On the Road...

Greetings from Cedar City, UT!

Yesterday I got kind of a late start and didn't get on the road until 11:30am. One of my window locks had come loose and broken from all the activity from the painters and, since I don't have any screens right now, I wanted to replace it and have the peace of mind that my house was totally secure. So I had to run to the hardware store, install it, and finish packing. I also wanted to take my car to the car wash. All of the dust and a nearby fire on Thursday (with huge ashes) had gotten it pretty dirty.

At 11:30 I was officially on the road. I did something I have never done on a road trip, which was, instead of listen to music, I listened to a "book on tape," or CD, in this case. My companion this time was Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I read the book years ago, and loved it, but didn't remember much. And since I just saw the movie I wanted to compare the two. I really liked the movie, and I know that things from the book have to be trimmed, but I didn't realize how much was trimmed!

Now that I'm up to about Chapter 17 on the CDs, I'm questioning some of the things that were taken out. When Dumbledore takes Harry through the pensieve to visit Voldemort's past--wow, the movie really cut out a lot. And the movie also never explains why Dumbledore's hand is all black and shriveled. It also never tells you who that scary-looking guy is who chases Harry and Ginny through the grasses around the Burrow.

One thing that the movies sometimes do that I'm not too fond of--and don't get me wrong, I love the movies--is that they will change which character does something. I remember that from the 5th movie. Whoever finds the Room of Requirement in the film is different than in the book. In the 6th film they show Luna Lovegood rescuing Harry from the floor of the train and it was Tonks that did it in the book. They also cut Remus Lupin's scenes down a lot in the movie compared to the book. I guess as long as you can follow the story...

Anyway...

So I made it to the CA/NV border and stopped at Whiskey Pete's casino, which I always do. I know where the bathrooms are, they have their own gas station, and I got a quick chicken sandwich at McDonald's. Then I was on the road again.

I made it to St. George, UT, which is kind of the halfway point between Los Angeles and Provo/Salt Lake. My BYU friend, Gail, lives there with her husband and kids and she just had baby #6 (!) on Friday. My trusty GPS got me to her house incredibly easily, and thanks to Facebook, I recognized all her kids. Didn't get to hold the baby yet--he's still being passed around the big sisters.

Gail and I talked and caught up for almost 2 hours. The original plan was for me to find a hotel in St. George, but I decided to press on for 50 more miles to Cedar City, which I did. St. George was HOT! Parts of CA, like Barstow and Baker, where HOT! Nevada was HOT!

It was hot.

The car thermometer was reading the outside temp anywhere from 99 to...you ready? 116 degrees! Whenever I passed a sign that said "Avoid overheating, turn off A/C for the next 15 miles," I obeyed it. I saw lots of cars overheated on the side of the road. Mind you, most of them were either old, American, or both (never saw a Toyota or Honda on the side of the road...) but I still didn't want to take a chance.

There were summer storms along the way, which I didn't expect. It was raining when I stopped at Whiskey Pete's for gas. It was sprinking intermittedly in St. George, and it was really raining in last night as I pulled into the Best Western in Cedar City. I didn't bring an umbrella. I have 3 perfectly good umbrellas all snug at my house, which doesn't do me a lot of good. If needs be, I'll get a small one to keep in the car. Only if needs be.

The hotel is very comfortable. One of the marks of a good hotel is the shower. This one passed. Check out is at 11am and I may hang around until then. Only 200 miles left to Provo and there is no rush. I'll be meeting up with Slook Sally (Slook is a nickname among this group of girls, along with a myriad of other private jokes...) and then driving to Saratoga Springs and spending the night with Slook Karen at her dad's house. Tomorrow we'll drive to Draper together to meet the other 5 girls.

I'm so excited to see everyone! Seeing Gail was a good start on this little pilgrimage of past roommates. I can't believe it has been 15 years since I graduated college. Where did the time go?