As I drive out of Boise, I can’t help but feel a bit like waking up from a happy dream. There is always so much laugher and happiness with my Hufford friends that it takes me a while to adjust to being alone again. While driving through the city I see the supermarkets we went to together and the waterpark we spend a whole day in the weekend and good memories come back. I wish I could have stayed longer, but it’s time to back. The vacation is almost over. Despite the sadness I also realize that I can be happy that I’m still in America and get to enjoy these beautiful wide landscapes. In a little over a week I’ll be home again and will surely miss this beautiful country.
The drive of today is long, somewhere around 10 hours with a few short breaks. I’m feeling quite lonely most of the day, but I listen to an audiobook and the miles and hours go by quickly. While Idaho has quite a dry landscape, Nevada is a lot worse. You can look for miles and miles over sandy hills without anything in the distance. I’m on a long road of about 250 miles / 400 kilometer long and once in a while I go through a small town. When I’m getting closer to California I look at the map for gas prices. Driving back to California from a long road trip is always a bit shocking, because the gas prices are extremely high compared to the rest of the country. Where I paid $3,40 for a gallon in Colorado, here I see prices of more than 6 bucks. When I see one gas station sign with a price of just about 4 dollars, I quickly take the exit and fill up my car to the max. Very conveniently there is also a Mc Donalds here, so I enjoy a late lunchbreak before I continue driving. I keep driving through the desert and am happy when I finally see some trees again. Not much later I see the snow capped mountains of the Yosemite area.
Just when I stop at the ‘Welcome in California’ sign, my grandma calls me and we talk for a while. I tell her how I feel lonely today and how I feel closer to my friends here than back home. She has thought about that and has some good insight on it. She explains that when I’m with my friends here I spend almost 24/7 with them. That’s very different than just a few hours on a night out with people. When I’m here, we’re really living in each others presence for a while and that creates a much deeper connection. I hadn’t thought of that, but it absolutely makes sense and explains it to me.
Around 7pm I arrive at a campsite just out of Yosemite National Park where I planned to stay tonight and I’m happy to find a free spot. There is no cell service here at all, so after I’ve set up my tent I drive a few miles back to the nearest town and let me friends know that I’ve arrived safely. I post my daily picture and go back to the campsite. When I’ve blown up my air mattress and have my bed ready for the night I grab my laptop and write this story of today. I notice that I’m a bit more comfortable with being offline than in the beginning of the vacation. Still I love that I have my iPad with movies and series on it, so I can have some entertainment in the evening. I plan to go to bed early tonight so I can get up before sunrise tomorrow to drive into the park for an early hike.
