I should state, before we go any further, that I had absolutely no intention of becoming the obsessive, wild-eyed, vigilant, hyper, tethered-to- my- computer person that I ended up being on New Year’s Eve Day 2017. Nope.  I was going to knit. I was going to fix lunch, cough, feel sorry for myself because I felt so junk, cough, and watch all the birdies outside feast on the food I’d set out for them.  I was going to organize my yarn!  (This, even though I was coughing up junk and could hardly keep my eyes open!) I’d even take a nap! Or two. None of that happened. Instead, I was truly obsessed interested in the road trip.

What I thought would be seeing a few text photos from Suzette, what she thought would be a fairly quiet trip from Oregon to Colorado, ended up being more like this video I sent them as they started out:

The more determined I got to get a screenshot, the more we texted. And the more I texted, the more Suzette texted! Was I enthusiastic or was I weird? I’ll let y’all (see, now I’m even sounding like Suzette, who’s originally from Texas)!

We texted about knitting. I told her what pattern I was working on.  She texted “Blue sky and sun” somewhere around milepost 53 in Idaho.

Then I told her that I was going to knit the same pattern out of my handspun so that I could “be just like you.”

She texted back hearts.  I texted, “I told you I was weird”, and she texted back, “No, just amazingly sweet”.

Suzette texted and said that Glenns Ferry was 65 miles further on; we’d agreed that it would be a good place to try and catch them.  I said, “Missed you at (milepost) 55. She said, “I thought you said 59. 57.” I said, “I’m waiting there at 59 now. Suzette: “58.” (To let me know they were almost there.)

You think I had an easy job? Not. There I was, in the freezing cold by the side of the road, waiting for a big yellow truck with my friends inside towing a Saab, getting splashed with slush and stuff, trying to get a photo of them driving by! So okay, it was virtual. But I was still waiting at MP 59. And this is what I got:

Do you see a big yellow truck? Neither did I.

I wrote, “I have a sneaking suspicion that this isn’t going to work.” Suzette agreed, and said she didn’t even see a traffic cam there.

Conversation via text:

Me: If you were in Montana by the Osprey live streaming webcam I would be able to see you with no problem at all. But I don’t suppose you would consider changing your route just for that.”

Suzette: “Hmmm… let me ask.”

Less than a minute later:

Suzette: “For some odd reason he’s not willing.”

Gee whiz. It would only have been a whole state out of their way!

Me: “Men are so hard to understand sometimes. I certainly hope he’s appreciating this running dialogue”

Suzette: “He’s smiling.”

By this time it was dark, so there was no point in waiting at the next webcam, knowing that they’d be stopping in Burley, Idaho, for the night (not too far from where we used to live), I texted a photo of the Perkins Family Restaurant and said, “Look what they have in Burley! Where are we eating tonight?” Heh heh.

Suzette checked and so did I, and the restaurant, which we both love, was practically next door to their motel! And even though it was New Year’s Day, they’d be open till midnight! So I began checking out the menu, trying to decide what I was going to order. After all, I was on the trip with them, right? I decided on the grilled salmon. Suzette agreed to send me photos of what they ordered.

And then, about thirty minutes later, they were in Burley! Suzette told me that they were too tired and it was too cold to walk to Perkins so they ordered pizza to be delivered.

With that, we all headed to bed, Suzette and Owen in Idaho, me in my own bed. But we knew we’d do the same thing all over again the next day. This was a great way for me to concentrate on something else other than how miserable I was feeling.

Night night!