Day 16: Salt Lake City to Kearney, Nebraska

It was a long day of driving and there is little to report. We got up before 6. I’m determined that will be the earliest I will wake up the rest of summer. That’s a downside of these trips. We get up at sunrise most days to start hiking before it gets too hot or before the afternoon thunderstorms hit the mountaintops. Now I’ll be able to sleep in.

We were in the car for 11 hours, all of which were uneventful. The girls are just amazing in the car, sure they get wiggly (especially Ellie) and bored (especially Ellie), but we make them run laps and do jumping jacks at gas stations (especially Ellie.)

I drove the final couple of hours and had a really hard time. As we drove through Wyoming, we saw exits for the towns and parks we were planning on visiting in three weeks. It was a twist of the knife.

We have the windows covered with strong plastic and painters tape. It has been holding up well enough, but every 100 miles or so we need to pull over and retape it all. As we drive, the noise is almost unbearable. The plastic shakes and vibrates, creating a constant loud sound. The tape sometimes gets undone and will hit the car or plastic repeatedly, causing an annoying, loud tapping. We have to have the music on so loud and scream to each other. It is a constant reminder of the situation. And I get the worse headaches.

If you’ve read the blog for this summer or last, you know we call our car Fred. I don’t think we have ever explained how he got that name. When we pulled out of the Honda dealership after just buying it, the song “I’m Too Sexy” was on the radio. If you know anything about 90s pop, you know that the song was performed by the music sensation Right Said Fred. Hence, the name of the car. (Side note…did you know that Right Said Fred came out with a new single earlier this year and have an upcoming album?) So, driving more than 2100 miles across the country with plastic and bright blue tape as windows is so unsexy. It makes me feel sad for the car.

I think the other part that is hard for me is that this is the last night. I look forward all school year to spending these weeks with just my husband and daughters. Each year we learn more about ourselves and each other. We all grow and become even more of ourselves. We have inside jokes that couldn’t possibly be explained, we forgive one another for irrational bursts of emotions, we hold one another’s hands as we see the country. It is hard to know that is over for this summer. Sure we’ll all be home, but we won’t be sharing a hotel room, the tiny area of the car, or the vast greatness of the wilderness each day together.

We do have a lot to look forward to the rest of the summer. There is no doubt that we’ll enjoy it. But I think I’m going to ok with being sad tonight, so I can be excited for the rest of summer tomorrow.