So… I made it to Colorado last night… er.. this morning at 3am… 4am where I was, since I time traveled–er drove through yet another time zone. I had woke up at 11am at Couch 51’s, after having gone to sleep at 6am yet again. We did a photo shoot until 5:15am. I shot Pope (Couch 51)’s Burlesque troupe. I grabbed some sausage out of the fridge, and I think it was a bit old… and spoiled.. I say that now, as I think it is the culprit for why I was suffering from sour stomach on my 16 hour drive. The daytime drive was gorgeous… fields… golden fields filled with all different shaped hay bails. Some were mounds, others were rolled. The trees were pretty, and different than what I had previously seen. There were many streams and rivers. There were rolling plains with nothing else in sight. I had though of “A Prairie Home Companion,” that amusing show on NPR on weekends. When radio came out, it made a huge difference in the lives of people who lived so far. So did the Sears catalog… that’s an amazing story in itself. I recognized the road when I pulled into Colorado.. I had been here when leaving Couch 11’s (Arkansas City, Kansas) place, and heading to Couch 12’s (Salt Lake City, Utah) on a 19 hour drive. It was a miserable drive then, as there was snow everywhere, and I was even more tired… or so I thought! Once it got really dark, I was already not feeling well… and my cell phone reception died completely… The roads were dark, and winding; winding left, right, up, and down. I started swaying and losing my lane. It was bad enough to where I got pulled over. Apparently, people had called it in. There were tons of signs all over Colorado about “The heat is on… drive drunk, go to jail!” The cop must’ve thought I was drunk. He gave me the “Follow my finger” exam, and I passed. I had told him that I’ve been driving all day, that I’m from Florida and am not used to these crazy roads, that I had taken a caffeine pill, drank coffee, but am just plain tired, and can’t find a gas station (They are spaced VERY far apart… my recommendation (which I later followed) is that when you see a gas station, fill up … even if you’re at 1/2 or more of a tank… you don’t know when the next station will be). He let me off with a warning… funny thing is that there was a gas station about 2 blocks further. I went in, filled up on gas, filled up on coffee, water, and a Redbull. That seemed to do the trick- driving was now easy. Not much to tell at this point- just drive drive drive…. winding roads, getting steeper, faster, even had to drop to 2nd gear to not kill my brakes…. Remember…. had indigestion or something (thinking back, I suspect the Andule Sausage that I sacked on at 3am)… between that, and all the liquids I had, it was a necessity to stop to piss every so often. Side of the road seemed like a lovely spot for the task. I tell you what… the urge to pee was a blessing.. it forced me to stop, and this was a beautiful thing. Why? Because I was in the middle of NOWHERE. It was pitch black, with no lights at all anywhere…. upon looking up, I was the whole universe… There were stars… lots and lots of stars… entire nebulae, galaxies, constelations I’ve never seen…. every time!
Between getting pulled over, the slow inclines, and the numerous bathroom breaks, I realized that Google’s guestimation was off…. 13 hours my ass. I wanted to call Juner (Couch 52), or Angela (Couch 44) who’s friend she was, and let them know that I am in-fact alive…. no reception on the cell. I know! Gas station… as previously mentioned, one needs to take advantage of every single gas station, so… pee on the side of the building (since they were closed), fill up on gas, and then try to use the payphone. Try? Yes! Try…. the damn phone, with its “Make calls anywhere for $0.50″ ate my damn money. $0.50 got me a reply “You need to dial a 1 with that number” — and hung up on me, but took my money. Then, there’s $0.50 where I dialed a 1, and then it gave me a busy signal, and hung up on me. Then I tried calling Angela, and it did the same thing. I called their service number, and they said they’d be happy to connect me…. with a credit card number! @#!$ them. So, if you want a refund, call the number… which apparently is only on during the day. So this lame-ass phone took my money, and wasted a bunch of my time. Oh well… on to more winding dark roads. All of a sudden, my phone vibrates… it was a text from Angela. It was 2am, and I called June, to let her know that I’m 40 minutes or so away. I called Angela on my next burst of reception. I finally made it, and June was very hospitable. We chatted for a bit, and of course, I had to make a few bathroom runs.

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