Three hours after our arrival in Roseville, we finally have a Jeep. A mere invoice enables us to drive the car. The equivalent of our “Permis de circulation” the “Hard Paper” is never in hand of the car owner. It stays at the General Civil Service. But this document is compulsory to take the vehicle out of the United States. And to get it, if you are not American, it takes at least one day, at your own risk. In other words, the Supreme Nightmare of Europeans. So our vendor is willing to deal with it. He will need two to three days to obtain this document. We shall thus go back to Roseville when the Rubicon is over to retrieve the papers. Our plans are altered, but we have no choice.

 

We sign a discharge to the seller for the export and we go away with the black Jeep, a two and a half pages invoice in our pocket. The insurance is not mandatory in California. We can finally go and realize the Rubicon Trail. However, the strain moves up a notch. A single Jeep and the rental car must be in San Francisco tonight. That’s it. We must separate. One of us will return the vehicle while the other two are looking for the second Jeep. Stéphane B will go to San Francisco and the other two Stéphane (L & Z) will negotiate the second Jeep.

 

 

We tried to keep the rented vehicle for two more days, but the price was higher for those two days than for the three first days. We let down that solution. It is 3.00 pm. Stéphane B must return the vehicle before 08.00 pm. We split. Stéphane B goes towards San Francisco and the other two Stéphane will deal with the second vehicle. We know nothing about the road network in the United States roads. No worry, Stéphane B switches on the GPS in the Corolla, sets his destination and starts the engine. That’s when the GPS goes off, no more batteries. Imagine yourself in the middle of traffic on a 5 tracks road, no GPS, no road sign. The next exit only is showed. Stéphane B is in a cold sweat. A mere anxiety attack! In a few seconds, he regains his composure and calls Stéphane Z for help.

 

Thanks to the road maps stored in his laptop, Stéphane Z can tell him the right way. Anyway, a delay of 40 minutes in giving back the Corolla to the car rental agent means a $ 25 penalty. First matter settled, the Corolla is back in San Francisco. Stéphane B is waiting for his two mates. To be noted, in San Francisco the temperature is quite cooler than in the land because of the wind. Used to 40° C, Stéphane B is cold with the San Francisco 20° C. Meanwhile, the other two Stéphane are back to Livermore and the beautiful green Jeep. Sure, Stéphane L will have his “Beautiful”. Before splitting, we decided to blow up our budget and buy the green car with the white star. We are at Livermore.