2/7/99

Mark’s Log: Stardate 19990207

It was a good ten hour drive from my residence in Sunnyvale to the desert. I originally intended to leave much earlier, but as fate would have it, I left at about 5PM. The Sun was setting and I was tired. I wanted to take a nap but there was no time to sleep. A technician from my project had arrived at my house earlier that day so that we could car pool together. Due to the incredible work load of project, we left many hours later than desired.

The driving conditions were good. Heavy ra ins had subsided and there was only the night to contend with. Driving down Highway 5 is probably one of the most boring experiences a person can have in California. My riding partner, Damien Canerot like to listen to Rap music while I like Rhythm and B lues. So for one hour we would listen to his music, then we would trade off. We talked about everything from time travel to junk food.

Arriving at the town, a place I had been to before, I knew what to expect. It had all that a traveler might want. Seven gas stations, complete with minimarkets, a few delapetated grocery stores, and a generic Denney’s.

We arrived at 1AM and I had to keep ringing the door bell to get a person to open the office. This proved to be an interesting experience. A less than pleased woman opened the door. She looked like she had lived a rough life a nd dated one to many trucker. We were quickly informed that there were no reservations for us at this fine establishment. It was the kind of place where the paint was cracking and the central decoration was a free calendar from some auto dealer. A sign behind the desk read, all sales paid in full in advance, no refunds, room previews available upon request. The woman looked at us like we were just out of luck. She waited for us to ask if there were any rooms available. Every time I asked he r a question she would snap back at me as though I had violated some supreme protocol. She reminded me of the Gorn monster from Star Trek. The Gorn was a man shaped creature with a lizard head. I was relieved to get out of the office and out of the re ach of her lizard tongue. What a night. I couldn’t wait to get to the rover test site the next day.

Mark