07/23/00 -- On the road again...

And heading home

Paula and I had breakfast at the Country Kitchen after we unloaded her stuff into the hotel room.  After breakfast, I'm back in the car, back on the road.

Ugh.  Long drive.  Very long drive.

Half the songs I listened to made me cry for one reason or another.  I wound up with another story idea in my head.  Don't know if I'm going to write it.  It'll be a whole lot of self-indulgent angst bullshit.

Wrote some more notes for a novel when I stopped for lunch/dinner/whatever before I hit I-76.  Some of them were a result of talking to Paula about it yesterday in the car.  Some of them were from way too many hours with nothing to do but listen to the radio and think.

There was a sign at some point that listed Denver as a destination.  It was something like 284 miles away.  I let out a yehaw.  I couldn't decide if it was because I was excited to be home, or excited that I was close enough that I wouldn't have to drive too much longer (relatively speaking).

When I saw the mountains, I finally got homesick.  I wanted to be home that very moment.  I missed the mountains a lot.  I missed looking at them every evening on my way home from work.

Then I got home.

Weird.

They still haven't finished paving the streets in Erie.  I guess I'm surprised.  Felt like I was gone long enough that they should have somehow managed to finish.  I know it's been warm enough.  Speaking of warm, it's 95 degrees, but all dry heat so I guess I can handle it.

Jonah and Boo helped me unload the car.

I checked my email.  Clarion email.  I cried, then let everyone know I'd made it home in one piece (at least physically).

Then Jonah and Boo took me to get ice cream.  We were going to go to Dairy Queen, only someone decided that the Marble Slab Creamery would be a better idea.  The ice cream was pretty good.  I had a banana split.  I figured it would help.  It didn't.  Even though the ice cream was good.

Back home and I had a nice long hot shower in my nice big shower.  It wasn't *quite* as big as I'd remembered it, but it was still bigger than the showers in Owen.  Then Jonah gave me a back rub.

It's hard to say how I'm feeling.  I spent all day somewhere between numb and elated/depressed.  I think the numb went away once I pulled up to the house and depressed won out.

I miss Clarion.

It's good to be home.  Weird, but good.  But I miss Clarion.