Road Trip Day #11: Provo to Grand Junction
I am well into Wednesday morning because even after all these days on the road and driving all day today, I am still wide awake in the middle of the night. It's a sickness. That's all I can say. For anyone who thinks this is going to be an interesting post travel-wise, I'll save you some time: it's not going to be. It's more of a recap and a "what have we learned" exploration. Depending on what you're looking for, this may or may not be for you. Maybe that's true of everything. I'm going to just go forth and do my thing and leave it up to you. Part of the reason I'm up right now is my bags were full of really stinky clothing and I need to wash some of it so I have underwear tomorrow. Overshare, but yes, that's an issue right now. As far as what happened on the road from Provo to Grand Junction goes, you'll just have to read on.
Provo
Maybe I covered this a bit in the previous post. I think I did, actually. Of all the places I drove to on this trip, Provo is one that truly doesn't deserve two mentions, but it was the departure point for today and the last hotel we stayed in. The La Quinta Inn in Provo (Orem, UT) is amazing. It's recently renovated so it's a lovely property. It's close to several restaurants (all chains, but if you're staying in a La Quinta, you probably don't care about that--especially in a place like Provo--just sayin'.) Parking was . . . okay. We got a spot, but it was a little tight. One problem people encountered this morning is the hot water ran out. I'm not really sure how that's a thing in a hotel like that. Everything seemed pretty new, but the plumbing was making a lot of weird noises, and I woke up to the sound of someone playing some really lame hip-hop in the hallway. Maybe that person was just a douchebag who also had poor taste in music. It happens. Overall though, I liked the hotel.
We had brunch at Village Inn up the street, and it was what it was. If you've eaten at Village Inn before, well, you know. We got in on a little drama when the manager advised a couple leaving the restaurant to "be nice" and my mom said that being nice at their age rarely happened. Even at their age (whatever it was) they already had three kids and the manager was trying to keep them together because they both worked for her and she was trying to reduce the drama in her life.
I'm not going to say any more on that because I can already visualize the hate mail I would get for voicing my opinions on any piece of what was happening there. Do I have opinions? Oh my, yes.
Road to Grand Junction
We had to drive over Helper Pass, and while it's pretty, it is also currently having repair work done on it. At one point, the road closed down to one lane. This gave me a lot of time to catch-up with Mom about the early childhood trauma of my life, specifically her being judgemental of me and (still) being in denial about it. It's not worth mentioning the details because she's going to read this, and I already guilted her about it once today. I think it's safe to say, most of us have had parents say stuff to us they probably shouldn't have said. My problem is that I go around with the crappy feelings around my neck like an albatross, and I carry them into bad jobs, bad relationships, etc.
If you recognize yourself in any of that, my advice is to just stop. That was then. This is now. Mom and Dad have moved on. It's time for you to. Now that I'm rested, I feel like I really can get back up and at 'em when I return to Denver. I feel beautiful, strong, and surprisingly healthy. I probably will feel less well-rested later today, but I don't care about that. The blog won't write itself :-)
Fortify
When I was visiting a friend in San Francisco, a girl at our table said we should come up with a gender-neutral version of man-up/woman-up. We agreed that fortify is a good one, especially since it goes so well with taking a shot of booze. Regardless of the chemical used for fortification (or not) I'm recognizing more times in life now when I do just have to suck it up and get through tough times. I don't relish them, but I do feel stronger whenever I do. My wish for you, as a reader, is that you never feel a need to fortify. I don't want you to have those days. If you are with someone who is not sheltering you from having any more of those days than you need, yet this person claims to play a key role in your life, get rid of that person. They're not helping you. Be strong for yourself. Don't be strong because you're with a weakling who expects you to prove your worth. Don't fortify because you're with someone who constanty makes you feel week. Be with someone who helps you recognize that you have the power you need to be who you need to be in the world.
Meanwhile, I am still trying to envision what I want for my life in five years. I don't know. I do know that I will be at MaLCon/Westercon the week of July 4th as a panelist (and a total douchebag won't---and it's beautiful.) I'll also be at ComicCon Denver on Saturday :-) Hope to see some of my fellow nerdlings at both events. Stay tuned for details about panels, books, and all kinds of amazing stuff.
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