June 22, Ordinary 12C (1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a; Psalm 42 and 43)

We weren’t on the run like Elijah that Saturday, just taking advantage of the opportunity to see the mountains from the Payette River Scenic Byway, otherwise known as Idaho 55. On a clear and unseasonably warm day in March, we turned the GPS directions off and followed the twisting highway along the river, stones still piled high with snow. As we reached higher elevations and the temperature dropped, the rental car’s screen continued to show us where we were until, too remote for a signal, the arrow indicating our vehicle drove off the graphic map and onto a matrix of crisscrossing lines.

The miles passed, the snow caps got higher, and then we drove out of the woods and through small towns at increasing elevations. At this point we started to wonder about lunch, but we passed through the most crowded and touristy town at 5,030 feet, descending toward the endpoint of Route 55, where we would meet our route back via Idaho 95. Pulling into New Meadows, we turned onto an unpaved side street. We had just enough internet to find a promising spot: BBQ at the Intersection, with 4.5 stars on Yelp.

I am the member of our party who worries about whether our basic human needs will be met; my spouse figures we will find something somewhere. For that Idaho road trip, I made it a point not to look things up ahead of time—I urged myself to make a discipline of it. Still, about halfway up the scenic byway, I began to fret. We had to be back in Boise at a certain time. Although this trip was 100 percent optional, a sabbatical moment, I was on the verge of having a hungrumpy Elijah moment. Fine, it doesn’t matter if we get lunch. I’m at no risk of wasting away.