Someone Else's Dream

The tumbleweed blew across the road as the mountains turned into a highland desert. We left Seattle behind not on foot as planned but on a road trip to Cincinnati. The rest of our traveling companions have their individual reasons for heading there.
We passed into Idaho and out again just as quickly. It's a small state when you're just crossing the panhandle. On the way through I saw a sign that said, "Welcome to the center of the universe -Wallace, Idaho". I didn't have a moment of satori as I passed through but the town did seem interesting. They had a nice older looking downtown area, all five story brick buildings. They even had a bordello museum, I'd definitely like to go back some day.
We chased a lightning storm across Montana as well. It kept pace with us for over 4 hours, flashing its lights in the distance. The ground was flat enough that we always seemed to be heading straight into it.
In South Dakota we visited the town of Wall, and of course visited Wall Drug. It was an absolute horror of American tourist traps. Filled to the brim with every kitschy item you can imagine and beyond that even. It was almost impossible to eat as a vegetarian across the middle of the States but I figured as much and ate a lot of breakfast.
Before we hit Iowa we started worrying about all the flooding. We weren't sure if the highway would be open or not, but it seemed they had just opened up the Interstate which was very good. As we drove through you could just tell that the ground was utterly saturated with water and in parts lakes lapped right against the shoulder of the Interstate.
We arrived in Cincinnati and left just as quickly. Not by choice... necessity was fueling our trip out to Buffalo. We are here now and the trip is over just as quickly as it began. I would say the trip was pointless but I can't even begin to describe how amazing Seattle was, how generous each person we couch surfed with was, and even what the drive to Cincinnati was like. I do not have the words. I wish it could have gone on longer, I wish that money was not the absolute ruling entity in all our lives. I am disappointed but in the end, it's all alright. Any experience at all is better than none and I have faith that I will attempt it again.

The Adversity of the Road

The road has been hard. We first visited the small town of Caldwell, ID where I spent my formative years. It was around 30 miles away from our starting location and our packs were heavy. The journey was difficult but with the help of two friendly individuals we made it. Those friendly faces will be burnt into my memory. Tim was the first. He actually turned his car around and drove us 8 miles in the opposite direction of where he was going just to hear our story and to tell us a little of his. He gave us two roses and some religious texts as parting gifts and wished us well. The day smelled of sunshine and farming. As night was falling and our destination was still miles away we ran into Roger. He had been out on his four wheeler watering his crops all day but saw our need. We planted our butts on the back of his four wheeler and held on as he drove us further towards our destination. He left us with kind words as well and suggestions of where we could sleep.
We reached the river where we planned to camp utterly exhausted and sore. It was after midnight and we still needed to pitch the tent. We managed to do so and fell into the slumber worthy of the trip. We spent a few days in Caldwell resting and decided to lighten our packs. They were just too heavy to make good time. I'm wearing the clothes on my back, my pack filled with only the essentials plus one book and my journal. Much lighter we weighed our options, after some debating we decided to catch a greyhound to Seattle. It was more complicated than I had imagined as the greyhound in Caldwell had been shutdown and we found ourselves needing to be back in Boise. This was more than a little disheartening. We spent the night in a hotel in Boise after catching a bus and had a long night and morning filled with discontent, insecurity and general doubt. We caught that bus though and after one more night of rest I feel like we are ready again to hit the road after we explore more of Seattle's sights, sounds, and tastes. I already am relishing the fact that we are in an actual living city again, the noise is comforting, the coffee is wonderful, and my heart is willing.