adiva_calandia

We were trying for Provo, Utah today, but after driving twelve eleven hours (we moved over a time zone) we decided to stop in Twin Falls, Idaho.

I've tried to call it Twin Peaks and Two Rivers at least once each already tonight. *facepalm*

Other than that, I have very little to report about the day. Driving 600 miles through eastern Oregon and western Idaho is preeeetty dull. Like, the Columbia River gorge was pretty nice, but I was kinda sleep-depped, and then it was trees. And then it was just flat.

( Canons I've been reading )

Today we track down the Seattle Kaladi Bros., get our teeth cleaned (my uncle's a dentist, and a good one), and then hit the road the head for Longview, WA, where my dad grew up and one of my other uncles currently lives.

I think Seattle has a grudge against me meeting people here; this makes it three meet-ups that have been attempted and haven't panned out. Hmmph. Well, I've learned my lessons -- next time I drag phone numbers out of everyone, plan well in advance, and don't say "Let's meet for coffee in Pike Place Market." Because AHAHA Pike Place is huger than I think.

I love Seattle, though. I really do. We went to the U district yesterday and ate at the Continental, a Greek cafe that my parents have been patronizing continuously for thirty years, and admired the vast amounts of weirdness walking around there. And Pike Place . . . oh, Pike Place. One of these days I'm writing a story set in Pike Place (I say that every time I come to Seattle, lately, and it has yet to be true, but SOMEDAY it will be), because a little bit of my heart lives there.

Now then. To shower, to packing, and to coffee!

Meh. It was a Day. I have nothing much to report; I spent a lot of time sleeping, and am still slightly miffed at my mother for a perceived lack of confidence in my driving skills. Not an entirely unfounded lack of confidence, but a miffing one nonetheless.

. . . Yeah. Really nothing to report. Rather than getting to Cache Creek today, we are in Quesnel (which is pronounced sans the s sound, so that it sounds French rather than like a sandwich chain).

Tomorrow we hit Seattle. *fingers crossed*

Oh man I have so much to write about. It's amazing how much can happen in twelve hours of driving, even when three or four of those hours are spent unconscious (nothing is as soporific as long drives). And if I wax particularly verbose and simile-tastic, blame Michael Chabon: I finished The Yiddish Policeman's Union today. More on that later.

I'll start with the BISON. ON THE ROAD. And the HERDS OF BISON NEXT TO THE ROAD. THREE OF THEM.

It was awesome. And there were caribou, and mountain sheep, and even a mama moose and her mosling!

Also in the ungulate spotting vein, which I forgot to write about when it happened: when we drove into Tok on Monday, we noted a Texaco station that had clearly been the site of a fire. The place was demolished.

When we drove out Tuesday morning, there were two goats calmly nibbling at grass under the Texaco sign, in front of the bent and rusted iron struts, in the clear space where there used to be pumps. It was surreal, man.

Anyway. Lot of wildlife today.

The other fun thing! Early in the day, when we went through Watson Lake, the Milepost had a brief entry on the rock graffiti that lines the highway past there. And it seriously does line the highway. We were going by too fast for me to make much of it out, or get decent pictures, but it was mostly names, spelled out in several-foot-high letters, formed by stones embedded in the roadbank. I half-wanted to get out of the car and add my mark (a giant 19, maybe, or a Sign, or similar) but this isn't a trip of sight-seeing and tourism. It's a straight-forward get-there trip, at least 'til we hit the States.

( A lot of stuff about traveling, now. )

Final story: We went to a restaurant tonight, and Dad and I got a table while Mom grabbed something out of the car. The waitress came over to us for drink orders, and Dad said, "My wife'll want decaf coffee, and I'll have the same."

"Okay," chirped the waitress, not even looking at me. "Do you have a third coming?"

". . . I'll have a soda," I said.

"Oh, okay." She headed off.

". . . Please tell me she didn't think I was your wife and you were ordering for me," I said to Dad.

Dad thought for a moment.

And then he laaaaughed, and I headtabled, as my mom joined us.

The wireless server conked out at about 8 last night, so I sat down and watched "Roadkill" and "Heart" (commentary later) and then went to bed on the squeakiest mattress ever to squeak. Big beds (this is a double) always screw with me; I end up twisting myself around perpendicular for no reason I can fathom.

It rained hard all last night, but there was bright sun in the west for a while, and a gorgeous double rainbow outside my window that got brighter and taller as the sun went down. I took pictures.

And then I woke up, got in the shower, and got about halfway through before the hot water disappeared. BOY am I awake now.

Today we drive IN HELL for Canada, and plan to bed down in Whitehorse.

And so begins the Great 2007 Road Trip, on a rainy Monday morning, with boxes packed and coffee in hand.

Catch you on the road!

I woke up from a nap today, considered bursting into tears, and decided not to because it would take too much energy.

So ready for all this to be over. The show is incredibly frustrating and not a little depressing (not 'cause of the subject material, but because of the actors and the director), and I've got most of the easy packing done but that leaves all the hard packing like all the paperwork from CMU.

Good things, though: today is my parents' 26th anniversary, which is cool. Also, the director gave me her card, so now I have a contact in the NY theatre community who appears to think very highly of me. And I have to admit, that's pretty cool. It'd be nice if I liked the director better, though, and didn't have these persistent thoughts comparing her to Umbridge.

I've had "All Will Be Well" in my head for the past couple days, because the lyrics fit so, so well with my current situation.

A new day dawns, and I am practicing my purpose once again,
It is fresh and it is fruitful if I win, but if I lose,
Oh, I don't know
I'll be tired but I will turn and I will go
Only guessing 'til I get there, then I'll know
Oh, I will know

ETA: ( A totally unrelated bit of commentary on Live Free or Die Hard that I forgot to mention )

. . . Inserting "road trip" for "lion" really robs that subject line of its absurdity. Alas.

Anyway!

Y'all may remember this post, about my upcoming (OH GEEZ ONLY THREE WEEKS) road trip down to and across the Lower 48 (also known as the contiguous US, for you Outsiders). As we near that time, I figured I'd repost the itinerary and poke around for reactions.

( Itinerary, with approximate dates )

And an added trip!

August 25: Washington, DC, with the rest of the Dramaturgy dept., to see a lecture by Mark Bly. Details about that will, presumably, be forthcoming. I am assuming we'll be there most of Saturday and Sunday, so there should be time to gad about the city.

And here I repeat my request for good road trippin' music. *certainly not looking hopefully at Aspen and Lynne on that front*

So this fall, there's college, yeah? College on the east coast.

And my parents went, "Hey, you know, we haven't gone on a cross-country road trip since 1995. Here's a good excuse! [Adiva], you want to learn to drive the RV and drive the Alaska-Canada Highway, right?"

And I went, ". . . Sure!"

And then I went, "DUDE, cross-country road trip!"

So.

( The itinerary )

Again, those dates are rough. The locations, however, aren't -- we'll definitely be stopping in each of the places mentioned.

Which means: meet-ups! This is just a heads-up for those of you along the route; dates will be updated as things gets solidified (how's that for non-specificity?). See, I'll be missing the official Millicon '07; so I'll just have to string as much of it across the country as I can.

(In a semi-related vein, Dad and I need music to keep us entertained while we drive through miles and miles of nothing pristine Canadian wilderness. Who has good road-trip songs?)