We hung out, said our final goodbyes, Anna and Kate got to try VR (virtual reality - they were in a shark tank) and then we left.
After getting gas we pulled back onto Interstate 80 around 10:30. After two hours we had made it to Rawlins and we stopped for lunch. Suzanne and I spent a few hours in Rawlins in December of 1996 or 1997? I'll have to ask Suzanne. We drove across the country (mostly Suzanne drove). She wanted to have her car in Washington D.C. while she completed the Washington D.C. seminar program. She did an internship at the Library of Congress and wrote for their publication. We had left Provo late, and hadn't gotten very far, I think just over the border into Wyoming. The next day as we headed out onto the highway we got a flat just outside of Rawlins. We were towed there and had lunch while two new tires were put on the car. We had a ride with a tow truck driver that neither of us have ever forgotten - he was such a character. He told us all about Wyoming women and how tough they were. How on days like today (a really cold December day) they would wear bikinis. And how he was told there were so many women in Wyoming, there was a woman under every tree, and then he got to Wyoming and discovered there were no trees! We might have reminisced about that just a little!
We had lunch in McDonald's, in Rawlins, took some silly pictures and we were off again.
We passed the Continental Divide. I was very excited about this. I'm not sure why, but it's exciting to me!
And then we drove. I was tired today. I found the driving long, I just so wanted it to be over. Anna decided that she wanted to be in her own van, so it was just me and the girls in our van. Both Kate and Fiona had naps, and we all just spent a lot of time looking out the window, and listening to music. The vastness is just... I don't know. In between Rawlins and Rock Springs there is just vast open land as far as the eye can see. There is nothing. Just nothing. The highway surrounded by nothing. I was day dreaming at one point of getting out of the van and just walking through a field, through the hills into nothing.
I took a number of pics through the windows and in the van.
It's funny, we've spent the past four days driving one right after the other. Suzanne was the lead van and I just followed, mostly right behind her. A few times one or two cars (or a truck between) but mostly right behind her. Tonight around 6 p.m. when we were 27 minutes away, Kate couldn't hold on so we pulled off the highway to use a bathroom at Wendy's. At this point I had cell phone coverage and the use of google maps, so I was okay, but it's funny to me that we both made the last half hour of the journey without each other.
We did it we did it we did it! It was long, but it was great. I thought about those pioneers trekking across those hills so many times, and just felt so, so grateful. Suzanne and Matthew's house is so great! Ben was so cute. It's like he knew he was home. He was so excited. Zeus too, he just seemed to know he was home. This is going to be a great place for them to be. I'm mostly, really happy for them!
When we crossed the Utah border I was excited, we were so, so close! But then I had a moment, of "this is so far, too far" and I might have shed a tear or two. I haven't been this far away from my sister in thirteen years, and I didn't honestly think that I'd be this far from her ever again, but here it is. I'm so thankful to be in Utah, to see some family, some friends, some fun stuff, and to spend some time with my sister. Thanks Suzanne for being such an amazing sister, and for this fun adventure!
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