We got the red carpet treatment at an honest-to-god Hollywood premiere

Well, that went fast. Our 11-day trip to the premiere of Nomadland (the movie) was so eventful, I didn’t have a chance to write about it while it was happening. Long story long:

1. Saturday, September 5: Packed up, hitched up the Squeeze Inn (Linda May’s tiny trailer that was featured in the film), and drove away, confident that Scout would be fine in the company of the dog sitter I’d hired.
2. Apologized to Linda for the passenger-side window that wouldn’t go up all the way.
3. Drove into increasingly smoky air to Los Angeles, yelling conversation over the wind, sleeping overnight in our separate rigs at campsites and rest stops along the way. Discovered we could feel each other move around through the hitch connection. Weird.
4. Sunday, September 6: Linda couldn’t open the passenger side door of the van any more. The lock wouldn’t unlock. After that, Linda had to crawl out of her seat to exit the van through the back door. TIRED.
5. Monday, September 7: Got a text from the dog sitter: He had to leave town, family emergency. Frantically arranged for neighbors to feed and walk Scout, but she would now be alone in the cabin most of the time, including all night. WORRIED.
6. Tuesday, September 8: Got word from a neighbor that a cold snap and an early winter storm had set in. The cabin is not heated. Worried some more.
7. After a night in Flagstaff, we decided to forget about our planned day of rest there and drove to the Grand Canyon instead. Walked the glass Skywalk over the canyon. Wow!
8. Spent the night at a beautiful nearby trailhead.
9. Next morning: headed out early. Got lost and wound up at a dead end near Lake Mead. Finally got on the right road.
10. The cruise control got wonky and turned off every time I clicked a turn signal.
11. As we pulled into a Barstow parking lot for the night, a couple in a car stopped and told us the Squeeze Inn’s brake lights weren’t working.
12. Thursday, September 10: Next morning, drove to Walmart and bought portable lights for the trailer. It was hot, but Linda wired it up and got UNDER the Squeeze Inn to duct-tape the wires in place. I supervised from a safe distance.
13. The brake lights still didn’t work, but the turn signals did. Decided to chance it and go anyway.
14. Got to Pasadena late and promptly missed an exit, winding up completely turned around. Meanwhile, we kept getting increasingly impatient texts from the people awaiting us (so someone with more skills than I have could back the Squeeze Inn into the hotel parking space). It was STRESSFUL and we were TIRED. Mild-mannered Linda, as usual, refused to let it get to her. I didn’t.
15. Got parked and after venting, fell into bed.
16. Friday, September 11, PREMIERE DAY: Showered, relaxed, visited old friends, ate too many free snacks provided by Searchlight Studios (which paid for our hotel too). Sweet.
17. Word from back home was that the snow had melted and all was now mud, tracked by said dog into the cabin and onto the bed. Oh, well.
18. Linda’s family arrived and her makeup-artist granddaughter did our makeup and hair. Got dressed up in the duds we bought in Santa Fe. Looked FABULOUS.
    

    LaVonne Ellis

    

    Linda May

19. Towed the Squeeze Inn to the Rose Bowl, where the drive-in premiere was about to begin, and had an amazing time.
20. FREE FOOD TRUCKS!
21. Everyone said we looked FABULOUS.
22. My younger son joined us and we all tried to remember to keep our masks on. NO HUGGING!
23. The COVID police kept telling us all to get back in our vehicles. We finally did.
24. The movie was even better than I had imagined. I didn’t even mind that my scenes were cut (I did get a nice close-up, though.) Linda May and Charlene Swankie were treated like the movie stars they now are (and forever will be). They hung out with Frances McDormand and director Chloe Zhao, and loved every second.
25. The “Nomads,” as we were called, were given the red carpet treatment. It was awesome.
    
26. Afterwards, we drove back to the hotel and visited with Nomadland (the book) author Jessica Bruder and her bestie, Julia, until we all started nodding off.
27. The ball was over. Time for us Cinderellas to go back to real life.
28. Next morning, we packed up again, grabbed some more free snacks for the trip home, and went back to the Rose Bowl, where journalists waited to interview Linda. I hid in the van and snacked.
29. Linda’s family came to take her for a visit in Santa Monica. I went to visit my son in Sylmar.
30. Later, they dropped Linda off and we hit the road, trying to get out of the HORRIBLE, smoky air. We couldn’t.
31. Stopped for the night in Yucaipa, where my mechanic friend, Lou, and his lovely yoga-teacher wife, Cyndy, awaited with dinner. They showed us the nearby hills where firefighters had stopped the flames just in time to save their neighborhood.
32. Slept in our respective rigs but didn’t rest well. It was hard to breathe.
33. In the morning, Lou topped off the van’s fluids, checked everything, fixed the AC, the window, the door lock, and the cruise control–no charge. Wow, thanks, Lou!
34. Thanks to Lou, driving back for three days was a breeze, even in 100º+ temps (ahh, AC!). Linda and I talked all the way about what a wonderful time we had at the premiere and how amazing the movie was.
35. The air cleared up as soon as we entered New Mexico.
36. Got home to blue skies and a wildly happy dog (who apparently survived without major PTSD). Walked and cuddled her, then went straight to bed.

The End (or, as we say in Hollywood: “And Scene.”)