So I wrote this huge entry detailing every day of my entire road trip (not that anyone would actually want to read it), and then I accidentally reloaded the page and lost it all. Funny thing is, I had the feeling that would happen. Anyway, here are some bullets instead:

- Air conditioning faltered within the first hour of the drive, anxiety ensued; started working again later, flood of relief

- The second day was spent singing along to old, angsty music from high school and then getting stuck in tornadoes outside of Dallas, which ultimately resulted in an almost 4 hour delay and 2 hours of squatting in a Family Dollar in rural Texas.

- Dallas is the worst city to drive through ever.

- Texas loves donuts, Whataburger, and Sonic. Seriously.

- I've fallen in love with the desert after driving through New Mexico and southern Utah. It's so true that there's a certain energy radiated by the landscape out there; it's like the absorption of all of that solar energy brings it alive. Even though it's so expansive, it doesn't feel empty at all; it almost feels like the rocks are aware of your presence, like the wind doesn't blow past you but TO you. It's definitely enchanting. The colors are incredible, too.

- Albuquerque is a strange place, though not unpleasant. It's really pretty and clean, and has a retro feel to it... but it's super quiet and almost feels like a ghost town, even though there are functioning shops/restaurants/bars/businesses lining the streets. The people there look at you, but not in a negative way; it's almost as if they can feel that you're an outsider and it piques their interest. Native American bums were also a new thing for me, and added to the surreal feel of it all. White man's guilt.

- Mancos, Colorado is a gem that we were lucky to stumble upon

- Traveling through Utah is like driving across Mars, and then the Moon. The first part of the state is red and rocky and has that energizing and sometimes quirky desert feel to it; the latter half is more cool-toned and feels emptier and almost like a wasteland, but still breathtaking- it's like listening to Beck and then switching to Bjork.

- Stopped in Moab for gas, really want to go back to explore it

- Stopped in Salt Lake City to visit with Megan... not bad at all, a decent city

- Southern Idaho is shitty and I feel bad for the people who live there; at least the dust storms are awesome to behold (and exhilarating/nerve-wracking to drive through)

- Souvenirs from the trip: pickled quail eggs from Texas, two locally-made mustards and two hand-made kaleidoscopes from Colorado