Goodbye Mama, Hello Washington

I'm currently writing you from a house! not a hotel room, a house. And not just any house, a house in Washington State. And not even just any house in Washington State, my friend Nathan's parents' house.

It is a lovely house. A lovely garden. A lovely landscape. I think I'm in love. :)

But before we get to all that, let's figure out where I left you all last night. I was in Missoula, MT exhausted. I went to bed. Then I woke up. That's about as abrupt as it felt too. It was my turn to drive.

Our plan the entire trip was for each of us to drive in every state. We knew Idaho would be tricky because we were in it such a short time. We didn't really have time to stop either because we were running on such a tight time frame.

So I began driving through Montana. It is gorgeous. Sadly, it was raining. I don't know if I'll be able to share many pictures with you because of the rain. But trust me, beautiful. Mom and I could not believe how lovely the trees and mountains were. Keep in mind, I have seen a LOT of mountains.

Due to the rain, though, I was driving even slower (65 vs 75) which was eating away our time. As we neared Idaho, Mom reminded me that I had driven through Idaho briefly as we went from Wyoming to Montana. With that reminder, I pulled over for gas and a driver switch.

As we entered Idaho, the beauty intensified. I had always thought Idaho = potatoes. Then I thought potatoes = Irish. Thus Idaho = Ireland. However, I also thought Idaho was brown and boring. (Caution: never try to keep up with my thoughts.) Turns out that (whatever "that" actually is) is Southern Idaho. We were in mountainous, beautiful, overwhelming Northern Idaho. I even changed my facebook status to say "is in love with Idaho." Never thought I'd say that.

As I gaped out the window, Mom drove. She drove through rain, fog, and even sunshine. She is a superstar, for real. She was a lady on a mission. And that mission was to make her 1:20pm flight out of Spokane. Thankfully, we went into the Pacific Time Zone right before we hit Washington.

We made the airport in perfect time. She was there by noon. "Bye, Mama! I love you! Thanks for the past 4 days!" I knew we could do it! 8 states in 4 days! ha!

I, then, continued to Deer Park. Sure, I got lost a bit and had to consult the Garmin. Sure, I hadn't told me friend that I was almost here until I was in Deer Park. And sure, I even got so mixed at one point all I could do was take a picture of a horse, put my car in reverse, and try it again. However, that doesn't matter. I'm here!

Since I've been here, I've picked apples, harvested HUGE carrots, plucked green beans, and snuck a grape or two off the vine. I've also watched some Planet Earth and napped. what a relaxing afternoon! I cannot put into words how much I love it here.

This evening I went to Nathan's small group, or as they say, "cell group". There was a lot of really great stuff going on there. I could write a huge blog just on it. I won't. fear not. However, I will say the tacos were delicious. I will also say that it felt like home. The people were everything I've been missing. They were welcoming and interested/interesting. It was everything I've ever known the church to be but haven't see in a year.

They are currently studying a Shane Claibourne book. Again, the theme of living fearless and out of the comfort zone came up. "God, is that you? Where is out of my comfort zone? Chicago?!? Do you what me to stay there?" Also there was a big discussion about tearing away the things that make us feel "cool." They compared it to Eustace in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader as he tore off his dragon skin become a boy again. It was painful but made him who he really was. I've been wondering what my cool thing is. And I think my cool thing is being the girl who does crazy things. I feel like if I'm the girl who is adventurous that will make me cool. So here I am in an adventure. Does that make me cool? maybe. But I need to remember that the goal of this adventure is not to be cool. It's not to write this blog. It's to get to the heart of what God needs to tell me. "Thank you God for this small group!" Tonight was a much, much needed refresher.

Now I'm headed up to my Sleep Number bed. I will tell you all new tales tomorrow. Tales that may included Thai Food. Goodnight friends. Thank you for praying for this journey. Mom is officially safe again in Indiana. And I feel like things are sorting to sort out. Please keep it going though. Thank you.

-the nomad

I've sat so long my legs hurt

Good news, we made up the 4 hour first day delay time. (In your face, car trouble)

Bad news, hours upon hours of car time today.

Today we traversed over the Big Horn Mountains, through Yellowstone, and, as I was just informed by the hotel clerk, around places Lewis and Clark once stepped.

It was a long day. a long, exhausting day.

These are the things I have learned today:

1. The Eastern half of Wyoming is the most boring place in the northern section of the US of A.

2. The Western half of Wyoming may be the most exciting place in the northern section of the US of A

3. My pointer finger can actually get tired after hitting the shutter button on my Nikon over 900 times in one day.

4. My Nikon doesn't not need it's shutter button pushed over 900 times or else the battery will die at very important times, ie: Old Faithful. (thank goodness for my Droid)

5. Driving through tunnels made of mountains in the mountains freaks me out.

6. Driving by bison as they graze on and off the road also freaks me out. (but kinda in a good way. "Oh my gosh, look at the bison, take a picture!")

7. Driving by deer at night while they graze right off the interstate while I'm going 75 definitely freaks my out. (and not in a good way at all! "Ah! Don't hit me! I need my car for 23 more days!!!")

8. My mom will befriend people in a gas station because she saw them laughing at my car. (I have an "I Love Cincinnati" bumper sticker next to my Indiana plate, so what?) She will also befriend and receive a mini-Bible from a Vietnam vet while his fiancee is using a Yellowstone port-a-pot. However, if I chat it up with the hotel clerk while she waits outside, she worries if everything is ok. :)

9. Old Faithful is cool but so are the others.

10. I'm a huge fan of the bubbly hot springs. Don't hate on them just because they smell like eggs.

11. Only you can prevent forest fires, especially if your name is "God." However, you can also sit on a folding chair and watch the forest burn, especially if your name is "fireman."

12. One of mom's favorite words is "desolate." One of mine is "Mooooommmm...."

13. I could not be a rancher's wife. I would worry all the time because I wouldn't be able to get in touch with him. There is no cell phone reception out there. How long would he have to be gone in the wilderness on horseback before I was allowed to worry if something terrible had befallen him?!?!

14. Watching sheep get herded right up to the road and being waved to by the old cowboy from his horse was one of the highlights of the day.

15. Western Wyoming looks like the pictures I used to draw in second grade. I'm not kidding. I always, always drew pictures of mountains with one little house all by itself tucked in somewhere. Though my pictures normally included Johnny Appleseed.

16. Bears will not come out for a photo op if you sing "bears, bears, where are you bears?" at them through the open window while driving through Yellowstone.

17. When I wish for something to happen, it normally does. Today I wished to see one wild animal in Yellowstone. I saw 3: Bison, Elk, & weird deer-like things. I forgot to wish for a bear.

18. Gas station pizza is not always horrible.

19. Mom talks to me more when the sun goes down. I like it. She made some excellent points in this "what next" discussion. I like what she had to say. Anyone else think it may be time to work on my Master's?

20. I yell a bit too much if awesome photo opportunities are missed. I should work on that.

21. Montana will probably be beautiful when we see it. The last 4 hours have been driven in the dark. As mom says, "You CAN drive over mountains in the dark!"

21. After 13 hours of mountain views, you get tired of them.

Speaking if tired, I'm exhausted! It's 2:30 am Mountain Time but I couldn't forget about you. Sorry that the past 2 days have been lists. I look forward to actually writing soon. I wish I had wifi in my car.

the nomad