yeah, i know. this happened in quasi real time on instagram but if you didn't follow along or want some slight commentary/"behind the scenes" crap, read on.
the day after my birthday leff and i listed our house and loaded up a rented dodge durango with cats, their supplies and whatever was left over in the house (read: power cords, cleaning supplies, etc, etc and four bags of garbage since we had our bins picked up before we moved. (ha. bad timing with that one.)) and set off for illinois.
here is the last picture i ever took of washington fucking state.
we left crazy early because of anticipated sasquatch traffic. it still didn't keep us from seeing some festival kids on the road. one guy had an "i heart bigfoot" sticker on his truck but i thought leff said "i heart dickfoot" and so we rechristened that cryptozoological beast.
lemme tell you, eastern washington is just as heinous, if not more so, than western washington. we spent a horrible night in spokane. the cats were just as miserable as we were.
but once we crossed the state line and started to put some distance between us and the shit ass drivers that washington is known for, things started to get better.
idaho. for real, in idaho, people are nice. at this gas station with the moose head
and deer trophies for sale
i chatted with a nice lady about how great of a selection they had in the store. (for real, mint m&ms are SO GOOD get some if you, like me, loved the m&m royales from the 80s.)
but we weren't in idaho for long. nah, we had montana to deal with. it is fucking brisk there.
and gorgeous.
scary too though. several of the worst mountain passes were in montana. should i mention homestake pass? jesus christ almighty, that was TOUGH. (i don't handle elevation well.)
also in montana is little bighorn. we didn't stop, sadly. the cats made sightseeing incredibly difficult on this trip as someone had to be with them at all times. but leff did duck into the tacky little shop which has these teepees in front.
i could have sworn that i took some pictures of wyoming but maybe not. idk, intensely beautiful scenery blends together after a while.
all i know is that south dakota is fucking HUGE. it was here that leff decided that "gusty crosswinds" was his road name and that we think we saw a dodge dorf. (tim conway was our patron saint on this trip.)
anyway, finally made it to wall drug but couldn't go inside because of the blasted cats. this is as close as i got.
so i didn't get to take a picture of the dinosaur there and this sinclair one will have to suffice.
not only were we haunted by tim conway, we were also chasing lewis and clark. there was a marker celebrating the centennial of the corps of discovery near this overlook of the missouri river. amazing, isn't it?
in another category altogether is the corn palace. i still don't totally understand it but i do love it.
i had never been through south dakota before. another state i was able to mark off my list was minnesota. there was a real honest to fuck thunderstorm!!! I HAVE MISSED THOSE!!
there was also a sonic and i got a cherry limeade. so. happy.
but not as happy as when we sped through wisconsin (which i love. i can't explain it but "escaping to wisconsin" is totally something i believe in doing once in a while. (yes, we had cheese curds. ha!)) and arrived in chicago. christ, the traffic around o'hare!
all worth it though. this is two min from the apartment.
so is this view.
yeah, we're in edgewater. look, i'm old. i need to be in a quieter neighborhood. i can easily hop the red line and get somewhere exciting very quickly but for now, i am content with lake michigan.
oh, and freakin' patio beef. dear god, it is amazing.
leff and i ate there last night. here is my italian beef, dipped, with hots that i devoured shortly after taking this photo.
on the way back home, we passed the first of many little free libraries where i found a book i've been meaning to read for years.
basically, this place is treating us well. we've found a great locally owned hardware store, target and the aldi. i'll hit up the library for a card once i get some mail to prove that i live here.
we've already been stuck in game day traffic at addison and i didn't have a panic attack. XD XD
movers get here next week. until then we'll be sitting on overturned laundry baskets and gawking at this view.
i swear, i feel like i'm finally home.
2 comments:
So happy for you guys! Glad you had safe and relatively uneventful travels. :)
Thanks so much! And thanks for being so supportive when we were stuck in Washington. :D
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