I awoke to the sound “meep-meep” (which, thanks to Zedge, replaces my phone’s default incoming message tone). I checked the time and was astounded to find it was 10 am, later than I expected. And then I remembered that Ontario, OR’s time zone is 1 hour ahead of my home. I lost an hour, had to focus on executing a timely checkout, and to figure out why my phone exploded with SMS and WhatsApp messages. Thankfully, it was all good.
To facilitate my “mad dash,” I put on the next Youtube in my feed, Inta Omri—arguably, the best Egyptian composition of the 20th century. Fair warning: If you’re unaccustomed to classical Arabic music, it could sound like noise/whining.
Today was a light travel day. The latter part of the drive was quite beautiful. I couldn’t take photos/videos as before, because my phone got too hot. Let me explain: With the help of a couple of gadgets plus Google Assistant, I use my phone hands-free while driving.
Warning—Rabbit hole: Before this trip, I bought two tools to enhance my phone:
My phone attaches magnetically to this wallet-phone case combo. And this Lisen suction phone holder is also magnetic, making it easy to detach/reattach the phone when I leave/return to the car.
Warning—Rabbit hole within a rabbit hole: Now, full disclosure: The phone holder’s directions could have been better-written. The result? I kind-of, sort-of followed installation instructions, but did it wrong. My beautiful phone and its holding tower plummeted during its first run. But Lisen has a crack team of customer support staff. They were patient, and even sent me a second unit for free. After I realized my user error, I emailed Lisen to ask to pay for the second unit. Fair’s fair!
As I was saying, my phone wouldn’t cooperate, complaining it was hot, but my car’s interior was comfortable. I checked to see the outside temperature: It was 95°F/35°C. And the sun shone directly on my phone, so it’s reasonable that it overheated. You will just have to imagine my drive to Boise, ID’s Old Penitentiary, converted to a museum. In fact, it hosts a museum within the museum.
I arrived about 30 minutes before the guided tour of the main museum, so I visited the special weapons exhibition—the museum within the museum. As I studied the exhibits, it occurred to me that killing machines defined high tech for most of human history. Until today, I had no idea that machine guns existed in the 19the century:
I continued my drive to the Bruneau Dunes State Park, ID, which was nothing like what I expected. I envisioned dunes you can lie on. in reality, there was a looped road, a standard campground, and a waterway or lake. The dunes were further back, off the roads. Reaching the water proved trickier than I expected.
In support of my 2-star hotel rant is the one I stayed in this evening in Mountain Home, ID. The owners were present, lovely, friendly. Here’s how the place looked:
