Seen Through Black Eyes

Hey Everybody…this is Darwin and you’re listening to my podcast,” Seen through black eyes”. In this podcast, we intend on building community by discussing personalized travel experiences, both yours and mine, past and future.

Why?

First, I just love talking about travel, and I believe there are many others out there just like me. Second, I believe that traveling with an open mind has the ability to bring history to the present, culture to the forefront, and make you address stereotypes.

If this sounds interesting, subscribe to this podcast. and now…let’s do this.

In April of 2001 a transfer request that put in came through to Charlotte, NC, so I packed my things and shipped them out. My company offered to ship my car but that meant that I would have been without wheels in Charlotte for about two weeks, so I decided to drive it cross country so I would have my car to get around from day-one.

At the same time my ex-wife, who had already moved from California to Ft. Lauderdale, was now moving the rest of her things to the east coast. She was going to have her items shipped and her new boyfriend was going to fly from San Francisco to Miami. Why am I telling you this? I am telling you this because when it came time to by his ticket, he had succumbed to his fear of flying and said that her would drive their things to Ft Lauderdale, FL. You are probably still asking yourself, why am I telling you this.

At this point that my ex-wife asked me how I was getting my car to Charlotte. I said I was driving it. She said, “how about if you drive a fully loaded 24’ U-Haul truck, I will pay for a hitch to tow your car, and I will pay for all the gas.” I thought about it for a day and ultimately, I said sure. She said there was one small catch. The catch was that I would be driving cross country with her new boyfriend....yeah.

Let me tell you a little about her new boyfriend. His name was Ivo, and he was Bulgarian. Here is the best part, was that he spoke very little English.

So, on the day we were to begin our adventure Ivo was to get the U-Haul and pack it up with their stuff. I would come along at a designated time, hook the hitch up, and secure my vehicle to the hitch and off we would go. Well…there was trouble right from the beginning. Ivo’s card was declined for the transaction. His debit card, which he had been relying on for his expenses, had a daily transaction limit of $1000, but the charge was $1800. Ivo was unaware of the daily limit, and he was confused and frustrated when his card was declined several times and now his account is locked. He could not remember some of the security questions and his sign-on credentials…it’s a mess.

I saw that his debit card was issues by Bank of America, and I remembered that there was a branch not too far away by it is Saturday and they will close soon so we hop into my car and hightail it there quickly.

So, a black guy and a Bulgarian (who speaks little English) walk into a US bank…sounds like a joke right?

I know he does not speak much English, but I tell him what he needs to say. So, he reluctantly walks up to the teller but when he gets to the teller, he must have forgotten everything I told him to say, or he never understood from the jump. The confusion on his face was apparent.

How do I know, because he kept looking back at me. Now the teller is looking at me and over at the security guard. I am just thinking to myself, “this is not going to end well”. He is struggling to explain the transaction he wants to execute so against my better judgement I approach the teller and explain what he is trying to do which was pull $1800 from his account.

We get this done but due to the delay in getting it done we have to rush back to the U-Haul rental office because it is Saturday, and they close early as well. We get back to the U-Haul rental office in time and complete the transaction. Now we are hours behind schedule because now Ivo has to go to the storage location and pack the truck.

He had a mate to help him load the truck so I made an executive decision to take the first drive shift, so I went and got about five hours of sleep so I could be somewhat fresh for the drive so I told him when to give me a call (which he did) and then I met back up with him and off we went.

I mapped out a route to Florida via the I-10 or Interstate 10. It would have been easier to catch I-40 in Barstow, CA and drive cross country to Benson, NC, then catch I-95 south to Ft Lauderdale, but I wanted to reduce the possibility of running into any snow events in route.

If you're planning a road trip from California to Florida in early April and want to avoid encountering any snow on your journey, taking I-10 is a better option. The I-10 is a major east-west (in this case west-east) interstate highway that runs from Santa Monica, California, all the way to Jacksonville, Florida, covering a distance of over 2,400 miles.

In early April is after the peak winter months when snowfall is most likely to occur along any of I-10’s northern brethren. Nevertheless, it's important to keep in mind that weather patterns can be unpredictable, so it's always wise to check the forecast before hitting the road.

We took I-580 east, which then veered south until it joined/turned into I-5 south to Santa Monica. This part of the trip was smooth and uneventful. We did not encounter the famed traffic of greater Los Angeles because we passed through it around midnight. Driving along I-10, you'll encounter a diverse range of landscapes, from the deserts of California and Arizona to the Gulf Coast region of Texas and Louisiana. Along the way, you'll pass through a number of interesting cities, including Phoenix, Tucson, San Antonio, Houston, and New Orleans.

But let's take a step back, Interstate 10 in Arizona crosses the state offering a diverse range of breathtaking landscapes. Starting in the west, the highway passes through the Sonoran Desert, where towering saguaro cacti and other desert plants dominate the scenery.

In an effort to save time we rotated between drivers so when I drove he slept when he slept I drove. As we would driving through the Sonora Desert in Arizona, he was driving so I therefore was sleeping. I came to figure out how much of the English Ivo actually knew. What I found out was he knew a lot of curse words. Around 2:00 a.m. I was awakened to a medley of curse words. These words pierced my sleep and in a groggy fashion began to wake up.

I noticed that we were traveling at a slow rate of speed as the cursing continued. So finally I asked “what's going on” and he says no gas. So, I look over at the gas gauge and the light was on and the needle was past zero and I'm like Oh my goodness.

The first thing I do is tell him how about pull off to the side and get off of the road so he does that so I'm thinking what can we do. I take out my phone reception is spotty, but I am able to get through to AAA they say they have no drivers in the area and it will probably be sometime in the morning which is about 7 hours away before they could get anybody to us. But I could check back in an hour to see if anything had changed they were able to reach anybody. As I sai, reception was spotty so when I tried to call back I couldn't get a signal.

So, we're sitting in the middle of the desert on the side of the road not a single vehicle had passed by in an hour so I start brainstorming and then I realize that I have my vehicle hitched up to the back of this U-Haul truck. So, as we were coasting as we ran out of fuel I remember seeing the sign saying that the next exit was 19 Mi away. Now back in California to try to reduce the load on the truck because the truck was filled to the brim I drove my vehicle around as much as possible to burn off as much fuel so there was very little fuel in the tank and I just hope and pray that there was enough that would get me 19 miles to the next stop so I can find a gas station.

So we get out of the vehicle and decide okay it's time to unhitch my vehicle so we can then use my vehicle to go the 19 miles, buy a gas container, fill it up of course, put gas in my car and then drive back because now I have to drive back on the opposite side because there was no crossover the medium option especially for a 1993 Honda Civic and then turn around and come back up behind the vehicle so let's say that would be 40 miles of driving. so as I get out of the vehicle to unhitch it almost like out of a movie scene a comedic movie scene as I'm laying on the floor trying to unhitch my vehicle what do I hear what sounded like wolves in the background.

I'm like this just can't be happening. Anyway I get the vehicle unhitched we drive up to the next exit and everything actually went according to plan we were able to find and buy a gas can, filled it, put gas in my vehicle to make sure we got all the way back to when one run out of gas on the way back put that gallon of gas into the U-Haul truck hitched my vehicle back up to the truck drove to the next to that same exit in gas station and then fill the truck up with gas and then I said, “from this moment forward, we fill the gas tank when it reaches one quarter.

With that adventure behind us, we continue on our journey.

As we moved eastward on the highway, the terrain changed, and the rugged mountain ranges of South Central Arizona come into view, including the Superstition Mountains and the Picacho Peak. Further east, the highway descends into the Gila River Basin, where green valleys and plateaus offer a refreshing contrast to the surrounding desert. Finally, as the highway nears the New Mexico border, the landscape becomes flatter and sparsely vegetated, giving way to wide open spaces and big skies.

As we travel eastward, you'll notice the climate and scenery changing gradually, providing a fascinating and memorable journey. We did not take breaks along the way to enjoy the local attractions or sample some of the regional cuisine because we were on a deadline.

Overall, taking I-10 is an excellent choice for a road trip from California to Florida in early April, offering a safe and scenic journey free from any snow-related concerns.

Driving from west to east on Interstate 10 through Texas non-stop is an experience that offers an unforgettable journey through some of the most diverse landscapes in the United States. Starting from El Paso, which lies on the western edge of Texas, the drive takes you through a vast expanse of arid desert terrain, with the Franklin Mountains on one side and the Chihuahuan Desert on the other. As you leave the city behind, you'll begin to see the jagged peaks of the mountains looming in the distance, their rugged profiles contrasting sharply against the bright blue sky.

As you travel further east, the flat, sandy terrain gives way to rolling hills and grasslands, with ranches and farms dotting the landscape. The scenery is breathtaking, with golden fields of wheat and cotton stretching out to the horizon, and small towns with their quaint shops and restaurants offering a glimpse of life in rural Texas.