July 30, 2008
2:36 pm. We’re about 56 km away from lethbridge, and we just left the Subway in Ft. Macleod. We obviously left a little later than we expected to, since we were still at home at noon, but that’s ok, it’s the summer, and this is our vacation trip, so there’s no reason to rush.
The weather is pretty nice, theres lots of clouds and you can see rain in the distance, but thankfully it isn’t raining, and there isn’t much traffic on the highway. Just saw the sign directing us towards Coutts, which is the town located at the border crossing.
Im surprised my ipod transmitter sounds so good in the car, probably because there are no radio stations to interfere out here in the middle of nowhere.
For those that may be interested, we’re currently on a little RHCP binge, and currently listening to BSSM (which is a great album). John Frusciante is amazing.
It’ll be my turn to drive once we hit Coutts and enter Montana, and then the plan is to drive to Idaho Falls, ID, and sleep there, and then continue on our little road trip to Arizona, and arrive in Page by tomorrow night. Heres to hoping that we don’t run into any detours or trouble fingers and toes crossed
2:45 pm Just saw a convoy of sheep. That’s right, a convoy.
More later…
2:55 pm, 8 km to Lethbridge. Damn you subway mustard, damn you to hell. Damn getting mustard on your brand new NIN shirt from the show you saw last night. Thank god for travel wipes though, cleaned the mustard before it dried and got all crusty. Theres still a microscopic bit of it there, but not much.
Looks like we’re now in Lethbridge, in which I’ve never been. Its 22 C out, and I like the log railway bridge that you see on the right when you drive into the city. The scenery reminds me of Kamloops or Drumheller. Its surprisingly hilly. I guess my stereotyped version of Albedrta being flat is no longer valid.
3:00 pm, so far so good with our GPS. It hasn’t lost us or taken us into a ghetto (I somehow doubt they have one in lethbridge though, haha). That said, I hope we don’t end up getting directed through South Central once im in LA. Lethbridge is larger than I would have imagined.
3:16 pm I believe Anthony Kiedis just sang the word “semen”. Our GPS is showing a single straight green line. What an exciting road.
“Long long long long time ago! Before the rain before the snow!”
3:26 pm 56 km to coutts. According to the GPS we should arrive there at 4:04 pm. I’ve also started taking pictures with my phone. I see mountains ahead, which means Montana is getting close.
NIN time.
3:51 pm, 8.2 km to go. Then after we cross the border, it’s my turn to drive the next 3-400 km, then we’ll have to grab some dinner. Hopefully that doesn’t entail getting anymore condiments on my shirt.
It’s very windy, and los estados unidos are just around the corner.
4:15 pm and we’re in. the customs officer was very nice (which is always great, since a lot of the time they aren’t). Just at a rest stop now, going to run to the bathroom, and then it’s my turn to drive, so next update whenever I am no longer driving or we stop to get food. I’m looking forward to driving now.
6:10 pm we’re in Great Falls MT. we just pulled into the parking lot of an “Applebee’s”, walked in, walked out. Totally packed. Off to find another place to eat.
6:37 pm now at a place called Jakers, got a spot, and just looking at the menu. Waiting for clam chowder, and sipping on a pepsi. I laughed at my mom when she tried to order Perrier sparkling water in the middle of nowhere in Montana.
6:45 pm we’re thinking about driving all the way to Salt Lake City today, but we’re not sure how far it is. I’ll have to get our GPS to calculate it once I’m back in the car. The drive so far has been very enjoyable, a little windy, but the roads aren’t busy at all which is great.
6:50 pm, looks like there’s wifi here, so I went on google and found out how far it is. It’s a little far, so we’ve decided to drive to Pocatello, ID, sleep overnight, and then drive the remaining 8 hours to Page, AZ. Sweet deal.
7:23 pm, time to hit the road.
7:45 pm, sitting in the car in a Starbucks parking lot, waiting for my mom to get her heroin in a cup and then we’re off. According to the little screen stuck to my windshield, we should arrive in Pocatello at around 2 am today, so depending on how tired we are in the next 4 hours, we might just go all the way, or stop earlier, and make up the 2 hours tomorrow. Food was good, really nice service, here comes mom, back to driving
10:15 pm, sitting in the car in front of a “town pump” gas station. Pee break. Mom’s turn to drive. Recent music we listened to was about 2 hours of Serge Gainsbourg, followed by Nick Cave’s latest “Dig Lazarus Dig” which is an awesome album. Back on the highway now, it’s NIN time (again), time to blast “The Fragile” to keep us going for the next 4 hours or so. I could keep writing for that long too supposedly according to my battery meter.
The scenery around here is beautiful, totally not what I expected from a state like Montana. Lots of little canyons and weaving roads. It’s now dark so you can’t see much, but what we did see we liked. Time to pop open some munchies I think. Those keep you up and going.
[Currently listening to: Nine Inch Nails – The Day The World Went Away]
10:27 pm, Continental Divide Elevation 5679 ft
I can see the big dipper if I look up out the window.
10:39 pm, probably one more pit stop in the next little while, and then we might just end up crashing for the night in Idaho Falls, ID and getting up earlier tomorrow and driving down the rest of the road to Page. Although I’m tired right now, this drive hasn’t been tiring at all and we’ve been in the car for about 10 hours now.
Madison County. “The Bridges of Madison County” with Clint Eastwood and Merryl Streep. (thanks for the tidbit mom)
Idaho Falls – 176 mi.
10:48 pm, time for some mixed nuts.
10:51 pm, these deluxe mixed nuts are so deluxe, that they are absolutely impossible to open.
11:25 pm, 1:20 am should be our time of arrival. 126 mi. to go. I also believe I saw a fox. We passed a recreation area. Not sure what they are recreating there though. Hahah as you can tell, I am tired.
11:52 pm, getting closer, texting with Hady
[Currently listening to: Nine Inch Nails – The Big Comedown]
11:59 pm, Welcome to Idaho
12:27 am, pee break, horror film rest area, foxes running around. Sweet
12:32 am, that was a ridiculously clean ladies bathroom. (yeah, my mom was scared to go alone since it’s a rest stop in the middle of nowhere, so I went too lol. The things you do on road trips)
1:52 am, finally found a hotel that had a room here in Idaho Falls. Shower time, then sleep and then up at 10:30 and off to Arizona.
p.s. I promise that my posts will get shorter.
p.p.s. ill eventually upload pics from my phone, i’m too tired to do it right now though
