I am back! I just got done driving 2,281 miles from Killeen, Texas to Tieton, Washington. I must admit I was a little bit apprehensive about driving all the way home all by myself, but the drive turned out to be a little adventure that I am glad I went on. Don't get me wrong, I am glad I did it but not glad I had to do it. Well my journey began after days of sitting around procrastinating and two days of frantic packing and cleaning. Monday, February 9th all I had to do was vacuum the apartment, check out, and turn in our Internet modem. After all that I turned on my handy dandy GPS and headed out for Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. My GPS is weird, I swear it likes to take me on the most scenic route it possibly can and it just pretends that it is the "fastest route." I drove for five hours on the smallest two lane roads (I can't even call it a highway) going 70mph. I went through tons of small towns, and saw a lot of the country side. It was more interesting than just taking the interstate but I have my doubts on whether or not it is actually faster. Once I got to Ft. Sill, I checked into the on post lodging and had a great night sleep. I was however rudely awakened at 0730 by someone knocking on my door saying "room service" at least I think that is what she said because I was still coming out of a coma and next thing I knew some one was opening my door. She left once I was like what the heck but at 1000 someone knocked on my door and asked me if I was staying another night. I said no, I mean seriously check out is at 1100 and I was five minutes away from checking out. Anyway, after checking out I headed on the second leg of my journey.
Where Nathan went to school to become a
FSO(Fire support officer)
Cannons in the morning fog
Once again I turned on my trusty GPS and it took me the opposite way I was planning on going. I guess it turned out to be a good thing since the day I left Lawton/Ft. Sill there were tornadoes and thunder storms ripping through eastern Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. I on my back roads scenic route had nothing but blue skies and sunshine. One thing I didn't have was good cell service which was frustrating since the land scape is flat, flat, flat and I really wanted to talk to Nathan. I drove almost 8 hours to Colby, Kansas and besides being tired I was excited to be in Kansas. Although I wasn't too excited about the weather it was a toasty 35 degrees a stark contrast from the 75 to 80 degree weather I had been experiencing in Texas. I spent the night reading the local information and talking to Nathan on the phone before I went to bed. When I woke up in the morning it wasn't because I wanted too it was because some one was knocking on my door again seeing if they could come clean it. I was like seriously people it is 0900 and check out isn't until 1100. I mean seriously can't the cleaning people just check with the front desk to see if I was there or not? After being rudely awakened I got ready for another day on the road and headed west.
Colby, Kansas
Thomas County Court House
I left Colby, Kansas around 1000 Wednesday morning and I decided that I wasn't going to follow my GPS if it was going to take me on some crazy route. I think it knew I knew it was full of it because it took me to Denver just the way I thought it should. The drive to Denver was pretty uneventful but once I got to Denver I had to go on this little 26 mile stretch of highway that would take me from I-70 to I-25. Well little did I know this was the most expensive stretch of road I would drive on my whole entire trip. It cost me more to go those 26 miles in toll fees then it did in gas. I hit three different toll booths at $2.50 a pop. I was like you have got to be kidding me. I had to ask the guy at the last booth how many more there were because I only had enough cash for one more. Luckily, he said I only had six miles to go until I hit I-25. I mean seriously who wants to pay $7.50 to drive 26 miles. After that little adventure I got up into Wyoming, where I ran into probably the worst weather of my entire trip. It wasn't snowing from the sky but I had to go 45mph instead of 75mph because the wind was gusting and blowing so hard there was snow all over the road and it was hard to drive with the wind pushing you around. Luckily that only lasted about 30 to 40 miles. I made it to my next destination , Rawlins, Wyoming, earlier than I had originally planned so I had a chance to drive around a little bit. I didn't get out of my car because it was a balmy 11 degrees out, but the town was nice enough. After getting some delicious subway for dinner I hung out in my room, talked to Nathan, and then crashed for the night. Thursday morning I woke up exactly when I wanted to and I wasn't disturbed all morning, I am not sure but I think it is because of the "Do not disturb" sign I put on my door.
The old Wyoming State Penitentiary
(No welcome to Rawlins sign I guess they don't like visitors)
I headed out around 1000 for Twin Falls, Idaho. The drive was really uneventful I just drove until I needed gas and stopped in Morgan, Utah then drove the next three and a half hours to Twin Falls. The drive was pretty boring but I got to talk to Nathan for a little bit and I talked to my mom, my brother Jimmie, and to Jobie which really helped break up the drive. Luckily with the time change I made it to Twin Falls with enough time to check into my hotel and then walk around on the Canyon rim walk way and do a little window shopping at Old Navy before it got dark. I pretty much just hung out and talked to Karine, Lena, and Maria on the phone that night, which was really nice since Nathan couldn't call. After I talked to everyone I watched a little TV and then went to bed and planned on getting up around 0900 to get on the road. Well little did I know I would be getting up earlier than that. Apparently the hotel thought that it would be perfectly acceptable to start construction at 0800. I woke up to the sound of someone sanding or grinding something, and it was right outside my room like literally across the hall. I was TICKED, after unsuccessfully trying to ignore it I got up, got ready, and checked out. At least I got an early start I guess.
Welcome to Twin Falls
The Twins
The Canyon and bridge
The east side of the canyon
The drive to Washington went awesome. It snowed a little bit in the Blue Mountains but I didn't have to slow down. The time change helped me so that even with stopping in Yakima to get a rock chip repaired I made it to the Krogers in Tieton by 1630. It is so nice to be home with friends and family. The trip sure was an adventure but I actually had more fun than I though I was going to. I can't wait to do it again but going the opposite direction.
