I hung out with Jazzy, fun was had as usual; layed by the pool, but only lasted 2.5 hours because it is bloody hot when you are in the desert, and of course, read a book. Oh, church and a nap was had as well. We even took a drive to Snow Canyon and took a brief walk-about after we had dinner (Jazzy and I were wearing flip flops so no 'real' hiking ensued; her husband ran around a bit, but again, it was dusty and hot).
The highlight of the trip, besides hanging with a great friend and getting out of town? The crazy drive to no-mans-land to visit my older brother.
Steve is living in Hurricane and I've never seen it, so I decided to visit him Sunday night, close to dark. Those who know me know I really should NOT travel to places I've never been to in the dark, especially when I'm the one driving there (I'm self diagnosed with night blindness).
The directions?
Steve:
- Get on the freeway, get off where it says Hurricane, stay straight for a really long time.
- Then when you see the Sands Down street, turn right and drive for a really long time.
- Then when you see the dirt road to your right, turn.
- Drive for a really long time, it's a dirt road the entire time, and when you pass the cattle guard, turn right.
- Then drive on more dirt until you see the sign that says 'Private Property; No Trespassing' and turn there.
- Then keep driving until you see the house. There aren't any lights until the house so make sure you keep a good lookout.
Steve: Chill out J; you'll be fine, just don't mix the exits or the streets.
Me: Umm, okay. I'll call you when I get to the 'dirt road' area so you can meet me. This is love brother as I'm going out into the dark, into the desert, with no idea where I am going, to see you. Don't ever say I don't love you, nor I never came to see you.
First off, the signs for the 'Hurricane' exit weren't up (which I had pointed out to me the next day by Jazzy as we were driving to Cedar). Stupid construction. So after I was on the freeway, almost to CEDAR CITY, Steve calls me and asks where I am as I should have been there by now. After he yelled some expletives about me not knowing how to follow signs, he had me turn around and talked me through some town called Toquerville, and to the 'dirt road'.
It's a good thing he decided to meet me at the dirt road because I would NEVER have found the cattle guard. It was covered in three inches of red dirt!
It was good to see the brother, he is the same (fly fishing, chefing (is that a word) and loving living in the middle of nowhere. I asked him why he lives so far out of town and he just spread open his arms and said, "Just look. Nothing but nature all around".
Yeah, nothing but large bugs, spiders and a rattle snake all around. (Tour of the house, garage and porch: watch out for the rattler to the right, this is Henrietta our chicken who pecks you, the black widows by the garage and keep your feet off the ground due to the ants).
And people wonder why I'm not a fan of nature. It's fine, it's pretty, but I don't want it attacking, biting or killing me.
Yesterday, Jazzy and I went to Cedar to meet a friend of ours from college, Nancy. We haven't seen her since Jazzy's wedding four years ago. She and her husband were in town for a family get together and it was fun catching up. They are moving to the DC area so her husband can get his PhD in Economics (hhhmmm, can we say wicked smart guy?) and I started wishing I would hear back from the jobs I've applied to in VA!
See, a great weekend away. Once I had an intense shower for myself and my car (me to get the dirt out of my hair and to wash off the 'creepy bugs all over me' feel; the car to remove the red dirt and 90,000 dead bugs plastered to the grill and windshield) I decided I need to go down more often.
And, I defnitely need another road trip. Looking to drive far, far north. 10 hours in fact.
Yeah for free time and summer.
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