For the couple of readers I have (counting my mom), the slack in posting these last few days is because I was tripping up to Idaho with my friend Angie on a MUCH. NEEDED. VACAY.
I say vacay because I’m too broke to leave the country or do anything terrifically glamorous, and this seemingly bland roadtrip thru rural Nebraska / Wyoming / Utah / Idaho turned into a fantastic time where I had the chance to relax and drink and hang with an old friend and sleep in comfy hip hotels and actually kick my feet back. (Run on sentence, anyone?)
The deal was this: my friend Angie, whom I’ve known since we worked at Borders years back when it was still FUN, is pregnant and needing to move to Boise where her new husband Scott is currently residing. There was zero chance she was doing the drive alone, so I jumped on board to go with her so Scott wouldn’t have a heart attack and I could have a proper catch up. She is someone I really admire and I really hope I can half as cool as she is in my 30s. I digress.
We made the trip through Nebraska – RURAL NEBRASKA – in a day, and by the next we were hauling ass to Salt Lake, literally an hour ahead of some gigantic snow storm threatening to shut down the highway in Wyoming. We stopped in Cheyenne, which was this cool blend of country and hipster. As we drove on, we went through this famously windy pass in South Wyoming, and I literally feared the door was going to come off – almost 70 mph winds! Nuts. We were a couple hours away from Salt Lake when we stopped for the 3,906th bathroom break, and it was daytime and sunny, and we came out no less than 15 minutes later, and it was shitty and dark and snowing. The last two hours were…intense.
We woke up with the birds and hit Ikea. HARD. I was like the Lohan in a crack shop; it was sensory overload to say the least. I know some hmm-n-haw about Ikea, but DAMN. Say what you will, I am in love. I left with 128 bones in Ikea loot, and could have spent 10 times that, if I wasn’t..well, broke.
*Also, I noticed while in Ikea the weird number of moms that were practically zygotes they were so young, all running around with 2+ kids. I mean, is it possible to have kids before you’ve hit puberty? It was weird.
Also, Salt Lake? GORGEOUS. I wish we could have stayed longer, but we needed to get the heck on the road. We made it to Boise in good time, and as soon as we got there Scott took us out for sushi downtown. From there we went to my MIND BLOWING hotel, The Modern (a renovated motor lodge, now uber-chic mecca of Danish furniture) and drank at their nifty bar. I drank way too much, so let’s just be thankful I didn’t stumble into the firepit.
The next day we hit downtown Boise, starting off at this awesome French cafe that served duck eggs and everything was cooked in butter, and all the waitresses were thin and pretty and hip. From there, we hit the Farmers Market and browsed around Boise, which is a really neat city – tons of cool shops and cafes, reminded me a lot of Wellington (without all the arty fartys). All the kids there are dressed like these hip skaters, and everyone seems laid back and there seems to be HEAPS to do. It had a great college town vibe, only not douchey and with more heavy jackets and vegan food.
Speaking of which, we went into the mountains later, and after a winding hour drive up, we were at the summit resort. It was closed, but we still had fun and got some awesome pics. I am so jealous of those who live by stuff like this – and it makes me miss New Zealand.
EPIC
More pics here
After a chill night in with Angie and Scott, I came back to my hotel and had a drink, ALONE, at the bar. That’s probably the new “I can go to a movie alone”, except sadder and harder to pull off without looking pitiful. I’m not sure I managed to.
I caught my flight home the next day, and was sad to go. I need more vacation in my life – this confirmed it. It’s been more than a year since I took a plane anywhere, and I miss the days when I lived on an island so exotic where driving one hour in any direction would mean you could be on some retardedly beautiful coastline or a mountain or a volcanic lake. NEW ZEALAND, YOU’VE RUINED ME.
Anyway, it’s inspired me – and relaxed me. Work has become way more stressful than I think most graphic designer jobs usually are, mainly because I work in an environment where very few understand what I do, how I do it, and just how long it takes. And I’m high-strung, so you do the math.
Places I’d like to go in 2010:
1. Toronto
2. Northwest (Portland / Seattle / Canada)
3. Boston
4. Denver
5. I’d say Europe, but I’d like to do that properly, like over 6 months and with a backpack and little debt. So I’ll say Chicago – hello, Ikea!
