Get me off this freeway!

I first learned to drive in Driver's Ed back in 1977.  The teacher wrote in my yearbook that I was one of the most unique personalities at the school.  I was never sure if that was a compliment or not.  I was pregnant my senior year and took the driving test at age 19.  I drove the station wagon of the boyfriend's mother.  She gave me for my birthday the book entitled - The Assertive Woman and I never knew what she meant either.  Guess I was clueless back then!

During driver's ed I got to choose where we would go first as there were three students and I was first.  We went down Mountain Avenue in Watchung, NJ to Route 22 and Mc Donald's.  It was a joy ride to go down that hill, but I had a fear of the divider on Route 22.  I have never seen another divider like that on any highway or freeway.

At the age of 21 I took a Greyhound Bus from Pennsylvania to San Diego with $250 bucks in my pocket.  I had an outbreak of my eczema on my face and ran out of money, could not find any decent jobs and took a Trailways back to NJ.

I transferred positions from New Jersey to Los Angeles in 1985, leaving my job on Friday and arriving Saturday night at LAX.  I took a People's Express flight where you paid the money for the airfare right on the plane.  The plane was three hours late in leaving NJ so most of the patrons waited at a bar and were drunk.  We got into LAX at midnight.

I never drove in California, my first husband did the driving since I only drive automatic and I used the bus to get to work.  I went back to NJ in 94 and came back to CA in 1996. 

When I came back I had a 12 month old child and was 7 months pregnant. I drove using a map I had of the drive from Allstate Motor Club and spent 11 days on the road with my son spending an income tax return so I could get some medical help with the baby and delivery, etc.

Driving was interesting with rain in PA, snow in Ohio and maddening winds in New Mexico and the speed limit at 75 or 85, I forget now. 

When I got to California I was nervous to drive here as it is much different than the NJ highways.  The exits and entrances to the freeway are very different with the drivers going super fast.

I still drive in California, but as the single parent to two kids on the Autism Spectrum I have a lot of stress and avoid freeways and take the streets.  It takes a lot longer to get to places, but we are safe.

I hate driving in the summer due to my eczema and the rashes that develop on my face from the sun.  I have no A/C in my vehicle and keep windows down and the vent going. 

A few years ago I decided to try taking one freeway to get my kids to a weekly therapy appointment.  What a disaster that was since it was 3 pm in the afternoon and everyone is driving at that time, and fast.  My fingers grip the steering wheel and I hold onto it for dear life. 

I do not talk to the kids and keep my eyes on the freeway and check both lanes beside me.  I feel the sweat dripping down my face, but I cannot grab the bandana to wipe it because I am scared of removing a hand from the steering wheel.

Talk about an anxiety attack.  I have to move over three lanes to get off the next exit and it is a living nightmare.  I wonder if I will have an asthma attack before we get off the freeway.

I cannot even pay attention to the radio and wonder how people can actually talk on a cell phone while driving these rapid freeways in Los Angeles.  I have never owned a cell phone and not sure when I will obtain one.

I could finally move my neck that first time I got off the freeway.  My hands were sore from gripping the wheel plus quite sweaty.  Over the years I have been able to do this ride on the freeway more often. 

But I only do this at the morning hours when everyone is going the other way.  This is how we get to the summer camp and it saves me 15 minutes.  I cannot do this in the afternoon and the way home I take the streets since I would have to move over several lanes due to another freeeway interchange. 

What would happen if I could not make it over and ended on another freeway?  Yikes I cannot handle these stinking freeways.  I even thought I had agoraphobia at one point, but getting better at tackling the freeway.

I can even drive the Hollywood freeway all the way to Burbank and that is as far as I can go.  I cannot get to Universal Studios because there are other freeeways there and I am not sure which way to go to stay on the same one.

Forget dealing with downtown Los Angeles and the freeway system.  I think I would rather do the Holland Tunnel or maybe even the George Washington Bridge, well maybe but never will I try the San Francisco bridge.

This is why when my son wanted to go to Sea World in San Diego, two hours away, we took the train and stayed down there for three days.  We are planning on doing that again this spring break.  I recommend train travel for less stress and an enjoyable ride and scenery.