100729 - Jerome, Idaho

July 29, 2010
Jerome, Idaho>

Our next destination was to be a simple straight interstate drive of about 3 hours.
We slept late, awakened slowly and had a leisurely breakfast. The weather was sunny and clear when we started out a little after noon.

We have noticed quite a bit of stimulus money being spent in the form of highway construction, but mostly in short stretches and signs warning of double fines for speeding in work zones, We rarely had to stop but 45-55 MPH was posted and going slower was a bit relaxing.

As the afternoon dragged on, we had no idea we were heading for the perfect storm. First, we were detoured off the main highway and forced to travel in single file along a partially finished temporary roadway which was defined by orange barrels on our right and red rubber cones on our left, which was all that separated us from oncoming traffic. The space between the cones and barrels might have been spacious for most cars, but for The Beast, it felt a little tight, and traffic was busy on either side.

Soon after being herded to this detour, the sky started to darken prematurely (it was only late afternoon) and soon after that it started to rain. Thunder and lightening were next on the menu, and then the gusty cross winds kicked in.

It was dark as night, with only our headlights for illumination, I could swear that the barrels and cones were getting closer together with each mile as the wind tried to blow us into oncoming traffic. Our windshield wipers were barely keeping up with the storm and sometimes flew across the glass without even touching it. The cars in front of me kept up a brisk pace since the signs suggested 55 mph but I refused to drive more than 45. I was having trouble keeping between the lines and felt like I was running an endless gauntlet. Danny came up front to look out the windshield to see what I was complaining about. He barked once and then retreated to the rear. I thought I heard him mutter something under his breath like “ I wish I knew how these damn seat belts work”.
After about an hour (which felt like 2), an exit appeared and I chose it with glee and relief. There was nothing at the exit, no gas station or fast food place, but I found a spot to pull over onto and just took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Not knowing how much longer the highway construction zone was, I summoned up some courage and forged ahead, back to the highway. The service road was slower and less nerve raking than the highway detour and lasted about 10 miles. I finally had to enter the mainstream gauntlet again and it lasted another 40 miles. As the road became once again a normal 4-lane interstate, the sky lightened and the storm lessened. By the time we arrived at our Wal-Mart de joure, the rain was down to a drizzle and believe it or not (see photo) there was a rainbow over the store. It was a great sight to see and would have made a great commercial.

I turned on the generator, then the air conditioner (it was warm and muggy), and threw dinner into the microwave oven.
I don’t know who ate their dinner faster, Danny or me, but we both stretched out on our beds and took a nap.
I woke up 2 hours later, shut down everything, and went back to sleep. No shopping tonight. Just sleep.