Although it took me more than a few minutes to figure
out how to get my bag into the trunk, I did manage to
check out and drive away before 5:30 this morning. It’s
straight to Dockweiler, which was pretty much in the
same condition as yesterday night, but conducive to
meditation all the same, being that it was totally empty, and
the street quiet for the most part, peppered with pockets of
passing cars driving far too fast.

After windshields and the final gas-up at a Chevron in
Manhattan Beach, it’s time to surrender my vehicle. I can
only imagine what it must feel like to confess to a crime and
know the punishment that awaits you. There is a hint of that
knowledge of freedom lost when handing over your car keys,
knowing that it’s back to your feet for a long, long time.

Of course, I’m fairly sure I’m ready to give up the car, after
the ordeal I’ve put it through. At almost 18 thousand miles,
I’ve driven 3500 of those in nine days. That is to say, Los
Angeles to New York, and on the way back, possibly
somewhere in Ohio.

Thankfully, there are few complications at the dropoff, soon I’m
aboard the bus, which will take me to the plane, which will take
me home, where cars are unnecessary, the people anything
but private, the coffee hideous.