Sun Run Day 11- Onwards to California
Going into today, I had expected rain based on past experiences. I just never expected to get wet at night, for our team had made sure to check that it was definitely not going to rain, before deciding to camp out on a grassy patch of land. So when I woke up at 2:00 am, head partially in a puddle of cold water, my first thought was the team’s forecast of weather failed. Water dripped down, leaking from the top of the tent in differing places, sometimes fast and furious, other times slow and leisurely, but seeming to surround me.
Like most of the other people on our team, I tried to escape the tent, sleep-deprived and wet. Outside though, were not the thunderous gray clouds I was expecting. It was a clear night, the sky a deep black with a few sprinkling of stars. As it turns out, the weather was perfectly clear. The so-called ‘rain’ that had stricken everyone’s tents was nothing but tenacious water sprinklers doing their job. Given our options, we took it upon ourselves to sleep in the cars instead, where we would be safe from the scorpions, snakes, and deadly sprinklers. In record time, everyone had vacated the bogged-down tents and organized sleeping arrangements in cars amongst ourselves.
In the morning, life proceeded as usual. Array crew got up early, breakfast was made, and the car was charging. Unfortunately one of the fuses on our car broke, which set us back quite a few hours. By the time we took off, it was already a bit past noon.
On the roads, our car met no problems, reaching the border between states in no time. Our team was ready to get to California not only based on the long nights spent planning the route, but also on the fact that many of us had changed wet tennis shoes into flip-flops and sandals, truly fitting for the Californian spirit.
As we headed into California, the sky was azure with white, airy clouds in a variety of fantastical shapes floating around. The Mojave desert we crossed into was a wide expanse of rocky and sandy terrain with mountains and plains. Off into the distance, dust clouds billowed like mini tornados and everything was covered in an illusory haze, looking as if it had come out of a watercolor painting. Throughout our whole drive, the scenery was quite stunning and we even passed by the iconic Ray’s Cafe on Route 66, which has been featured in everything from movies to music videos. Unfortunately, we could not continue down the historic Route 66 after we reached the Cafe because the road ahead was damaged by thunderstorms, causing us to reroute to loop back onto I-40.
Despite the picturesque scenery, our nerves were strung tight, focusing on the blue driver who was battling the intense heat. When we saw the temperature outside reach 108F, we couldn’t help but get worried, constantly checking on the driver through the radio to make sure they were fine. The driver shifts that used to be 3-4 hours were shortened to 2 hours for the sake of safety. Thankfully, our drivers got through the day safely, even going up half a mile in just thirty minutes as we were crossing some mountainous terrain in the desert. Thanks to the efforts of the whole team, we have made great progress today and are set to make Los Angeles tomorrow.