We drove down to Bakersfield for the oil change at a Valvoline since it was pretty quick and we don't need to get out of the van. While there we needed some additional things done like a tire rotation and such. In the end, after the whole set of services that are done we are there until nearly 11. This works out well because there's also a Checker's here and it's our opportunity to get some more since we don't have any at home. Each time I eat here I'm reminded how much I like and miss their spicy chicken sandwich. We head out towards LA again with our lunch in hand.
The going is relatively smooth and the views are nice until we get into some of the outer reaches of LA and then the traffic starts something terrible. This isn't unusual for those of you that have been here but it's still frustrating and is definitely something that I don't like dealing with. At one point Google Maps has us getting off the highway to drive a couple of blocks on surface streets just to get back on the highway again. It's so painful here. We manage to get to the turn off where we're going to be leaving the highway for good and start exiting. Out of nowhere the car in front of us just slams on their brakes so I do the same. I am standing on them and have to move a little to one side but manage to barely miss the car in front of us. I brace for us to get hit from behind but that car manages to move the other direction and miss us too. After the immediate panic is done, I start looking for the moron that caused this and found him two cars up from the car that we barely missed. Apparently this wasn't the exit they wanted so they just stopped in the middle of the ramp to decide what to do about it. Eventually they decide to drive around the barricade stuff that separates the ramp from the highway to continue on and those of us that have just barely missed catastrophe from this are dumbfounded. When did this become what one does when they think they exited on the wrong place rather than just finding a place to stop on the street at the bottom of the ramp? The person behind us is extra irritated and lays on the horn.
With that near miss behind us, we drive down to attempt to find a plaque that indicates the point where the road started/ended but this area is so full beacuse there's a triathalon, vaccination clinic and public beaches that it's hard to find a place to park and hard to get around in general on the main parts of the road so after a couple of loops we give up and attempt to go find a bathroom for Abby and Court. We eventually find a small mall like area with a Starbucks facing the street and I let them out to try to find something. Eventually they come back from another direction and inform me that they know where the Delta variant was bred but at least they have gone to the bathroom. We keep driving out of LA.
After a long drive through LA we finally start reaching the outskirts again and drive through a bunch more valleys and peaks called the Vasquez Rocks which is an area where a lot of the early westerns out of Hollywood were filmed. After driving through some more small towns and enjoying the views we reach where we've decided to get our dinner for the night, In and Out Burger. This place is packed but as I recall from our last visit to LA, it is always packed. We order the food and head to the hotel for the evening. After eating the food I remember that it's really just kind of okay. I guess I really only go there because I can't get it at home and not because it's awesome. We pack it in for the night after a long day of a lot of driving, distractions and a near miss.