I Made It!

I left on June 4th and arrived here to the part of Route 66 I will start on, it is June 7th. Yes, it took me longer to get here then most drivers would take. My first day was a short 90 mile drive to Nephi. I did take a short stop off at the American Fork Barnes and Noble 😂. I bought books. After that I traveled to the Safari Motel in Nephi. It was old, but clean. My reasons for this layover was to meet a guy and have dinner with him.

We went to a very nice restaurant in Nephi.

The food was delicious. I enjoyed meeting my date finally after chatting for a couple of months.

The next day was a long day. I set my GPS on my phone to go from Fillmore and a Maverick gas station break, for gas, Maple bar, yummy, coffee and most importantly, the bathroom.

Then another chunk of driving to Beaver UT to do the same thing, except no maple bar. I did have to stop and get a photo with the Beaver 🦫 

I also stopped at the Timberline restaurant in Beaver. Yummy food and I got some writing done. Then more driving, more stopping to use the bathroom until finally I made it to Mesquite. Stayed at the Virgin River Casino motel. Nice room, but no coffee pot, microwave or mini fridge in the room. Rude! I did go to the pool and soak a little and then sat on a lounge chair and read. 

In the past I would never have gone to the pool alone. With a husband in the past I did, but never alone. As I was driving yesterday I had a lot of time to think about my fears. This one about going to the pool alone was from being body judged as I was growing up. My parents always made comments on how my body looked. My self esteem was shot. There is so much more about what went on and it was ugly. Anyway, I got to thinking, no one at the pool knows me and will never see me again, so it should not really matter what they think. I told myself, put on your new swimsuit (it is a modest style) wrap your fancy towel around your waist, grab your Kindle, glasses, room key and get on our there. Get out there and enjoy yourself. Put the ugly comments from your childhood in the garbage and go. You have driven several hundred miles by yourself. Going into the pool is nothing. 

Tomorrow I will continue on my Travels With Jeep adventure. Do I feel lonely. No, not really. I'm alone but not lonely. Of course, I would like to have had a partner with me to enjoy this. However, I don't think that I would be healing, and that is what I need. Ciao, my friends ❤️ 

New Blog for Travels With Jeep

It takes a lot of time to set up an adventure. I have so many ideas going around in my head that sometimes it becomes overwhelming. That is when I fail to start. Jeep had a few days of failing to start this past winter. When it was cold out, for some reason the battery just quit. Thank goodness the neighbors were willing to loan me a car so that I could get to work. Younger son came and fixed Jeep. Unlike a vehicle, we sometimes need a lot more motivation to get going on our ideas.

The first step is to pick one idea. Just one and it does not need to be a grand idea. All the steps after that relate to the first and on it goes. 

My idea? To use my vehicle, Jeep to get me out of the fear that can overtake me to the point of just hiding out in my house. The fear of driving, going places alone and being around strangers. The beginning of this story is long and I promise I will get to that. I started a few years ago going on little drives in Jeep and then writing about my adventures titled Travels With Jeep. Those trips were hit and miss. Life got in the way and I fell back on my old fears. 

Every now and then I would seem to be moving forward and not falling into the rut of overwhelming fear. Then the fear would once again choking me out of a life, and I let it. However, after my last divorce I realized that my life was drifting away. This is when I came to the understanding that I had to do something. I picked an idea and began working on it. Many of you who personally know have heard me talk about the idea, and are great cheerleaders. I thank you for that. 

The main idea is to use Jeep to continue my healing and to write about it. Actually, to continue to write about my healing, and how this beautiful little vehicle has helped me to be brave. This blog is where I will post my adventures, past, present and future. The good, bad and the ugly. My hope is that my words will help someone else struggling with fear. Ciao for now!