Rexburg Redux

After being back from London for only one day, Rosie and I roadtripped up to Rexburg, ID. Rosie was feeling left out because we didn’t bring her to London, so I promised her we’d do something fun over fall break. I’ve wanted to drive up and see my sister Mary at BYU-Idaho since she started last year, and now she’s in her last semester. We dropped Taylor off in SLC, drove on the Legacy Parkway for the first time, and headed north on I-15 Wednesday afternoon. I made my two usual stops…gas at the Flying J in Willard, and dinner at Jack in the Box in Pocatello. We arrived in the ‘Burg around 8:30 pm.

Mary, Monica, Rosie and I got frozen custard a BRC’s

It was fun to share college stories with Rosie. She said she already knows she wants to go to BYUI. She is interested in the nursing program, but let’s see what she says in 9 years when it’s time to declare a major.

I had fun getting to know Mary’s roommates, and as this picture attests…they were very sad to see me leave. We had fun stalking people on Facebook…like an old boyfriend of mine, whose brother is friends with Mary’s roommate. Small world.
This was my first time to Rexburg since the temple was dedicated. When driving into town at night, it looks like the temple is floating about of town. It would have been nice to have this available when I was a student, but I do have fun memories of Idaho Falls temple trips with my student ward. My favorite diner from back then is now a hot tub store, and the Retrix dance club is now a home decorating store. There’s loads of new married student housing, many more restaurants, a movie theater, and a lot more students. There are several more buildings on campus…and the Manwaring Center just opened a gorgeous new cafeteria. I went to Foundations of Light and Sound with Mary, pretending to be a student (also to have internet access, since it was blocked from Mary’s apartment for guests.

We participated in some Walmart hijinks until the store employee reprimanded us

Mary made us some stellar banana Nutella crepes

After class on Friday, we went into Idaho Falls. Weshopped for a few hours at the Grand Teton Mall. I found a new dress, which was much needed at Dillards. Rosie had fun posing in the rides for silly pictures. She got to visit with some cousins while Mary and I met Taylor’s cousing Kylie at Craigo’s back in Rexburg. We returned to SLC on Saturday morning in time to attend a funeral and a wedding.

Camarillo the Cali Camry

I’m really attached to my car.

Last week, Camarillo the Cali Camry (Or Cami for short) hit 150,000 miles. I felt that it would be an opportune time to give an ode to my dear vehicle. We met in 2007 in Orange County. I’d been a Honda Girl who went to the lot originally scoping out Accords. After an unimpressive test drive, I decided against purchasing a particular Accord, and decided to browse the lot a bit more. Tried a Jetta with a shimmy. Quickly played with the idea of a small SUV….and then I saw a pristine looking Camry. I quickly knew it was for me, it drove well and was exactly in our price range. We signed on the dotted line and drove her home to La Verne. I was a little nervous buying her so quickly, as I hadn’t sold my other car yet, but things quickly worked out with the sale of the Fittle.

Her name, Camarillo, comes from a town in Ventura County, near where Taylor and I went on our honeymoon. When he was in his flight training, we took a day trip and flew out to Camarillo for dinner. It was such a fun experience to fly over southern California and point out the freeways and landmarks, and have the sun set behind us over the ocean on our way back.

Cami and I have traveled much of the country together. In our two years, we’ve driven through California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina. She’s worn license plates for California, Michigan, and Georgia (and possibly Utah soon.) She’s driven through temperatures from -15 degrees to +115 degrees, through wind, rain, sleet, snow, hail, blinding frozen fog and scorching heat. She’s seen gas prices from $1.43 to $4.80 per gallon. She forgives me when I don’t wash her often enough. She’s taken me to stores, churches, concerts, schools, parks, restaurants, family and friends’ houses… as well as many, many trips to airports. She’s been filled to the gills as we moved from California to Michigan, then to Georgia, then to Utah. She kept me comfortable and safe on my commutes to Montclair, Ann Arbor, and Emory. Her speakers have blasted my favorite music through them. We’ve spend a LOT of time together. Over 40,000 miles in 26 months.

Of course, she isn’t without her quirks. When I purchased the car, I was only given a valet key, which means I can’t open the trunk without popping the latch. The brake light on the dash has been wonky since the day I started driving it to Detroit. The cigarette lighter adapter has been broken for months. It has a rusty scar by the rear driver side wheel from when it was wounded in a Good Samaritan attempt. And last week the moulding on the passenger side started coming off. But I love her still.

Here’s to another 150,000 miles!

Made It!

After four solid days of packing, and three solid days of driving, I’ve made it to the beautiful Wasatch Front. We traveled over 1900 miles through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and Utah. I’m feeling a bit road weary, so I’m glad to be stretched out on my parents’ couch. There’s still much to be figured out, but it’s great to know I’ve got a lot of friends and family close by.

That’s my report.

Travel Junkie

My visited states map 2/20/09

I’ve loved travel since I was a little girl, but most family vacations were spent traveling in a car between Portland and Salt Lake City (the two places that my extended family lived) I got to know all the stop major stops along the road on I-15 and I-84 from repeated trips in Oregon, Idaho, California, Utah, and Nevada. For instance on 1-15:

McCammon? Idaho exit 47.

St George Bluff Street? Utah exit 6

Ute? Nevada exit 80

I’ve done the 800 mile SLC-PDX roadtrip at least 20 times, 250 mile SLC-Rexburg, ID (my college town) 50 times, and the 700 mile SLC-LA roadtrip 15 times. I’ve been to 32 US States and 2 Canadian provinces…so far…

My first airplane ride was when I was approximately Rosie’s age. I lived in Portland, and my mom bought some plane tickets off a friend to Salt Lake City (United Airlines, connecting at SFO, I believe) I remember my mom had me memorize the name printed on the ticket so we didn’t get caught (back before all of the TSA identification guidelines) For years, I wished and hoped to go on an airplane again.

For my 15^th birthday, all I wanted was to.visit Portland by air. I pooled gift money from my parents, grandparents and friends for an unaccompanied ticket from SLC to PDX. I still have my Delta boarding pass from that flight. Over the next decade, I flew a variety of times, always mesmerized by the thrill of the takeoff, the gorgeous views, and the lingo the crew used.

When my husband made the decision to pursue aviation for a career, I was thrilled for all of the travel opportunities it would afford my family. I tried to ignore the financial consequences of his extremely expensive education, and thought instead of the great time we’d enjoy in his cushy career. We now know it’s not all that cushy, but it does have it’s perks. It’s now been over 5 years since he first took flight in a Cessna, and I’ve flown more in that time than I would have in a lifetime if he weren’t a pilot. (In 2008, I flew non-rev nearly 50,000 miles)

I’m a total travel junkie.