on the road

You may very well be wondering where I've been, and I will tell you. I spent about five days in Heber, Utah at my sister Annie's house. Then Jon finished his review course in Galveston and I flew down and met him in Tucson where we spent one and a half glorious days before beginning the long drive back. Our Jeep, the retrieval of which was the sole purpose of our trip, fired right up like a champ and gave us no problems despite having not been driven for two years.

It seemed like we had a few good reasons for leaving it there with Jon's friend prior to our Statia adventure, but now I can't remember the exact circumstances. I remember not wanting to drive separate vehicles, and I remember thinking it would never make the journey, so why we didn't just sell it is beyond me. But we didn't, and it survived all 18 hours of the drive, and now we don't have to buy another car, so I suppose it all worked out.

My suspicion of it not making it to Idaho wasn't unfounded. I wrecked it about four years ago and the mechanic who came to the scene of the accident suggested that I not even drive it home that night. We've since put about four thousand miles and zero dollars of repairs into it. Aside from a nasty crunch over the passenger side wheel well, and aside from a ruined undercarriage, an upside-down steering wheel, and the near inability to make right-hand turns, it's practically brand-new!

I was especially worried about a possible break-down back then because we were traveling through the desert in the middle of summer with Penny. So it was decided that we'd take the more reliable car only and return for the Jeep without a furry dog that gets panicky and desperate when overheated, just in case we wound up on the side of the blacktop road in 112 degree weather. For all the good my well-meaning thoughts did her. During that trip up two years ago (sans Jeep), I was so concerned about her being unairconditioned that I built her something of a cold bed. It involved a bag of hotel vending machine ice covered with a few towels in her crate. After a couple of hours of driving and me worrying if she was going to get heatstroke, I looked back and made eye contact with a sad canine shivering uncontrollably. Worst owner ever. The ice went out the window. She survived.

Oh gosh there's so much more to say, not to mention pictures to post, but this has already gotten out of hand and it's far past my bedtime. Who invented 9:00 church, anyway???

More soon, I promise.