is earlier sunrises.
i got up a little after 5 to pee and was unsuccessful in getting back to sleep. and now it is pretty light and i'm up for the day.
fortunately there is a small fridge in the room so we were able to refreeze the ice packs and refrigerate the drinks and what's left of the grapes (perfect and required travel food, goes great with white cheddar cheeze-its!).
so this is The Trip. Shelley and I are having a good time. the scenery is spectacular and i ams such a california girl...a little bit of snow impresses me. big farms. lots of horses. Shelley is a horse woman (her horse's name is Sundance) and she notices every horse as we drive by. we have visted two tack shops so far...one was the atore of a man who makes custom saddles (in the $8,000 range for the fancy ones) and his work is in the Smithsonian. that was a REAL treat to go downstairs and see what he was working on. that was in Winnemucca. and there are more shops to visit as we proceed. oh, and the Sierra Trading Post story in Cody WY. Shelley insists that we stop there. I am frightened already.
so this is The Trip. talked about and planned for weeks.
in many respects it is very easy...gorgeous views, air conditioning that works, nice stops to take pictures, we trade driving easily and respect each other's driving ability.
on the other hand, it is not so easy. looking at the meaninag and implications. the reason we are doing this is (partly, for the most part) because Shelley is getting Linda's car. the reason she is getting Linda's car is because Linda died. this is the trip that Linda wanted to take, visiting the parks, and while she is "with us," she is also not with us. this is part of my journey, and i'm hoping that it will help in many ways to make things different. (remember the phrase, "it doesn't get any better, but it does get different." and on my return to San Jose, as i noted before, the green Hyundai that Linda loved so much, that parked in the driveway for 8 years, will no longer be there. that's a concrete piece of reality that will face me very day.
so that's the not so easy part of this trip.
there is much to look forward to (bad grammar, i know) including Madison WI and at least one Univ of Wisconsin shirt or sweatshirt. i was in Madison eons ago. and brunch with Stanley Cutler on the way to my summer camp weekend in Oconomowoc. (boy that is a fun word to type).
well it's almost a decent hour to get up and on our way. first a good breakfast.
