlesnakes, tarantulas or anything else that may be resting in the brush. At the apex, it was infinitely silent and as perfect a moment as I have experienced to this point in my trip.

Photos: one , two , three , four , five , six , seven , eight , nine .

I continued one another few miles before turning around and driving home. Like seemingly every story, once you reach the climax nothing exciting occurs and everything ends rather quickly.

DESCEND WITH CALEXICO (2 minutes)

When Matt got home from class, we decided to stop for a sandwich and then drop by Mike and Matt’s place. We went to Cheba Hut and sat for a few minutes before taking off for their apartment. For those of you who don’t know, Matt and Mike we’re Matt’s roommates last year. Surely you remember this story from my trip to Tucson last summer:

“… They’re alcoholics. Very violent and aggressive. But more on that later. For now we hung around the apartment drinking and playing XBox until it was time to hit up Maloney’s, the popular bar for college kids at UA.

The place was packed and not much breathing room was available. We hung out for awhile, lost track of Matt and Mike who were completely drunk and crazy, so Matt [Galanty], Chris, Vic and I went across the street to The Shanty where it was more low key and we could get a table. We talked about Mike and Matt, and Galanty told stories of the trouble they’ve gotten into so far this year. When it came time for last call, we went back across the street to meet up with the kids. Galanty warned me, “They won’t come out for awhile. They’re always the last ones out of the club. They get escorted out by the bouncers and then they’ll pick a fight. We’re going to be here for a while.” I laughed, but I had no idea that he was going to be fully accurate.

When we found Matt and Mike they decided they wanted hot dogs. We stood in line on the sidewalk in front of Maloney’s, where we were talking with a few other kids. Suddenly Matt said something to one of the guys about pissing on his face, and before we knew it they were exchanging words. Galanty accurately predicted what would then occur: “Here’s where Matt says something and Mike gets that look in his eye… Here’s when they stand toe to toe for about five minutes… Notice how neither Matt nor Mike want to make the first move because they know if the cops show up they don’t want to be the ones who started it… Watch how they back off a few times and then come right back face to face…” After about 10 minutes someone pushed Mike and the fight broke out- it wasn’t that pretty for Matt and Mike but they got a couple good shots in before the entire crew at Maloney’s and O’Malley’s came and tackled everybody. The cops showed up but nothing happened.”

Only Mike was at the apartment tonight. He was trying to eat (he’s been sick vomiting for like, two weeks and isn’t sure why), and drinking. We watched an episode of Seinfeld and he told us a story about how he got fired from his job for going to Vegas for four days without permission, then coming back and going to Vegas again for eight days without permission. The second time around, he didn’t expect to stay so long but he only bought a one-way plane ticket and didn’t have the money to get home. We were there for maybe an hour before we decided to leave. Matt never showed up, he had gone to some girl’s house to get high. Mike said they might stop by, but then he decided he wanted to go to Maloney’s to hang out with a girl he’s been seeing. I can only imagine how his night went.