The Longest Road Trip Ever...

Due to the god-awful summer that we had this year, Paul had decided to take a job in Boulder, CO. He'd heard some horror stories about having movers come and take all of your belongings, so he decided to drive out there. Because he deferred his arrival until later, school had started and I had started my new job. So no one was really available to make the trek with him. So thankfully, my new boss is super understanding and let me leave a bit early on Friday so I could drive out with him.

I left work at 2 and went directly home. Thankfully I had packed my stuff the night before. So I changed real quick and hopped into the truck. And at 2:30 pm, we headed out.

Thankfully the trip was very uneventful and we made it in record time (24 hours). After all that time in a small cab, a few good things happened...we're still engaged and we didn't have any major fighting. All big accomplishments! Plus, it was great to spend so much time together before our very long separation.

I decided to take some pictures on our trip because I don't know if I'll ever be in the middle of the country again. Plus, I'm sure one day, I'll say to our kids..."a long time ago, mommy and daddy got in a big truck and drove a long way away." And I'll even have the pictures now to prove it!

I took this picture right before we started on our adventure. At that point, I was eager to hop into the cab of the truck! Note: Paul's car is on a trailer behind the U-Haul.

We were in PA somewhere and having a grand old time laughing about our trip. Little did we know that 20 some hours later, we'd be silent and dying to get out of the car! hehe It wasn't really that bad...I swear!

We made it to Cleveland!! It wasn't until Cleveland that I started taking pictures of signs. So clearly I missed the "Welcome to Ohio" sign. Or I fell asleep. One of the two. ;)

I had no idea that the 90 was built on Lake Erie! I love it! I also determined that I was going to attempt to throw a message in a bottle into the water there and go to the beach when I got home and look for it!

We drove into the sunset...literally.

We made it to Indiana in record time!

This might be the only picture of me for the entire trip. Since Paul did 100% of the driving, he didn't really have a lot of opportunities to take my picture. So he took this one outside the truck at a rest stop in Indiana.

When we passed through Gary, IN, I looked up the song Gary, Indiana on YouTube and made Paul listen to it.

I missed the "Welcome to Illinois" sign. It wasn't in a very obvious spot and by the time we realized what it was, there wasn't any time to stop and take the picture. (Nor would the driving nazi have stopped!) So instead, I have this super blurry Chicago picture.

At around 12am, local time, we decided to stop for the night. On the GPS, I found that there was a Holiday Inn ahead and we found the exit quickly. When we got off the exit, we weren't quite sure where to go. So when we saw that the driveway to the hotel was right ahead of us, we went straight through the light at the end of the exit. Unfortunately, it was the ramp to get back on the highway. And the next exit with decent hotels (I'm talking ones that didn't have the word *Motel* on the sign with only the letters M and O lit up.) was 20 miles away. So I sulked and got angry for a second, and then just figured we were 20 miles closer for the morning drive.

So we checked into another Holiday Inn in Ottawa, IL. It was so nice and I think I literally fell into bed. We got up at 6am, showered, and headed down to the breakfast buffet real quick. It was awesome - they had eggs, muffins, bagels, toast, bacon, cereal and juice. Crazy! I took this picture before we headed out at 7am.

Since I was still rather tired, I took a long snooze. But Paul was nice enough to make sure that I was awake to see us into Iowa!

We had a long day of driving and not a lot of stuff to do. So I took the opportunity to admire my engagement ring.

This is my view...for most of the trip. Especially in Iowa.

At one of the rest stops, we saw this truck with a trailor carrying goats. Weird.

Oh and at this stop...we had a minor *incident* where *someone* didn't think I was operating the GPS fast enough and ripped it out of my hands. I have no idea who would ever think to do such a thing.

You know those blue signs on the thruway that advertise lodging, food, and gas? Well when we were in Iowa, one of the food signs only listed Andrew's Chocolates. We ended up getting off on that exit for gas and passed the chocolate shop. It apparently was Andrew's house. The picture is a little fuzzy because I didn't roll the window down...but I thought it was amusing.

Who thought I'd be excited to get to Nebraska? And PS - the sign says "Nebraska...the good life. Home of Arbor Day." Arbor Day?

Paul's dream come true. The second we got into Nebraska we spotted the world's largest steam engine. Of course we slowed down for a picture of it.

Road trip with my boy!

This is much of what I saw in Nebraska. Is this what is considered "amber waves of grain?" I hope so, because I sang America the Beautiful. I also sang God Bless America...but apparently never took any pictures of the prairies.

Also spotted in Nebraska...margaritas to go. When we stopped in a gas station to fill up, I went inside to go to the bathroom. I found that the gas station doubled as the local liquor store, too. Much like the ones I've been to in Bakersfield, CA but on a much larger scale. So when I looked int the cooler for an ice cream sandwich, I found they had large drink boxes full of margaritas. The guy behind the counter offered me one, but I politely declined. I didn't know if I was a crime to drink and ride. And I didn't think having some tequila while Paul was driving was such a great idea.

It was such nice weather and once we hit Colorado, it started raining. And since the truck had such terrible windshield wipers, the Colorado sign didn't turn out so good. But at least I got it. Oh...this was where some prairies were located.

The last stop before we got to Boulder. You can sense the excitement.

After this, I alternated between sleeping the remaining few hours and sulking about not getting Dairy Queen. (I wanted Dairy Queen to eat real bad. Especially when they advertise them ever other exit. And when I requested to stop and get some, *someone* said to me, "there's only 4 more hours to go. You can't wait?" I took that as meaning that I should shut my mouth and suck it up. So I did. But I really wanted some.)


All in all the trip was very successful. When we arrived, we headed over to some friends' house and had a quick bite to eat before everything got moved in. Then we just unloaded the truck. I felt like my dad because I refused to stop and relax. I just wanted to get the job done!! lol We did get everything out of the truck that night and even started unpacking a bit.

Sunday morning, we got up early to wait for the cable guy to arrive. While he was installing the internet and tv, I washed the cupboards and started arranging stuff in Paul's house. I'm glad that I got to help him out like that.

We headed to breakfast after the cable guy left. The food at the place we went to (no clue what it was called) was good and I definitely enjoyed my mimosa!! We said goodbye and headed to Walmart, where we purchased a crapload of groceries and random house stuff that I never realized Paul didn't have. Of course, earlier that morning, Paul went on a run to Target to pick up a shower curtain because there was nothing there. Do boys seriously not think of this stuff? Oh well.

By the time I left, things were starting to look like they belonged and less like a trash dump. I was really sad to go, but since Paul was coming home in a week, it wasn't as awful as expected. I did get a little teary...but it was hard to think that I was leaving him behind. Hopefully this won't be too bad of a separation.

Thank goodness we made it through the trip. I am glad we got to make it together.