Broken Down in Cheyenne

It's day 2 of the trip out to Oregon and the Blazer has already broken down. I can't be mad at her. She's getting a little old and quite frankly, this is unfamiliar terrain for her. But let me start at the beginning.

Our trip began yesterday at around 2:00. We took off from my mom's house in Jeff City. My Blazer is literally loaded to the ceiling. I have tucked something into every nook and cranny. I was able to fit all my books, all my DVDS AND all my board games. It was a day to celebrate. You can't remotely see out the back window, which distressed my mom a little. And you have to slam the back hatch shut in order to get it to latch, but everything fit. And that's what side mirrors are for.

We drove to Kansas City and then hit the mother of all rainstorms. We were driving 30 mph on the highway and could not see a thing. But it didn't last very long, so all was good. We got onto 29 and took that all the way into Lincoln, NE, where we stayed for the night. It was a good drive all and all and the Travelodge beds were comfy, so things were looking up.

Today was even better. We left Lincoln at about 9:30 with a goal of making it to Rawlins, WY. It was going to be about an 8 hour drive, nothing too bad. We basically had to make it all the way across the length of Nebraska and half of Wyoming. We made it through Nebraska in great time and crossed into Wyoming. I was excited to get into Wyoming. It's exactly what you think of, lots of open space. I completely understand why they call it Big Sky country. It's just so vast. That seems weird, but you step out of the car and you just feel small. The sky is huge and you know that there is absolutely nothing for miles. And everything is Cowboy themed which makes me giggle.

We were headed into Cheyenne at about 3:00 and were planning to stop for awhile there, see the capital, maybe do a little shopping, the usual. But right outside of Cheyenne the Blazer started jerking and the gas pedal was kind of not working. That caused me a little bit of concern. So we pulled off in Cheyenne and pulled into a Sierra Trading Post Outlet. Between the water-proof boots and the floor length button-down hunter green women's skirts, we found a gentlemen who is what I think defines Wyoming. He had a white, curly mustache, skin-tight wranglers, big glasses, a cowboy hat, and a denim shirt (that's right, denim on denim). We told him of our predicament and he let us know where the Chevy dealership was and also told us of Palmers, a local car shop.

We headed first to the dealership and David the Dealership Man was not so helpful. Without looking at the car, he told me it was the fuel pump and that it was going to cost $800. He suggested we bring it in tomorrow morning and he would try to get it done. This was not so great for us since we lost 2 hours to go and already had 8 to drive tomorrow. Which wouldn't be a big deal at all if we could leave early, but we would have to wait to get the car fixed. So, dejectedly, we went in search of a hotel. We found a nice LaQuinta Inn, but decided we should at least go check out Palmers.

So off we went, back through the town of Cheyenne to find Palmers. Side note: Cheyenne is a really pretty town. The capital dome is covered in real gold. It's pretty but it's small. You don't actually need that many representatives for a state with a population of like 10. And they have a really cute historic downtown with ranch outfitters and cowboy bars. It was so charming.

Anyway, we made our way to Palmers and it was a little hole in the wall local place. We went in and told them what was up. The gentleman in the office (whose name is Augie- awesome!)quickly suggested that his brother go for a ride in the car to see what was up. So my mom and the bearded brother took off in the car leaving me at the office with Augie. As I was glancing around the office, I started to notice the Christian paraphenalia. It was one of those times where I was pretty certain I was going to get evangelized. And I was pumped. So Augie and I chatted for a while and sure enough, within a few minutes I got the test balloon Jesus reference. He threw it into the conversation and waited to see what my response would be. I gave him the I know what's up response and we proceeded to talk about Jesus and ministry and kids for the next 20-30 minutes. This whole time my mom was in the car with the brother, Pastor Bob, having similar conversations. It was great.

Not so great: my fuel pump has to be replaced. It is going to cost a lot. But Bob and Augie are going to get started on it at 7:30 in the morning and hopefully we will be able to get on the road quickly. And as Pastor Bob reminded me, everything happens for a reason! I'm glad it broke down here at least rather than when I was by myself in the middle of nowhere. And I wasn't in tears leaving Palmers like I was leaving the dealership, so things are looking up.

After leaving Palmers, we followed the very detailed map Augie drew us (which included his house!) to his favorite Mexican resteraunt and then headed back to the LaQuinta. We got the last non-smoking room and are chilling for the night.

I started realizing today that I'm for real moving away. It's weirding me out and I really miss everyone at home already, but I'm getting really excited for the first time. It had been so far away for so long that it didn't really seem real. But now I'm feeling adventurous and excited driving through the Wild West. I can't wait to get out there and get to work. Two more days on the road!