Home stretch!

Our last day we slept in and headed out on the last drive! We made it back to the city and up to CT! Its been quite an adventure and we've learned a lot about this country and our own capacity for endurance.


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Pennsylvania

We pulled off the highway to fill up on gas. We grabbed the penny saver magazine and realized there wasnt another area with hotels for awhile. We found a coupon for the hampton inn nearby and were disappointed on arrival to find that the jacuzzi we were looking forward to was out of order. We were too tired though to bother finding a different place. We also were surprised and let down to find there was no movie theater in the area! We settled in and fell asleep early.



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Location:Lamar, pa

Ohio to PA

We hung out at Alixs aunts house and had a slow sunday morning. We headed out and drove along I80.


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First sign for nyc!


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Ahoy Ohio!

We dragged ourselves out of bed at Alixs house and hit the road late morning. I drove 4 hours eastward passing through southern Illinois, nodding towards Chicago which we didnt have time to visit. We headed on to Indiana and continued through the scenery of farmland and cows. Ohio greeted us in the early evening and Alix took over until midnight. I fell asleep, apparently waking up once to ask Alix where we were to which she answered "on our way!". We got to her aunts house around 12:30 in the morning and settled in for the night.






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A day to relax

We tasted food channel worthy cupcakes at Jillys, were treated to massages to relax our sore backs. I had lunch with a friend from college and dinner with my cousin David! Then we a
spent the evening with Alix's friends for the St louis balloon glow!
















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St louis!

Arrival! We made it to Alixs house just after dark. Wilson, the german shephard was eager to see her and bounded around with his plush toy.











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On to St Louis!

Didnt see much more than fast food, a few Christian billboards, barren sun tanned cornfields and cows for several hours.




We listened to a chapter of an audiobook we picked up, but quickly turned it off as I started yawning.




The highway was only two lanes and we played tag with tractor trailers as we zoomed into the wild East.




Just 200 miles to the st louis! We continued our migration and passed halfway!


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Lets go to Alix's house!

Alix started the day exercising her superior backing up skills since she had parked for some reason all the way up to a curb, bad news with a trailer that goes the opposite way than you want. She has mastered the tricky art however and got us back on the road in no time! We chugged along through cornfields and entered Missouri, and stopped for lunch at cracker barrel, a new experience for me.


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Sabre Red

After checking in many rest stops since Oregon, finally found some trusty pepper spray in a visitor center in Grand Island Nebraska! Guaranteed to keep away sketchy hitchhikers and extreme tea partiers, so we hope.



also was perusing the magazine shelf and noticed some different issues highlighted than are usual top shelf on the coasts...



Also as I walked down the hall saw this comforting sign about the rest stops other uses.


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Wyoming -> Nebraska....

We attempted to wake up at 7am, but rolled out of bed by 8 and made it down for breakfast by 9. We enjoyed our waffles and cereal as President Obama delivered his speech about the American ambassador killed in Libya. As Obama spoke, his image plastered on a super imposed red background on the screen of Fox News, Alix and I realized that most likely everyone around us were thinking negative thoughts about this man. I wanted to get up and cheer after his speech, but Alix reminded me how many people around here have guns. I sat down, reluctantly enduring the newsa nchors from Fox critiquing and twisting what the President had said.
We hit the road again, said goodbye to Americas Best Value Inn with its freight style elevator and single, uncomfortable bed.


Alix began the driving and we headed out east. I enjoyed the Western feel of Wyoming, with the log cabins sporadically placed throughout the fields, black cows dotting the landscape and horses of every color and marking flicking their tails in the wind. The land had the flavor of the old west culture, signs for saddle shops and fireworks as well as beef invited us to stop. 400 miles later we made it to Cheyenne. We switched drivers and I put on the course on PTSD we had downloaded from Itunes U. It turned out even the audio course was Christian influenced, fitting in with the culture around us. We scanned the radio and just about every station was playing either music which was dedicated to Jesus or God, and even the talk shows were interpreting the bible. We reflected on how different ones perspective turns out when they are constantly inundated with information about a particular religion.


We passed a giant cross which advertised Bible camp, and even the books available at the rest stop were all about Christianity.
The landscape evolved from low winding hills covered with short green shrubs and grass, to large fields which were mostly a dried out tan color, with a handful of them a brilliant green, precious water spraying over them. Gradually we began to see more cornfields and the land flattened out. We entered into Nebraska.


The next 5 hours of driving were a blur of cornfields, large industrial sections of buildings, and the occasional signs for fast food, adult stores, or liquor stores. We aimed to arrive in Grand Island, just past Kearney Nebraska and spend the evening there. It was 9pm, lightly raining and pitch black dark out on the roads. We called every single hotel in town as well as in the next town over and were dismayed to find out every last room was booked solid. We asked why and were explained that it is Husker Day, named for the university but actually a big market and fair for the area.


We sighed, got some dinner and Alix chugged on for another 100 miles and made it to Lincoln, Nebraska.

Rock Springs, Wyoming

We continued for another hour into the darkness and made our nest for tonight in Rock Springs, Wyoming. We called four hotels which were full, no one could report anything special going on. The last one on the list proved to have vacancy and we arrived around 9pm.
As we enjoyed authentic Mexican food at the hotel restaurant, Alix had a moment. It really dawned on us how far we are driving and how strange the adventure really is.










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Utah->Wyoming

We continued along the road, streaming past inmense red rock formations, the afternoon light gilding the stone. We have taken to filling the gas tank when it reaches half way so as to avoid any repeat incidents.

We passed into Wyoming headed east. The terrain evolved into muscular mountainous formations. The signs for fireworks proliferated. We stopped to fill up and nearly followed a dead end rode which was deceptively placed as to appear to be the logical place for an on ramp. Thanks to Alix's naturally gifted ability to back up a trailer we managed to prevent such a misstep. However, we ended up following a wandering road alongside the highway for several miles until reconnecting with the open road.


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From a birds eye view we were just a black dot with a silver dot behind us, inching along through vast sand colored mountains, crossing over winding rivers on historic landmark bridges.
The sunset greeted us from the edge of our vision. Pastel blue swirled with pink and dabbed with white clouds.


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Idaho-> Utah

We continued driving, passing into Utah around 3pm. The landscape was mostly flat fields, then desertlike with small tough shrubs covering it. We then began to see some mountains. Meanwhile the people around us changed as well. I was upset to see bumper stickers that were anti-obama and one anti-abortion. Part of me would like to do some canvassing out here but I dont think I have the patience for the answers I would get. We are passed by giant three trailer trucks, we saw a house go by on a flatbed truck, and a wing of a huge windmill. There are billboards for fireworks and church groups as well as for tractors and railroad tyes. In nearly everytown we pass there are identical companies of fast food and big box stores, I find it unnerving.











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We enjoyed the Idaho souvenirs at the visitor center!

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Wake up in Idaho!

Where are we?! Idaho! Why not?
We woke up at 8am and were eager to enjoy the hot breakfast and loaded up on waffles, bagels and cereal. Then we took a quick dip in the hot tub and pool, enjoying the refreshing quality of water in the morning. We headed out on the road again and found ourselves in a once green basin of fertile land for crops, that is now a yellow field of dried out vegetation. The droughts have taken their toll in the heartland.


We stopped in Twin Falls, Idaho and were pleasantly surprised by the gorgeous snake river canyon and shoshone waterfalls. The falls were not at their full capacity but the water was a remarkable shade of green as it meandered through the gorge. Turns out that the bridge is a popular site for base jumping! Too bad we didnt have time today.












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