Life returned at about 3.30 am, still nearly 200 miles to go – we decided to stop off at Bill + Meher’s for breakfast. I started driving, + managed about 45 mins before passing the wheel over to Val. It seemed to her that I barely slept at all, but awoke with a jerk at 5.30 to discover that Valo had covered most of what was left – only about 50 miles to go. I took over again a little while later when we stopped to get some gas, + drove to Bill + Meher’s (tho’ Val had to help me with some of the navigation once we were in Hayward – I had forgotten the way.
Arrived a little before 8, + they were very pleased to see us, + gave is breakfast. The morning passed very pleasantly, sitting, talking, drinking tea, playing with the kids. Saleem in particular had grown up some since we had last seen him, + had learnt many new words. And then there was repair work to do, since yesterday Val had had a little accident. A biro in the back pocket of her jeans had flooded, + stained the car seat. We had got as much of it out as we could as soon as we noticed it, using petrol, but still there was a distinct + noticeable stain. Unfortunately, it also resisted Meher’s spot remover. After lunch, we slept – we had intended to leave, + push on with our journey, but Meher persuaded us to stay for the day, especially since there was a party that evening at a friend of theirs. We did compromise tho’, + said we would leave at about 12 that night. A really good sleep, then up + ready for the party. Val borrowed a long skirt from Meher, which made a pleasant change.
The party was a good one, tho’ I have to confess I was really too tired to appreciate it fully. As usual, there were huge quantities of food, + something which somewhat surprised me, a certain amount of booze. Talked with lots of people – they do make an effort to include everyone, even clear outsiders like ourselves. There was some singing (nice) + poetry telling, + finally a singing game which we couldn’t join in with. Then a long, tiring drive to LA – we slept in a rest area just outside.
Apologies for the photo, included merely because Saleem is mentioned, but this is an old photo, from our previous visit. But I am running short of useable photos, so am rather clutching at straws. Nice that we should have received such a warm welcome; I had always thought we – or rather I – had been a bit rude during our stay before.
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