days of heaven

friday, may 27, 2011
4:05 p.m. passing cheyene, wy

one unanticipated fun thing about traveling with jaime is that i'm guy with the pretty girl that all the guys get jealous of at the truck stops.

it's like the ocean!

we grabbed lunch at the ta truck stop just outsde of cheyene. jaime went for taco bell, i chose a whopper and remembered that burger king's fries aren't that good. we still check for the elusive ruby red squirt at every stop, precisely because it is just that—elusive--i suppose. there's something really interesting about the truck stop culture; i'd like to do a documentary there or at least listen to a “this american life” show about it. although the visual look of the guys is a definite part of the experience, so maybe radio wouldn't be the best medium.

we stayed last night at brady's parents' house. they were great, very welcoming and happy to have us there. i talked movies briefly with brady's dad then we went to our rooms. as i was lying in bed, enjoying the comfort, jaime sent me a text: “this bed is awesome!” i smiled.

this morning we spotted montana, wyoming (yeah, didn't see that one until about a hundred miles from the state), and louisiana, which i didn't see but jaime spotted. we're down to three license plates: vermont, hawaii, and rhode island. due to some road construction, we were merged to a two-lane highway, which had me pressed up against the wind shield, trying to spot the one-foot plates on front of the cars moving at a relative 160 mph past me. i thought i saw vermont and hawaii, but couldn't confirm them. it's even trickier when each state has several variants. who knows, maybe some rhode island family is vacationing at wendover?

somehow, my road always
leads me back here

yesterday jaime noted how everyone mentions how boring nebraska is to drive through, but she said she thinks it's pretty; she compared it to the ocean: green extending as far as you can see.  i like that and agreed with her, even as i got a text from a friend this morning commenting on how dull nebraska is. irrespective of nebraska however, she, i, and, most vehemently, my brother, dislike wyoming.


we're on disc 15 of 17 on hp7, the trip odometer says 1,932, and we're staying in salt lake tonight.  today we have no planned sights to see except the country around us.
the road goes on.