#59, 60 & 61!

Wow!  There's some impatient people here!  I like it.

So I went on a road trip.  Probably not the wisest road trip to attempt--far too long in far too short amount of time.  However, it was a tremendous trip, and I'd probably do it again, in spite of the craziness of it all.  There were some really big 'ups', and really big 'downs'.  So I'll do this all in bullet points (it's been awhile since I've done that!)...

• Friday morning - I'm on the road to the Sacramento area at 4AM.  1001 miles to my destination.  I figure I'll pull into town at around 7PM local time (16 hrs.).
• Stopped in Idaho Falls for a fine McDonald's breakfast, and find that SOMEONE forgot to pack his insulin needles...
• Stopped in Pocatello's Walmart to pick up said needles.  Expected a hassle, but it was quite easy. 
• Got a phone call while going through Twin Falls.  A good news/bad news call.  I asked for the bad news first.  A gentleman that we'd been trying to get money from for the summer concert was not going to give us $5K.  The good news--he's giving us $10K!
• As I was pulling into Wells, NV for gas, I blew a tire.  Upon further inspection, all tires needed to be replaced.  Of course, I drive a car that takes a special sized tire.  Left Wells on four new tires, and $1,550 lighter in my bottom line.  Ouch.
• The rest of the trip was uneventful, along those lines.  Lots of time to think, lots of time to not think!

The occasion for the trip was the 40th bday party for Margaret's hubby.  Remember Margaret?  Monkey?  Mylifepartdos?  She set up this party months ago, and since I'd never been to California, I figured, why not?  She had people in from all over the place, and as she admitted herself, she was looking forward to it more than he was!  So I headed over at around noon (after sleeping most of the morning due to the long drive from the day before).  Met lots of his friends and her friends and played with all the kids around.  And then Sam, from Sam's Stories, showed up with hubby and kids in tow.  All the way up from the bottom of California!  Lots of talk and gossip and stuff, as these meets tend to be.  I was duly chastised from both Sam and Margaret for not being current with their blogs (oops!), and they both tried to talk me into Twitter (NEVER!).

Margaret (#59) and me

Sam (#60) and me

And then, all of a sudden, I had to leave.  I had a dinner date waiting with another HNTer, MissCrystal!

MissCrystal (#61), her hubby, son and I went to a great new Mexican place for dinner.  I'd have done dinner with them on Friday, but it was their 10th anniversary, and I didn't think they'd need me around as a third wheel...  Again, there was discussion and gossip, and since I had another 16-hour drive ahead of me, an early evening.

MissCrystal (#61) and me

The trip back was uneventful, other than the time or two that I briefly nodded off.  Yes, I pulled over twice to grab a quick nap!  Other things I thought about over the weekend...

• God didn't paint Nevada with the ugly paint (like WY or SD), but he didn't waste any of the pretty paint on it either!
• God also decided to make all the mountains nekkid.  Seriously--miles upon miles of mountains, and not a single tree in site!  Not.a.single.one!  The mountains certainly helped the boredom compared to the flat states, but still...absolutely no trees!
• And barely minimal agriculture.  No cows.  No crops.  No sprinklers or irrigation.  But plenty of sagebrush.  Gives me a new appreciation for the pioneers and the Natives that traveled through here.  It must have been hell...
• Mock me if you must, but blaring John Denver and Jim Croce and singing along at the top of your lungs is a great way to road trip!
• On the other hand, classical music doesn't quite allow oneself to do a good pee-pee dance while driving.  And there was plenty of that needed.  I swear, as soon as my bladder sensed a rest area or a bathroom nearby, I had to go!
• Margaret had an electric fly swatter in her house.  This is my must-have toy of the summer.  I'll be able to have hours of fun with it!  If you're a fan of bug zappers, you'll LOVE this thing!
• Lots of billboards throughout Nevada for ranches.  Made no sense to me until I thought, "Oh, yeah.  I'm in Nevada!" (think about it...)

And to end this long overdue post, some more pics!

Sunrise on first day of Summer! - Dillon, MT

My car!  About 20 miles north of Idaho

Jackpot, NV - Immediately cross the state line and you have your choice of casinos

I got mixed signals on the way...

Neither place looked terribly inviting.

Late afternoon skies in eastern Idaho