Driving Off Into The Sunset

As most of my faithful readers know, my beautiful wife Natalie is from Boise, Idaho. All of her immediate family reside in that beautiful city which means that we often make the 5 hour trip to the Northwest. It is generally a chance to listen to good music at loud volumes, share work stories, and eat junk food. Sometimes the driving part of the trip is just not very fun. Here are some things I've learned from our trip this past weekend and from previous trips:

1. Play let's make a deal. It is a good idea to try to make a deal about how much each party will be driving before beginning the journey. This allows one to mentally prepare himself for the task at hand. I assumed that my wife, although pregnant, would take the brunt of the driving duties as I had been sick the whole week and still felt rotten when the journey began. We made it to Tremonton where we stopped for some food. Walking back to the car she stopped on the passenger side of the car and gave me the "your turn" look. She told me that her eyes were "wigging out." The remaining four hours of the trip would be piloted by yours truly.

2. Due to Boise's geographical location in relation to Salt Lake, a trip begun in the summer during the early evening hours will result in three to four hours of driving directly into the blazing setting sun. Dark sunglasses, visor extenders, and patience are a must. (I don't have visor extenders, so I use my hand.) By the time we reached Boise, my eyes had long since "wigged out."

3. It is important to find out when we NEED to be there. Sometimes Natalie is so anxious to see her family that we take unnecessary traveling risks. This January, we had planned to go to the McCall winter carnival with her family for the weekend. We packed our things and left work early on Thursday evening despite ominous forecasts. We ended up driving through one of the biggest storms of this past winter. It was huge. Basically a whiteout from North Ogden all the way until we reached Boise. It was by far the scariest, iciest, and worst driving experience of my life. Anytime I drove over 35 mph, the car would lose traction and start fishtailing. We passed semi after semi that had slid off the road. Eight hours later, with my mind, eyes, nerves, and patience shot, we arrived safely at Natalie's parent's house. I slept in, had breakfast, and wandered around the empty house only to find that Natalie's parents had to work that day. They wouldn't be off until later in the afternoon. I had just risked our very lives driving through the night on ice through a 4oo mile blizzard, so we could wait all day for her parents to get off work so we could leave for the carnival. Not a happy camper. I vowed then and there not to return for the McCall winter carnival. Out of spite? No, out of logic.

End note: I deeply love Natalie and her family. I love the time we spend in Boise, This post is merely a look at the interesting adventures we have while making the long journey to and from the gem state.