I left Salt Lake City this morning to begin my two-day, 1500 mile trek back to my hometown of Aurora, IL. What once used to be here...



...is now all here.



This has been one of my more adventure filled trips, and I'm only halfway done. It started out as a little nostalgic trip down memory lane as I said goodbye to all of my favorite SLC spots. It was quite pitiful actually. I even teared up a little filling up at the gas station around the corner from my old apartment for the last time.



And if you think it's kind of pathetic I took a picture of my neighborhood gas station, I think it's even more pathetic I documented this.



Me, returning my last item to the public library. I will spare you all of the picture I took of downtown, Temple Square, the capitol building. Of course I didn't have time to stop at any of this places, so they are all fuzzy drive-by photos. I did have my radio blaring for all of this--it was a heavy metal morning, so the soundtrack was "Ironman" by Black Sabbath, the entire Master of Puppets CD by Metallic and some Queensrÿche among others.

Right before getting to the Wyoming border, the adventures really began. As I was merging on to I-80 from I-84, I saw this kid lying off to the side of the road surrounded by his family. Because I have some first aid training, I stopped to see if I could help. The 11-year-old had a seizure as was pretty unresponsive. Thank heavens he was breathing, and though his pulse was very weak, it was there. This isn't the first time I have stopped to help offer first aid to random people. When I was 16 and my family was heading back home after dropping my sister off at BYU, I saw a woman who had passed out in her car at the gas station. I jumped out of the car, had my mom call 911, and called my dad over to help me give her rescue breathing. That was pretty intense.

By the afternoon, I moved on to some alternative music (a bunch of My Chemical Romance, Muse, Blue October and All-American Rejects) and saw some great geological sights like this one.



And of course I went over this...



...and found myself in American's Heartland. With farms everywhere and advertisements for things like Wrangler Outfitters, where real cowboys shop, and Wild Bill's Ranch, I felt like I was in a Western. So of course I had to pop in some Bon Jovi, because what else can a city girl who doesn't much care for country music listen to when she sees things like this?



Talk about Amber Waves of Grain and all that. It was beautiful, and only marred by this...



...every ten miles or so.

By that time, I had already passed my dad's favorite spot...



...so it was time to put in some folk music (thanks, Sara, for introducing me to the Walin' Jennys and Brandi Carlile) and think about stopping for the night. So after nearly 800 miles, 56 construction zones and 110 La Quinta Inns, I finally stopped for the night. Tomorrow I look forward to seeing my aunt and uncle who live in Omaha, crossing the Mississippi River, and reaching civilization. But most of all, I can't wait to see my family and home.

P.S. This post is dedicated to Yuri. She is from Japan and was excited to come on this trip with me to see America but had to cancel in order to prepare to defend her second Master's Thesis. I know this isn't the same, Yuri, but I hope this post and tomorrow's gives you a little taste of Americana.