It's Day 2 of our epic journey to Washington D.C. Currently, we are stationed at a Marriott hotel in Dayton, Ohio (thanks to Alex Kopayghora for getting us the friends & family rate), resting in preparation for the final push tomorrow.
My brother Stephen and I embarked Monday morning at 4 a.m. I love waking up before the rest of the world when going on a trip. You get to ride along in the darkness and watch as the world changes from pitch black to twilight to dawn. It's exciting.
But then, of course, the charm was destroyed once we hit Wyoming. I'm sure Wyoming's great and all in those areas where you can fish and camp, but along I-80, it is the most boring stretch of land on Earth. People warned me about Nebraska, but Wyoming was way worse. Wyoming was barren and filled with sagebrush, and came with occasional giant pollution-causing factories. Nebraska was green, lush, and came with a historical bridge.
We did have some tire trouble that first day. A split near the rim. But Penske called a mechanic to come bail us out and we made it to our first stop only six hours later than I'd originally estimated.
The people we stayed with were the LeBarons--friends of a guy named Jon Roundy, who I worked with at the MTC, who is now going to law school at Creighton in Omaha. The LeBarons, even though they had never met us, were happy to take in friends of Jon. The next morning, when we left, I put a note on the bed that said,
"Dear LeBarons, thank you so much for your hospitality. Your house is like Rivendell--a refuge before the remainder of the journey."
Stephen said it was the geekiest thank you note he'd ever seen (which made me quite proud).
Day 2. Day 2 was better than Day 1. The drive wasn't as long, and we passed through some beautiful country (AND we crossed the Mississippi). We also got to drive through Indianapolis, where I served a fourth of my mission, and I showed Stephen the enormous Indianapolis Speedway (which he was stunned by).
Oh, and we saw two commercial trucks that had flipped over on their sides and were lying in corn fields, each with an invisible sign sticking up that said "Don't let this happen to you!"
It's been super fun so far--between having philisophical conversations with my brother and admiring the landscape.
That's it for now. I'll see you in D.C.
(-Robert)
P.S. Here's some pictures from the states we passed through.
Wyoming (borrring!)
Nebraska
Rivendell
Iowa (Is This Heaven? No, it's Iowa).
Illinois (Mississippi River)
Indianapolis Speedway (This place seats a quarter of a million people).
No comments:
Post a Comment