So yes! Roadtrip to Reno! It was a lot of fun. If you'd like the short version, enjoy
the pictures with captions. And here's the long version:
On my way down to Provo I listened to music on my Ipod most of the way. I was surprised to see how green things still are - especially in the section of Yellowstone Park that you get to drive through on the way. Usually somewhere around midnight between July 31 and August 1 everything magically turns brown. Grass, non-evergreen trees, moss, animals - everything. But this year we've had so much rain it was still gorgeous green.
After about five hours of Ipod I put in an audio book -
Brag! by Peggy Klaus. It's about "The art of tooting your own horn without blowing it." Basically, she tells you how to talk about yourself (in business and social situations) without being a bore. For instance, talking yourself up in job interviews, loan applications and coctail parties. We're taught as kids not to brag, but you still have to learn how to say nice things about yourself. Her solution is to think ahead of time and be prepared when someone asks what it is you do or why you think you should have this job. The secret, she says, is to tell it like a story - a funny or exciting anecdote. Then people will be interested, rather than bored. Overall, I enjoyed it. It kept me awake all the way to my sister's house.
When I arrived, my sister's husband had just started watching
The Manchurian Candidate - the old version - which he had taped off PBS. It caught my attention enough that I stayed to watch it all the way till the end. Or at least until his tape ended. At which point there was probably about fifteen minutes of movie left. So I still don't know how it ends.
In the morning we headed out across the salt flats to Reno. I tell ya - the salt flats of Utah and desert of Nevada are kind of creepy and otherworldly. It doesn't help that there's a bizarre sculpture along side the highway at one point. It's kind of a wacky tree-like thing with no explanation. Also someone set up two huge, fake eyes in a cave on a hill so it looks like the whole rock formation is a monster coming up out of the desert. And that's all before you get to Reno.
I purchased one of those car window-shades for my niece on our way out of town. She had the sun in her face and it was just going to get worse across the desert. So I picked out a cute
SpongeBob Squarepants roller-shade because those shades have little holes all over them and SpongeBob is a sponge. Get it? Well anyway, it made me laugh so I bought it. As soon as we tried to put it up in Elizabeth's window, however, she yelled something like "Ponj-ob!" and grabbed it. She would scream when we tried to take it away from her and use it for its intended purpose. She rode all the way across the Nevada desert in August with SpongeBob fondly cradled in her lap. I guess that means my air conditioning works.
The kids watched movies on my laptop most of the way. My sister and I listened to another book on tape -
Artemis Fowl by Eoin (pronounced Owen) Colfer. Some of the early writing is a bit rough but it's funny and I like the premis. My favorite line in the book is said by an old codger policeman: "I'll make up for my age with a really big gun."
We spent two days with my brother and his family. They're training their new dog Blossom, who is a farm dog. I wish I got a picture of my brother - three month old baby under one arm, pellet gun rifle in the other, pegging the dog in the back yard for barking at the neighbors' cat. It's a perfect portrait of him.
The little cousins had a good time playing together as far as we could tell. Me, my sister and my sister-in-law got a lot of good chit-chat done. We solved the world's problems and compared medical histories. That's what girl-talk becomes when you grow up kids. Careful, it can happen to you too.
We also watched
13 Going On 30 - which we enjoyed because we're all just about the right ages.
The nephew who rode with me in my car is seven and has Asperger's syndrome. Basically that means he's high-functioning autistic. He and his mom have worked out some great solutions to his challenges and he's better able now to express when he's overstimulated and what he needs to feel better. His mom made him a weighted quilt which helps him sleep. It's made of soft fleece and has beanbag filling. When we were unpacking the car I asked if he could carry his quilt in. He said no, and I thought he was being difficult. Then I picked it up myself - and no, he probably can't carry it. He slept better than he did the last time I saw him, though.
In the car on the way home my sister and I listened to
Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident which is even better than the first book (but you still need to read the first one to get the most enjoyment out of the story." The best part of this book was a professional thief who was so wealthy he started stealing things just for the fun and challenge of it - so he started stealing Oscars until he had a complete set.
We stopped the story a few times on the way home to listen to my nephew tell me about the zoo he's going to build when he grows up. It's going to have geckos and penguins and cats and fish that the cats can hunt to suppliment their diet.
Books: I wonder if I'm trying to do too much all in one chapter. Maybe I need to spread out the exposition a little bit more. Heh, you may be witnessing the first lengthening of what was supposed to be a short book.
