Udaho

I'm in Boise and I'm very tired. Yet I feel oddly pressured to post about my day. I don't know why that would be...

It was a long day. I actually got to sleep in a little while my mom took my car into Pastor Bob. We were hoping it would be done by 11:00 or noon at the latest. However, noon rolled around, we called Pastor Bob and he told us he would give us a call back. We had to be out of our room, so we went and hung out in the lobby. At about 12:45, Pastor Bob showed up in the lobby to personally drive us back to the Blazer. We had a great ride in his Subaru jamming to Chris Tomlinson. We got back to the shop and met his lovely wife Sandy. She was rocking a button-downed jumper and a lot of blush. I liked her a lot. Anyway, the Blazer was fixed and we got back on the road.

I took the first shift driving and as soon as we got back out on I-80, we were facing some crazy wind. The wind was at 60-65 mph for the next 100 miles or so. It was crazy. When we were facing into it, it was impossible to get the Blazer to go over 65 and when it was blowing against the car it was hard to stay on the road. It was a little stressful. Yet, Wyoming was beautiful. I drove pretty much the whole way across and I loved it. I often wish that I had the ability to paint or at least the words to describe what I see, but I don't. There were these big hills that looked like huges sand dunes that had petrified. And also kind of like the rock creature in the Never-Ending Story. It was so sparse. When you drive through Kansas, you feel like there's nothing. But there's fields and crops and farms. You know that somethings there. Driving through Wyoming it felt like if I got off the interstate, I wouldn't be able to see a person for hours. Everyone once in a while there were some cows, but that was about it. And not a single city we passed through in the whole of the state was bigger than Jeff City. It is a crazy place.

We hit the border of Wyoming and Utah and that is where things went uphill and downhill at the same time. First of all, Utah was ridiculously beautiful and awe-inspiring. Driving through the mountains was incredible, as it always is. But it looked different that Colorado or the Tetons or something. Again, I wish I could describe it. The mountains aren't as jagged, not as weathered. They're browns and reds and greens. They're huge and they make you feel small and powerful at the same time. I really love the mountains and it was beautiful light, the sun was just beginning to set. It was great.

The downhill part was that my mom took over driving when we crossed the border. Now, I wouldn't say I am a control freak, but it kicks in occasionally when someone else drives my car. And I love my mother, but it was making me nervous to have to be in the passenger seat winding through the mountains. I was trying my best not to be the obnoxious passenger who is clearly tense the whole time someone's driving. You know, grabbing the handle and kind of gasping every time we took a corner at 80 mph. It was a little stressful.

The other big bummer is that it was dark by the time we got into Idaho. I was really excited to see Idaho, but I guess I'll have to wait until the morning. The one thing I can say Idaho has is extreme stars. I mean, extreme. I could see galaxies. It was awesome. It may have something to do with the fact that it was for real dark. No cities=no lights=lots of stars. I like it.

I took over driving again, my mom promptly fell asleep and a prime mix of the wicked soundtrack and disney songs took us the rest of the way into Boise. We have settled into the Comfort Inn and are only about 7 hours behind schedule. I'll be up in 5 hours and headed the rest of the way to Wildhorse. I am excited. And for the first time I really mean excited. And don't worry, I'll be home in 12 hours and one year.