the maid of the mist was a landmark on the 10

i was riding with this chick
who
in the dream
i knew
she was driving
we were on the 10
in california
i'm not sure
california has
for me
all these very distinct vibes
it was past the desert part
which i find beautiful
especially in the morning
the towns mar it up a bit more than seems
strictly speaking
necessary
but that long stretch
where you're like
holy fuck
am i gonna run out of gas
is amazing
(as long as you actually got gas)
then
it enters this phase
which is distinctly suburb-y to me
it reminds me of the 101
up by salinas
not like the parts of the 101
that run
through old farmland
that has a completely different vibe
anyway
suburban 10
but
i'm pretty sure
that part
is before you get to san bernadino
where it starts feeling more like
the suburbs
i'm used to
on steroids
with air you can't see through
so maybe
it's more of an inland empire thing
than
strictly speaking
a suburban thing
there's some traffic usually
and all these bits
where you can scrape off
to different places
than you mean to go
and
i don't like to stop
because
i worry
i'll end up on the wrong bit
before the thing i'd call a valley
which probably isn't one
where everyone drives 100 mph
so i'm guessing there's never any CHP there
i've driven through that
when shit was on fire
it's beautiful
and it's shortly after that
when i usually stop
at ihop or somewhere
in
i wanna say
west covina
to let the traffic die down
before driving in to the city
so i guess
i'm dreaming about the california highway system
which is not usual for me
but
it was at that first place
maybe around redlands
that the maid of the mist appeared
off the side of the highway
enormous
at the top of a pole
canoe and all
how had i never seen her before
she was the landmark
we were changing highways
and i wanted to drive on through
but
that chick was all like:
we have already gone 700 miles today
we are stopping for the night


i don't know what to make of all that
usually
in dreams
the freeways
and streets
and whatever
are different
from things in the real world

and where would that put us heading
big bear
barstow
the cajon pass

and 700 miles
that puts us starting out from
roughly
el paso

i don't know

maybe the more important question:
why is this other chick driving
oh
because she knew the way
i had never seen
the big giant indian princess
any time
i'd driven by

maybe it's telling me to read the signs