This was the crappiest day of driving. I drove through one HUGE rainstorm going through the mountains, which I had to slow waaay down for, but that wasn’t too bad. Once I got to the mountains it started to really suck. I ate one of the rolls my mom made for me and it upset my digestive system terribly. I had to pull off at a rest stop to try to collect myself, and thankfully Jules called me just after that, which made me feel a lot better. I had lunch at a Chinese place in Miles City and then continued on with the rest of the drive, which ended up being excruciating. When I got close to the end of Montana I stopped at another rest stop and called Will. I was able to rejuvenate myself enough to get back to driving, and that was where things got bad.

Entering Idaho was horrible because of the mountains and all the sharp curves and road construction blocking one of the lanes for most of the way. ;_; People were getting upset at me for driving so slowly but I didn’t want to risk going any faster. Jules called me twice while I was navigating through the mountain passes and I felt so terrible I couldn’t pick up the phone. At Couer d’Alene I decided I’d stop for gas and dinner, but I couldn’t find any fast food places along the main road (and it was parked full!) so I drove almost to the end of the road and stopped at a shitty gas station. Jules called me as I was filling up and I burst into tears because I was tired, hungry, and frustrated. I decided to say “screw dinner” and just drive on as far as I could go in one night. I was in a pretty sour mood. I was tired of driving and the stressful conditions of it, what with all the insane road construction.

When I got to Spokane I called Will again and he agreed to meet up with me at some place halfway between Seattle and Spokane so I wouldn’t have to drive the whole way by myself. I reached the meeting spot (a petrified forest) first so I had to sit and wait for about 45 minutes for Will and Rayme to show up. Jules called during that time but he couldn’t talk for long so I mainly sat there feeling frustrated and lonely. Finally they showed up. Will gave me a big hug and we moved a few of the things out of my passenger seat into his car so I’d have a place to sit. Rayme drove Will’s car back into the city and Will drove mine, so I had a good chance to chat to him about things…I just kept talking and talking as it was such a relief to see someone I know after all that time alone.

We drove over to Rayme’s place (he lives with Chad) and I followed Will home. He showed me the apartment then we unloaded my car, which didn’t take all that long. After that he took me to the closest grocery store so I could buy something for dinner (I ended up with soup and salad, yum) and I got online and talked to a few people while eating (amusingly, Jules left to eat dinner just as I was eating mine.) I passed out on the futon in the living room, using my robe as a pillow.