THE Most Expensive Trip to Vallejo. Ever.

Randy and I wanted to go on a road trip, so we decided to each take a day off from work and head over to Vallejo to go to Six Flags. For weeks, we planned this trip and we were pretty excited.

We left Reno around 6:00. On the way out of town, we stopped off at Boomtown so Randy could show off where he works and introduce me to his co-workers. (Mainly to prove that I existed, and to give his co-workers crap about having to work.)

Then we stopped at Gold Ranch to get gas ($30.00) breakfast ($7.71, Running total: $37.71) and some coffee ($1.50, Running total: $39.21) for the road. And we were off!! We plugged in the iPod, and headed up the summit.

As we neared Truckee, Randy exclaimed, "Oh my God, Ky, is that your car?" I spun around and looked out the back window, and there was smoke and steam spewing from what seemed like every crevice of my car. Shit.

We got the car off the very next exit, which happened to be the same exact exit that Randy took me down when we first met when he gave me my first "tour" of Truckee. Hirschdale Road. The car immediately died. And of course I had visions of when I blew my first car's engine. But we got out of the car, and there was antifreeze all over the road. I did what any insurance agent would do: I called my agent. (I can't be my own agent. I was too upset.) Cheryl gave me a few phone numbers to call and Randy told me he was going for a walk.

He came back a few minutes later with a jug of antifreeze ($10.73, Running total: $49.94). As he walked back to the car, he said, "Screw this. We are going to fill this puppy up, nurse it back to Reno, get in Blanca (his truck) and go to Vallejo!" I jumped up and down in joy and knew that this is the man that I wanted to be stranded on the side of the road with. He carefully poured the precious, costly antifreeze into the radiator. I paused and listened. "Do you hear that?" It sounded like rushing water. I looked down and there was antifreeze everywhere.













Damaging the environment.


Shit. OK, so we weren't going to nurse anything down the hill to Reno. I called a tow company in Reno. "It'll be $209 to tow you back to Reno." I called a tow company in Truckee. "It'll be $150 to tow you into Truckee." I'll take Reno, thank you very much! Tow: $209. Running total: $258.94.

We waited. And waited. And waited some more. It started to snow. On June 6th!!! I started to lose my patience. But the tow truck came and it was one of those cool flat bed ones, so I felt a little better. I like to have my car ride in style.

So, we got back to Reno, bypassing the federal truck check by Boomtown, thank goodness! We took the car to my mechanic, Randy's dad picked us up, dropped us off at Cheryl's so we could borrow their Camry. We got in the car, and were on the road by 10:30. We lost about 3 hours of time, and we were anxious to get going.

"We aren't stopping for anything but pee breaks, so get any food now!" That's my attitude. I have to pee enough as it is with my tiny gerbil bladder, so we can't afford to stop. Luckily we had bought food for the trip: $14.74. Running total: $273.68.

We eventually got to Vallejo and Six Flags without another hitch. We saw four more tow trucks along the way. We were in the park and on our first coaster by 2:00. We were four hours behind schedule, and we were ready to get some coasters in! The tickets for Six Flags: $54.98. Running total: $328.66.

Randy doesn't look so good after riding KONG!

We have a really good time, and I relaxed a bit more after I found out that the problem with the car is the water pump and timing belt (damn timing belts!), which will cost me about $450 to repair. Running total: $778.66.

My main goal was to see the elephants, considering they are my favorite animal, and I always wanted a pet elephant for my backyard. I got to watch Liz, one of the resident elephants get a shower. Which made me thirsty, and I had to have an iced tea, which at Six Flags prices, put me back $4.28. Running total: $782.94.

We also got to see giraffes, penguins, DOLPHINS!, stingrays, a porcupine, butterflies, a white tiger, a lion, a cheetah, and sea lions. It was actually pretty cool.









We wanted to go on a couple of rides that were of course, closed!!


Eventually, we had seen everything we wanted to see, and went back to Medusa, our favorite ride, and rode it a few more times: try 6 more. We had a blast, and eventually, they kicked us out.

We then drove to Sacramento, Randy's old stomping grounds, and ate at Crepeville, which has KILLER crepes! Dinner total: $24.17. Running total: $807.11.

I drove back to Reno slowly but surely and we got back by 11:00. The next morning I put gas in Cheryl's car for her: $50.03.

Grand total: $857.14. THE most expensive trip to Vallejo Ever.