Another Roadtrip Photo

On the road trip from Boise to Rockaway Beach, Oregon, we stopped to fill up the gas tank and grab some cold drinks. (We'd gone through all the caffeinated beverages in the Suburban's mini-fridge. It was going to be a 100+ degree day in Boise when we left.)

This was my best shot of Mt. Hood. The smaller mountain to the right is the remnants of Mt. St. Helens.

I'd studied the eruption of St. Helens while writing Resurrected. That's the book where I blew up Mt. Rainier and turned it into a crater lake due to a god fight.

However, seeing St. Helens in person was a little unnerving. I asked my companions how they felt living so close to an active volcano. It didn't seem to bother them, but then, they hadn't written a novel about the effects of a major eruption and the desperate attempts of the supernaturals to save the Normals who weren't able to evacuate. Not to mention, my main character's moral dilemma from her involvement in the natural disaster.

And as I snapped several shots, I could see in my mind's eye the initial column of smoke and dust rising into the air from the 1980 eruption. Both Idaho and Oregon have beautiful scenery, but I'd probably think twice before I moved there in real life.

One Last Jaunt

After the 10-hour drive back to Boise on Saturday, both my hostess and I were too damn tired to do much on Sunday. We wrote at an odd little place called Bikes and Beans. Yes, it's a combination bike repair and coffee shop.

The raspberry mocha I had was incredible. If you're in Boise, I highly recommend this place for your caffeine jolt.

We went out to a cute little Mexican place for dinner. The food was excellent. We followed up with a quiet evening at my hostess's home.

We're spending my last full day here taking in some sights in Idaho. Tomorrow morning. I need to be up at 3 a.m. in order to get through security and catch my flight home. Unfortunately, I'll lose a couple of hours thanks to time changes, but I'm missing DH and Princess Bella, so it'll be good to get home.

High Mountain Desert

I don't have email on my travel computer. Actually, Baby Blue is more of a glorified tablet than a laptop, but she gets the job done. But I don't have email on her for a reason. In theory, I'm avoiding interruptions while I write. So, if you've sent me an email on one of my business accounts, I'll answer when I get home in ten days.

That's also why I'm not posting any pictures yet. It's a hassle switching the memory card from my phone to Baby Blue. The dang thing is a quarter of the size of my actual thumbnail. I worry about dropping it and either losing it in the carpet or one of my host's cats thinks it's a treat and eats it.

Idaho has a stark beauty outside of Boise, i.e. very few trees. Wild critters come into town for shade. As my host was showing me their garden in the backyard, we noticed a mule deer in the neighbor's backyard. He was a young buck. Fuzz covered his new antlers. And he didn't mind me taking pictures as long as I didn't get too close to the fence.

We get deer in our backyard in Ohio, but this was a new breed I hadn't seen before in the "wild". I was fascinated.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I can now cross off Idaho on my list of states visited. Yep, visiting all fifty states is pretty much the last thing I haven't done on the bucket list I made in my twenties. I'll need to get my passport renewed if DH insists on driving to Alaska. LOL

My friends already have a ton of things planned for the short time I'm here. Dinner with a group of writers tonight. Hopefully, seeing the Aurora Borealis tomorrow night. Checking out the Boise state house.

The big thing is remembering to drink lots of water and getting plenty of rest because of the altitude. I'm used to the Appalachians, which are tiny compared to the Rockies.

The best thing is meeting people in real life that I've known online for years, or in some cases, decades. (Yeah, Jo, I'm talking about you.)

The coolest thing will be dipping my toe in the Pacific Ocean from the western North American Continent next week, especially since this region is a major feature in one of my book series.

Leaving On a Jet Plane

If you read this on Monday or Tuesday, I'm packing right now. Yep, for the first time in nearly three and a half years, I'll be on a commercial airliner Wednesday. And yes, I'm still wearing a N95 mask, regardless of what any idiot says.

I may be cancer-free (Yee-Haw!), but I'm still immuno-compromised thanks to my defective endocrine system. I'll be hanging out with some friends who have their own health issues, so I'm very conscious of not spreading germs to them.

So what's going on? I'm attending a week-long private writers retreat in Oregon. There's also days padding the beginning and ending of the retreat so I can visit friends in Idaho and Oregon. I am so looking forward to this trip!