The Long Haul

We left for San Diego on Highway 1. Shel started the drive through Long Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Laguna Beach. On the way, we saw our second $1 Chinese Restaurant. We weren't interested in finding out the details.

The going was really slow, and ate through about half of the time we had given ourselves to reach San Diego. The trip to San Diego was only supposed to take two-and-a-half hours, and we had spent 2 hours doing only half of the trip. Hopefully, the traffic would improve once Laguna Beach and Dana Point gave way to I-5.

We switched drivers, and now Jason found himself 78 miles away from San Diego with just over an hour left to spare. We got more and more nervous as the 8 o'clock deadline for the return of the rental car neared.

As we approached the airport, where we were to return the rental car, we noted that the tank was only half-full. It was 7:57, and the car was due back at 8:00. The car rental company was going to charge us over $6 per gallon to fill up the tank. We pulled into an overcrowded gas station. Jason filled up the tank while Shel got directions from the attendant.

The car rental place was only a block away! We had used up two precious minutes filling up the gas tank. We pulled into the car return area at exactly 8pm. Yay!

The attendant who checked in the car laughed at the thought that a person with the last name of Ford had rented a Chevy. Boy, that joke never does get old, does it?