RxSw-Part Four - By Guest Blogger E.O.

Heading North

It all went down in a McDonald's parking lot somewhere a bit past Flagstaff, AZ. I was at a cross-roads; literally with one freeway sign pointing south towards Los Angeles and another pointing north towards Albequerque and my eventual final destination of East Zion. I had left the Extended Stay America in Phoenix in good spirits wearing a t-shirt and sandals thinking that the days predicted snowstorm would be highly unlikely. I mean, I wouldn't have minded a few flakes here and there. A nice dusting of clean white snow can be charming to see on the tops of tress and mountains as you pass them by in your fancy road-trip car with the heated seat on full blast. What I really hadn't expected was the actual snowstorm that came upon me. The kind of storm that has everyone driving 15 miles per hour on the freeway with almost zero visibility ahead of you. The kind of storm that had Tess' poor car swerving on the black ice. The kind of snowstorm that this California girl was not prepared for nor accustomed to.
I had actually pulled into this parking lot to use their bathroom and also try to recalculate my route into the GPS. Unfortunately, it wasn't recognizing my final destination and I had a feeling my cell phone would not be able to get service where I was headed. Also, anyone that knows me knows that I am the worst at directions and the best at getting lost. I began to have visions of myself stranded and freezing in some remote area of Utah. I began to think of the book, "Into the Wild" wondering what, if anything I needed to prove at this point. I began to think about how I was tired of staying in hotels (I never thought this day would come!) and how what I mostly wanted was a bit of sun, a comfortable bed and some familiarity.

Heading home

It's now about 6:30 in the morning (I'm still on Euro-time) and I'm writing this from bed at my Mom's house in Manteca, CA so I guess you know what decision I made. I drove 13 hours straight from that McDonald's to be here. Although I can't even begin to say how sad I am to have missed out on seeing the natural beauty of Utah's National Parks; I will say that I don't regret the decision I made. I feel that what I hoped to occur on this trip happened in Italy as was noted in my last blog. My faith in humanity was revitalized and amazing memories were gained. I've also traveled by myself on multiple occasions and what I've realized from these experiences is that it doesn't matter where you are but who you're with that makes your time in life memorable. I'm lying here with my favorite dog, Napper by my side. I'm planning to take my Mom out for a birthday breakfast as soon as she wakes up as I was in Italy when it occurred. Then, I'm headed back to San Francisco to see my favorite house-mate Tess and all my friends. No, I can't say I regret my decision at all to come out of the cold. Plus, I still have a whole week of vacation. So, if any of you readers out there have any ideas for me in terms of day-trips or local adventures please let me know!