Sometimes an idea just sounds like too much fun to give up on. And we did find it!
By the time we were really on the road, Thomas was tired again. :)
Remember how on day 1, we didn't have any cash in the car? Well, we still didn't. And look what is in front of us:
Tolls. Cash only. We exited, planning to find a gas station and use a debit card. Only, there weren't any gas stations. We drove a long way through nowhere without seeing much of anything. Well, we did see one big Shell sign which got our hopes up, but it was a refinery.
So we just kept driving, because what else could we do? Can't get back on the freeway without cash! Eventually we got to the little town of Martinez.
It is actually quite pretty.
Though perhaps not the safest place to be in the event of an earthquake.
We parked in front of a McDonalds. Hurray! Cash! Food! Bathrooms!
Closed???
Folks, this is a little tiny town. Apparently no one gets out on the weekends.
Thankfully, we found an ATM and got our cash.
And we also found a cute little art gallery that wasn't technically open but did have some people working in it. They were very kind and let us use their bathrooms.
According to one of the ladies there, "Martinez isn't the sort of town people visit - they only come here for a reason."
Like needing cash for the toll road. Its only a little out of the way.
2 comments:
Martinez does look like a nice little town! I grew up in the Bay Area and I've never been there. I have heard of it, but I've never gotten off the freeway there. I remember that toll bridge though - I used to run into that no cash problem when I would be going back from my parents' house to college. Over time I found the location of a couple of Wells Fargo ATMs that I would stop at in case of need - and trained myself to look in my wallet before I passed those exits! I often would head back late at night and spent a lot of time wandering empty streets in search of an ATM or an open drugstore or something before I got myself to anticipate my need for cash.
BTW, Matt and I were wondering - do you ever try traveling in the shoulder hours of the day? i.e. leave very early so the kids sleep for part of the trip, or leave in the evening so they're awake at first then fall asleep in the car? We've had a lot of success with that ourselves, although it can make for some rather sleepy parents if the driving gets too late! But it sure beats having to stop every 45 minutes...
Hilarious. You sound amazingly calm for going through all of that with three boys!
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