Peace Out, America

Here's to my final hour on American soil for at least a year. I'm more nervous than I thought I would be. I have no idea what to expect on the other side. It will be an adventure for sure, and I hope a mostly uneventuful one.

My week in Idaho was nice, though it was weird to be in Moscow without Laura around. I saw a few friends, but spent most of my time in Genesee with my Mom. I watched a lot of the BBC cleaning ladies on TV. You know the ones? Kim and Aggie. They certainly would have had a great time haranguing me about my house in Miami. My mother threatens to "turn me in" to them or What Not to Wear on a regular basis. Love.

I said goodbye to my dog and my mother yesterday. My mom cried when I left which was awfully sad especially because I know how she feels. When Laura left for Switzerland, I was pretty sure I was going to die. I didn't get out of bed for two days and couldn't hardly function. Turns out I had a kidney infection, but still, pretty miserable. I'm sure my dog isn't faring much better. He's a pretty timid and sensitive guy, I hope he doesn't develop any new neuroses while I'm away.

My dad and I drove to Portland last night in Laura's little Escort. We didn't get into the hotel until nearly 2 am. About an hour out it started to get kinda scary, we were both very tired, but we survived. Quick hotel review: Ramada by the PDX--NO.

So, I guess I'll be flying over the north pole or something like that in a few hours, and I'll be waking up in Frankfurt in the morning. I've got an Ambien with my name on it. Here's to uneventuful travel!

TV Dust

I just learned two things from the Lewiston Morning Tribune. Well, three things.

First: It's not as exciting as the Miami Herald.

Second: Those old fashioned gas pumps only go up to $3.99, so around the country nearly 17,000 gas pumps will have to be retrofitted with higher numbers. Fascinating.

Third: TV dust is the biggest source of chemical flame retardants in your home. That's right, PBDEs are vaporized when your TV heats up and then they end up as dust on the screen and nearby bookshelves and appliances. Besides the fact that they make your brain go stupid it's one more reason to NOT have a TV.

Home again Home again Lickety Split

Back in Genesee. I was awfully tired of driving by the time I got back here. And the weather here is cold and the company can be stressful. We're having hamburgers for dinner, Again.

I took the dog for a walk around town today. I was trying to be very incognito in my black hoodie and hat I wanted to take pictures of my hometown and I didn't want anyone to recognize me being a tourist. Conversations would have been awkward.

"What are you doing home? How's Ph.D School in the Big City"
"oooh, I dropped out of school and I'm running away to work at Girl Scout Camp in Switzerland"
"oh, well aren't you fancy? Jessi is still in Law School and so and so got married, and so and so died and so and so embezelled $40 K from the fire department and bought a horse trailer with air conditioning"

And I was wearing my gecko shoes, how embarrassing.

I did run into a few children who wanted to pet my dog. I asked them about life in Genesee--they have mostly new teachers at the school, but the cranky old 4th grade teacher is still around. The children seemed frightened of her. Rightfully so in my recollection.

Genesee doesn't even cover a square mile but we have all the important things. Fire department, school, store, and football/baseball field. There's a gas station that you can't get gas at unless you're a member of the Union. If you're hard up and on fumes, you can try to find a local with a charitable heart to start the pump for you. While I was walking by a guy in a jeep with Ada county plates (That's southern Idaho...).
He looked at the old fashioned pumps, couldn't find a credit card reader and got back in his car looking annoyed. Once John Lithgow stopped through town for gas. That was the big story of the summer.


This is "Down town" It covers two small blocks and is mostly defunct. The only operational businesses are the bank, the post office, two bars, and one hair-cutting place.

Our post office still has the old fashioned boxes in them--the kinds you normally just see in museums anymore. They have two postal windows, but I've never seen the right hand side one in operation. To the left of the post master window, they post birth announcements. My arrival was announced there...

This is the house I grew up in. It was built in the 1880's and was one of the first houses built in town. While I was taking this picture, a little girl came out on the porch to ask me what I was doing. We ended up having a long, repetitive conversation about who has what bedroom now. It was blue when I lived there.

This is the way you find my parents' new house. Follow the signs to Genesee Sausage...

Here's the neighbors out on a little pony ride.

Montana

I'm in Livingston Montana, in the shittiest hotel room I've EVER been in. Or, it may be that I'm in a relatively shitty hotel room and I'm more exhausted than I've been in a LONG time. The room smells like pee. The pets are very interested in one of the corners. This place is so awful, they don't even provide little bars of soap--just a dispenser of hand soap. The kind you find in elementary schools, rest stops and fast food restaurants. I'm paying $60 a night for this. The reason I'm here (besides the fact that I would have ended up as road kill if I'd stayed on the interstate any longer) Is because my trusty stand by--the Econolodge--is full up. No room at the Inn. Lucky me, I'm driving through po-dunk America during the height of Graduation Season.

I nearly died on the drive here. I've forgotten how Dark it gets once night falls out on the open range. I'm not a good night driver in the best of circumstances, and tonight it was extra dark and rainy. I thought I would have been able to make it to Butte (haha Butte) But. I. Couldn't.

In addition to being tired and miserable, it's COLD here. There's a light dusting of snow on the ground here in Montana. While driving through western South Dakota and Wyoming, I saw thick crusty remnants of snow drifts in the lee of every small hill. I had completely forgotten that winter often lasts into June around here. It's been an especially hard winter this year. I thought Scott would have to wait a while to experience snow. Guess Not.

So, in conclusion: HUMPH.

I say out here in Wyoming, any speed is too slow

It was bound to happen. I'd resigned myself to the fact that I would probably get at least one speeding ticket on my drive. I am a pusher of luck. And I was pushing my luck when I crossed the border into Wyoming. I was not even a mile over the line when I got pulled over. I must say though, the police-man who caught me was very efficient and didn't give me a hard time about not having my registration handy. I was down and out again in less than 10 minutes. Good Job Wyoming.