california ---> utah

Let me start by warning everyone what they probably already know: Do not go to sleep at 2am if you are planning on picking up your brother at 6am to embark on an 8-hour car ride. I am such a procrasti-packer! There we are on the right, me enjoying my canned coffee beverage and Aaron doing his trademark smile. Don't we match the wall so well?!

We got out of LA with no traffic problems. The weather was overcast and pleasantly cool, which was awesome. Aaron said something funny about being on the 15 north for 500 miles, but in our sleep and carb deprived states, neither of us could remember it. IMAGINE IT WAS HILARIOUS!!! 61 miles from Los Angeles, we were still seeing signs for Carmaggedon. The drizzling started just as we finished listening to the South Park soundtrack and then the visibility drops dramatically. We are in a huge cloud of fog!! M'kay?

We switch over to some tribal A Capella and I really wanted Aaron to hear my most favorite song ever, the one I have described as sounding like the exploding of the cosmos and beginning of the world. I have lain on my floor listening to this song on repeat, I find it that amazing. I hear God in this song. Aaron reports that it "sounds like yelling."

At the rest stop we do some tabletop yoga.


Next, we drive some more and stop in Baker to buy some Coke. Baker has the world's largest thermometer! Thermometers, however, are pretty boring. And this one is broken.

The drive to Vegas is long and hot. The most exciting part is when we pass by fake Vegas which is really the city of Primm, right on the border between California and Nevada. It is called fake Vegas because from a distance it looks like an awesome place with big hotels and a roller coaster, but from up close it is small and not shiny.

Neither of us has any desire to drive through the strip, on account of Aaron being here a few weeks ago and me planning to come at the beginning of August. So we drive past all the tall, shiny buildings which are still impressive via the I-15. So are all the matching parking lots. I love that Cesar's Palace has built a Greco-Roman building with fake marble in which to store modern vehicles. Klassy! We find a park north of the strip (ghe.tto), lay down a blanket, and snooze. I am so hyped up on caffeine that it takes half an hour to fall asleep. Still, that 20 minute catnap is amazing. Then we do a pit stop, load up on gas ($3.35/gallon!!!), and get out.

Here are some things that happened between Las Vegas and Richfield, Utah:

• We drove a lot.
• The scenery changed from flat and brown to rocky and red.
• The scenery changed from rocky and red to rocky and red and green and lush.
• We oohed and aahed at all the changes and took a zillion pictures through the front windshield, which all turned out crappy because my front windshield is covered in bug guts.
• We drove through a mountain! Right as I-15 goes through the northwest tip of Arizona, the road appears to go on and on and on straight into the face of a rock mountain. The road veers sharply at the last minute, and winds its way through a narrow channel. It was like driving through the rocky canyons of Petra. I cannot convey how awesome this was. Aaron and I were freaking out and exclaiming loudly and holding up traffic with our slow, gawking driving. We took a video of the experience but the video is L.A.M.E. You will have to drive to Utah yourself to see this awesome mountain pass.
• Utah has lots of little churches with Mormon looking spires. (We think.)
• We eat lunch at a McDonalds.
  
• I pee on the side of the road.
• We check in at Super 8 Richfield. Richfield is a town of 6,000, all of whom must work in the service industry because motels are the only thing around. My goal is to go to be asleep by 10:00 pm.