Another Road Trip

So, on Saturday I meet Senor de la Cruz and his lovely wife Anna Margarita in the Ralph's parking lot around 2 o'clock. And because it wouldn't be a road trip without an emergency stop at McDonalds, we swing back off the freeway minutes later for rations. Me, I have a diet Coke.

Next, we slide into the parking lot of Ross Dress For Less in the Valley around 2:30 to wait for Tony Hemmingway (yes, these are all aliases). About 3:15 (still no Tony), Anna Margarita needs to use the restroom so she treks into the store. Upon her return, as she's climbing into the Denali, she exclaims, "What a sh*t-hole."

The Senor and I chime in. "The whole VALLEY's a sh*t-hole," we say.

Suddenly we notice a woman pausing near the car. "Excuse me," she says. "Is it really horrible in there?"

Anna Margarita describes how half the merchandise is on the floor and the checkout lines are a mile long.

"Thank you," the stranger says. "I was wondering."

And with that she turns around, strides back to her car, gets in and leaves.

Which makes me wonder about the serendipity of it all. I mean, was she driving along, intending to do some shopping, but fretting about the shape the store would be in? Was she hoping to get a report before stepping foot inside? Was it merely luck that brought this woman and Anna Margarita to the same place at the same time?

Or was it random providence?

Anyway, Tony finally arrives after making us wait an hour. We console ourselves that when one of us hits a huge jackpot at the San Manuel Casino in San Bernardino, we'll feel less put upon by his timing.

Um. This doesn't happen.

However...we drag ourselves out of the casino and get back on the road about 1:15 a.m. As we're traveling through Hollywood, we come upon the first traffic accident. Then, as we descend through the pass, we see the second...with a third about a half mile ahead.

Who knows? Maybe timing was working for us after all.