The Journey Continues

When I wrote my last post, which was documenting the beginning of our journey, Peeing Across America, I didn't have access to the notes that my daughter Autumn had been recording. Just to set the record straight, I wanted to go back over a few things that I had failed to mention previously.

I suppose it goes without saying that prior to hopping into the rental car at the Boise airport, we all thoroughly drained our bladders. One would assume that we'd be good to go for at least an hour, however, that assumption would have been wrong. Our first pit stop on the trip was the Black Hills rest stop, twenty minutes outside of Boise. I had assumed that it was going to take us longer than the average family to cover the ground that we needed to cover, but this was ridiculous. At this rate, we wouldn't reach the Grand Canyon until Christmas. 

I can't recall how far we went before nature called again, but it was before we made it to Mountain Home. We made a stop in Bliss Idaho to get gas I think and of course to pee. We all took a piss in Bliss. The relief was real bliss I can tell you. We stopped there twice, once going and once coming. Autumn's notes mention that I petted a dog named Clementine, but I only have a picture of her bending down and petting a dog, so I'm not sure I can believe all that she's recorded.

As I had previously mentioned, we ate breakfast in Mountain Home and bought a watermelon from two girls in the parking lot. We're not in the habit of buying produce or other items that could possibly be black market issue, but since there was a parade of some sort going on in the town and there were other vendors in the parking lot, we thought it was safe. We asked the girls how to tell if a watermelon is ripe. One of them mentioned that the green part between the stripes should be two inches wide. Also the whites spot where the melon was sitting on the ground is an indication. Being so informed, Liz packed  her melon back to the car where we proceeded to cart it through four states. It became affectionately known as "The Baby".

As I mentioned, prior to entering Twin Falls, I stopped at the bridge pictured in the first post of our trip. I wanted pictures of the J B Pereine bridge as well as the Snake River which it spanned. I also needed to take advantage of the abundant sage brush to hide the draining of my bladder.

It was too early to eat or go to the hotel, so we went on to Shoshone Falls National Park. It's breathtaking, with trees that are true marvels because of their size. While the girls went down to get a closer look at the area, I adjusted the car seat so I could lean back and comfortably take a leak in the portable plastic urinal that I'd brought on the trip. Jan had questioned my decision to take it, but I knew with certainty it would come in handy on this trip. I walked over to a fence overlooking the falls, and dumped the container, thus creating Tom's Falls, something the brochures don't mention.

The next day we went through the whole process of packing the car with all the suitcases, snacks, gifts and assorted other things, as well as "The Baby" and took off.

We made it to a rest stop in Hagerman, where I managed to lock Jen in the car by accident. She was sitting in the rear of the car and it took her longer to get out, and I just spaced it out I guess. She was so upset by the ordeal that she walked out of the bathroom with toilet paper on her shoe.

We were really hopping and made it all the way to the Juniper rest area, a whole fifty miles from where we stopped last time. The flora and fauna were very interesting, as we had never seen plants and animals that frequented the desert. It was hotter than blazes, and I even wore a short sleeved shirt. However, for reasons beyond me, Autumn kept her black jacket on.  Jen stopped to peer at something on the other side of the fence. I'm not sure what she thought it was, but Autumn declared it was a dried out turd of some sort. Who knows. I'm glad Jen didn't pick it up and take it with her. I was somewhat distressed that there was no soap or water in the men's room and the girls questioned the sanitary state of my hands. Autumn was especially concerned, since she would have to take the steering wheel when I got tired. The highlight of the stop, aside from the relief I got, was spotting Dash the daschund  with his owner. He was actually a service dog, but he wasn't working at the time and his owner let me pet him. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of him.

Juniper was our last stop in Idaho until our return trip. Then it was on to Utah, home of Brigham Young and the Mormon faith.