The morning started off great in Winnemucca. We got an early start and stopped for breakfast at The Griddle. Then down the road we went on 1-80 cruising along. I picked up some speed coming down a pass and noticed a black car in the middle divider facing the opposite direction. As we got closer I noticed it was a state trooper. It didn't dawn on me to slow down because he was all the way across the freeway. Well, on went the lights as I was approaching at about 95 mph and he flipped a u turn and cut across the gravel divider. Still not getting it I continued to speed along until he was up on my tail. Here I am in this new car thinking, "Did I get everything? My insurance papers? All's I have are these paper license plates from the dealer." So he comes up to my passenger side window and let me tell you, he is the hottest state trooper I have every seen. Dark hair, good features, young and handsome. He looks inside at the truck and say's, "So how do you like it? I've been wondering what these look like inside." He continues to ask me for my papers and I present everything to him properly. We chit chat some more about where we are going and all the gadgets on my dash, etc. Then he hands me a ticket for going 80 instead of 95 and tells me what to do and so on. So my first ticket in over a decade, but he was damn cute.
As we head out of Elko, NV the freeway came to a complete stop. At first I figured it was road work but as everyone started to leave their vehicle and wander up the freeway, I assumed it was something more. It turned out there was a horrific accident involving 3 big rigs and a couple civilian cars. The road was shut done in both directions and they were diverting the cars off an exit to either wait it out or take a detour of over 60 miles in the opposite direction. So, we decide to take the detour. The detour involved driving to a place in the middle of eastern Nevada called Ruby Valley. Now, I may have mentioned that I have struggled with anxiety all my life and one of my biggest sources of panic is being in the middle of nowhere, alone, trapped, without connection. As I drove further and further away from the other cars waiting on the highway I began to panic. But I'm a fighter and I'm thinking, "No, this is going to be fun, an adventure, I may even discover a new cool place." Well let me tell you, there is no cool place in the middle of eastern Nevada. It's called "Nowhere"! As 30 minutes rolled by followed by another 30 minutes, I was in pure terror! I'm thinking, "How can I do this? Where are all the other people? Am I the only one that took the detour? I should have waited." My palms begin to sweat and my eyes a blurring, how can I even stay on the road? My son knows I have anxiety but he doesn't get it. He doesn't know what it is or how it feels. He tells me to not worry and just forget about it. It helps me but still I am all alone with him and what if something happens to me. My biggest fear...
Finally we see an interstate junction, it's 93 north to Twin Falls. There's cars and trucks and now I can breath! I survived, I didn't pass out or die. I made it and I can make it again if I had too. I've got a lot of open road ahead of me and now I feel that if I could survive that, I could survive anything. At least for now. I guess you have to get lost in order to find yourself, and find your strength. As scary as it seems, there is always an intersection with cars and trucks somewhere up ahead. The rest of our drive went wonderfully as we headed out of Twin Falls into Hailey, Idaho. We stayed with some dear friends at their beautiful home and had a very peaceful and lovely evening. All is well in the Land of Lost!!
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