NY or Bust - Day One: Medford to SLC

I need to start by giving thanks to everyone who's helped this trip so far:

Thanks to Nevada and Utah for being so generally flat and straight, allowing Gracie to get about 45 mpg, and allowing me to make the trip in about 12 hours

Thanks to InCase for making a dual-USB car charger, so I could keep my music rolling and charge my phone at the same time

Thanks to Jason for giving me an amp and speakers that makes the music so much better

Thanks to Apple for making the iPod and the iPhone such great freaking tools (and toys!)

Thanks to Google for making such a good map app

And being serious,

Thanks to SLC Kate and her family for giving me a place to crash!

Thanks to my family for putting together such a killer snack basket for me

Thanks to everyone who called and text with me during the long drive

And thanks to everyone who's been praying for me; your prayers are both heard and answered

My last day in Medford went a little differently than planned... Had some heavy stuff come up that I was not expecting to deal with, but God was good, and got me through it, and used it to show me even more how much he's blessed this trip. The couple days before I left, I was asking God to help me make sure this was what he wants me to do. I even took it to the point of praying that if he didn't want me to go, he'd cause me to get in a car accident. Not because I didn't want to do the trip, but because I knew it would take something that drastic for me to catch on. Well, two days, some crazy driving, and about 750 miles later, I'm still safe and sound and more confident than ever that this is the right thing!

Today's drive went very, very smoothly. I left Medford at around 9a (after getting coffee, my review, and a raise!) and arrived in Salt Lake City a little after 10p. When I first got to Utah, I was excited for the time change, because I was in the future! Then Robby made me realize that I actually just lost an hour; Utah stole an hour of my life! Friggin', Utah! I want it back!

As is only appropriate for me, I started the trip with a little Ben Folds, and wrapped up with some more Ben Folds. In between were the likes of Beck, Chili Peppers, White Stripes, Nightmares on Wax, Lightbreak, Dave Matthews, Rage Against the Machine, and Black Eyed Peas. I only had to stop a couple of times. My last stop was in Winnemuca, Nevada, where I gassed up and ate some food, then made short work of the second half of the first day. I almost pulled off when I got into Utah to spin out on the salt flats, but was worried about getting stuck, so I opted to cruise on by and satisfy myself with a couple pictures.

Today was my longest day, at about 12 hours, like I said, and it was the shortest 12 hours of driving I've ever done. From here on out, the rest of the trip is going to feel easy, being only 8-10 hours of driving a day. I plan on taking off by 7 or 8a tomorrow (which will probably be today, by the time I've posted this), staying tomorrow night in Colorado Springs with one of my greatest friends ever, Jenn! Look for new blogs in the coming days, as I'll try to put one up after each day of driving (and also post my 'Road Trip Guidelines' that I've been brainstorming). I'll try to have a few pictures up here, but the majority will be on Facebook.

Again, thanks to everyone for the prayers and phone calls! I'll keep you posted!


P.S.
I'm still looking for a place to crash in or near Kansas City, MO tomorrow night. If anyone has any contacts, let me know.