Count Down to the End ~ Day Two

Casper, Wyoming was nothing to write home about – just a roadside stop for truckers and those making the trek across the big open west. The landscape in Wyoming is barren, minus the brushy fields and the herds of wild antelope. Truly one of the nations “great frontiers,” and now I understand the meaning to the “home on the range” song. It took us the better part of the morning to get out of the massive state.

We maneuver down sloping roads, which run between rock walled canyons, and into Salt Lake City. Just outside of the city, we stop in a “town” called Delle. One of the many fuel stops today, and this one brings us to a station in the middle of the great salt flats. This place is teetering on the boundary between life and death – it’s nearly October and the second I get out of the car I can feel the dry heat slap me in the face like a death wish. In a way, the white landscape reminds me of our drive into White Sands. The only difference is that White Sands is better.

We enter Nevada, and I can’t help but discuss the fact that we have truly come full circle. The drive through the desert landscape takes all afternoon, and when dusk hits we are still some one hundred and fifty miles outside of Reno – our destination goal for the day. The sun sets behind the high desert wasteland, and as the sky turns shades of pinks and purples, distant stars appear in the distance. I’m feeling sentimental about the trip drawing to an end. I close my eyes (Jarvis is driving) and take a deep breath – thankful to the world around me for blessing me with this life. Then, like clockwork, the early evening bugs come out of the woodworks, and within minutes the windshield is covered with insect carcasses.

We pull into Reno around nine o’clock. We have been in the car for thirteen hours, and are ready for something to eat other than road snacks, and drinks. We decided to have one last night of celebration together, being that we are technically on the last day of our honeymoon. We get a suite at the Peppermill, and head downstairs for dinner. Unfortunately, everything except the twenty-four hour diner is already closed and our waitress there is a total tweaker. We eat some grub, and then grab some drinks at one of the casino bars. We reminisce on what an amazing summer we have both had. I’m utterly grateful that I have met a person whom I can spend three strait months with, and never run out of things to talk about. I’m not even close to being sick of spending time with my amazing Jarvis, and I would keep the journey going if I could. I keep reminding myself that our journey has only begun.

This morning we lay in bed and you can tell there is a sense of sadness in the air. In one respect, we are so ready to get back to San Francisco, and in another, we really just want to get in the car and drive back the other way. Only four hours to San Francisco now.