May 12th

I'm heading out HWY 50. Never been out there before. Someone told me 'it's like you're driving on the moon'. Sounds like a good place to start.

Bought some hiking boots, a pocket knife, and a headlamp courtesy of my dad for my birthday. I usually boycott wall-mart, but went there for one thing I knew they had that I needed, a large scale Rand-McNally U.S. atlas. Only $10.95. I needed it, my hands were tied.

Turns out HWY 50 is really a visually stunning drive. Yes there is nothing out there for miles and miles but that is what makes it so special. To add to the natural beauty of the terrain, the storm created this contrast of dark rain/snow storms with sunlit cumulus thunderheads above them. Mountain tops were covered with snow and storm clouds while the valleys and the high clouds were lit up. It was like I was driving in a 600 mile long Ansel Adams photograph.

I set the cruise control at 60 (the speed limit is 75), wanted to take my time and just soak it all in. I tried to dig deep and make the answers to my quest a priority. There were some sparks of new light, but most of it is stuff I've known for years, and still gives me the same 'pick any direction you want, you can do it' answer. What I need from this quest is the direction. I'm writing down my attributes and passions, things I want out of life, things I can and can't live with. Hopefully I can fit all these jigsaw pieces together.

I planned on staying the night at the Great Basin National Park, but when I got to Baker (5,300 ft) around 7 pm it was freezing. The first campground in GBNP is about five miles away and more than 2,000 ft higher. Looking up in to the snow storm at the top, I didn't feel like my ill equipped, summer vision quest set up was up to the challenge. I decided to keep driving down HWY 21 in to Utah. About 10 miles out of Baker I found a dirt road, pulled off and drove a ways in to the desert. Made camp by this little lake at the bottom of the mountains that make up the GBNP.

Don't know where to tomorrow. I feel myself wanting to get to the comfort of Joe Jackson's house, but it scares me too because comfort doesn't promote change and change is what I need. Although this trip has started off amazing, I still have my concerns. Am I just taking a vacation? Am I just making myself feel better by driving away from my problems? I hope not. I guess I'll find out at some point.