operation utah evac., part I

last weekend i flew out to salt lake city, ut for a special ops assignment: retrieve my sister and her belongings from provo and escort her safely to st. louis, mo. the trip would be long and hazardous, but i was determined to complete my objective.

The plane ride was uneventful, but the scenery was enjoyable. luckily i had an entire row to myself, which made for easy preparation of my tactical gear (uploading music on laptop for the ride back).



upon landing, i rendezvoused with my target (henceforth refered to as "barb"), and we drove to provo to get a good nights rest. stops were made at supply stores for other necessary provisions (sandwich materials, sunglasses, and a queen greatest hits cd). barb worked on cleaning up her apartment for the next occupant while i made further preparations for the next day. the hour was early when we finally retired.

The morning did not greet us well....

there was brief talk of getting more sleep before departure, but we were eager to start our journey.


finally, it was time to say goodbye. some were more sentimental than others...
this is why my involvement in the mission was so vital.



after showers and a little more clean-up, we were ready to hit the road.



before heading up the canyon, we made two brief, but necessary, stops:

photo op:

tasty breakfast at a place with a weird name:



the nature of our mission required us to travel incognito.



the terrain of the canyon was treacherous, but other factors proved more perilous...



but with much patience and good tunes, we managed to cross the border into wyoming....
(oddly enough, when i think of wyoming those exact two images come to mind)



but with so far to travel, would we make it?


would we make it to the next checkpoint? what adventures were in store for us? would we survive the kansas wastelands?

be sure to tune in for the exciting conclusion...