Super Epic - Super Pacific Road Trip - Day One: Where's The Money?

See ya later, San Francisco! I'll return if ever I can afford to kick it on Billionaires' Row.

Our main task yesterday was retrieving our truck which was shipped out to a friend-of-a-friend in Napa a week earlier. It would have been nice to have had it in San Francisco, but when I inquired with Parc 55 about vehicle security in their parking garage, they said there was a 50/50 chance it would get broken into.

So, Uber it is.

Now, you may be wondering what we were doing in Zombie Land to begin with, so I'll tell you.

KEHINDE WILEY!

Julia turned me on to this artist years ago, and I fell in love when I saw his portrait of LL Cool J at the Smithsonian a while back.

His work is fantastic.

The point of starting in San Francisco was his new exhibit, An Archeology of Silence, at the de Young Museum. I knew it would be good, but it was so, so, so, soooooooooo much better than I anticipated.

These pictures do not do justice. The scale of his work alone is incredible, but the level of detail at that scale is almost other-worldly. With most artists, I can understand how they do what they do.

Not Wiley.

His work is so perfect and precise that I can't wrap my head around how he does it.

This exhibit has been added to the permanent collection, so if you find yourself out there, it's worth the visit. And if you have any idea how they got the 30' tall bronze horse into the museum on the 2nd floor, I'm all ears.

The museum was great, but things started to get sideways upon leaving.

After collecting our bags at the hotel, the next stop was in Pineola to pick up a Land Cruiser rack for a friend I was to bring back to NC.

Somehow, we missed that the eight-foot rack wouldn't fit in the 6-foot bed of my truck, much less the Uber that would be required to get it from Pineola to Napa, so the first mission ended in total failure.

But at least it could be shipped.

Two hours later, we picked up the truck without issue, and though it would have been nice to hang out in Napa for a couple of hours, we needed to get to Mendocino.

On the drive to Jenner, where we planned to pick up the Pacific Coast Highway and head north, I ran through some mental checklists, ensuring we had everything we were supposed to have.

Sleeping bags? Check.

Propane? Check.

Extra batteries? Check.

Cash?

SHIT! Son of a...

"Baby. The cash is in the safe at the hotel!"

That's right, folks. In our haste to get out the door and to the museum, I forgot to get the cash out of the safe where I'd stashed it the night before.

So now we're about two and a half hours from Zombie Land, and all the money for this trip and the emergency funds are back there with the zombies.

At a hotel that's in foreclosure.

So I spin the truck around, and we start heading back south.

I'm trying to remain calm, but I'm feeling frantic.

And I don't know what to do.

Race back and hope the safe is still locked?

But check out was hours ago; how will I get in the room?

What if other guests have checked in?

Holy crap! What if the cleaning crew, during their job, has opened the safe and didn't realize there's money in it?

Has the next guest found my money?

HAVE THEY GIVEN IT TO THE ZOMBIES????

As is often the case, it was not such a big deal. I called the hotel, they sent security up to get the money and will mail me a check.

Problem solved.

Turning around to drive back through Napa for the third time, I said, "See, babe, this is why I told you to bring a debit card. No problem, we can stop and get some cash."

She looked at me with a blank stare.

Turns out, that debit card is sitting on the counter at our house.

Hopefully, if we have an emergency, whoever helps us takes Venmo.

P.S - I got my picture at 710 Ashbury St!