...Road Trips

This has been a week of heaven. A week of sunshine in the morning and thunderstorms at night. A week of quads aching in the best way possible. A week of mountains and lakes and new friends to share them with.

So let's start it off where it all began, the beginning. I'll try to catch up over the next few days.

My mother and I drove 2/3s of the way across the country, and it was an adventure, to say the least. We started off in the middle of DC at rush hour, and it took us more than an hour to get out of the metro area. Thank you traffic. But once we made it into Maryland and then Pennsylvania, the drive was quite pleasant. The Allegheneys are so beautiful... and I didn't even realize how they paled in comparison with the Rockies. We passed some lovely orchards... cherry I think? I thought the trees were magnificent.

See? Very pretty. Well, at this point we were still following the paper directions, and they took us an interesting little route off of the highway.

Not to say it wasn't absolutely beautiful out there - I love me some small mountain towns for sure. But when it started getting dark, and we started finding ourselves on dirt roads, we knew it was time to pull out the cellphone/gps from the FUTURE. Too bad I couldn't get a signal.

No big deal, right? We have a compass, so I followed my mother's brilliant and obvious advice, and pointed my nose northwest. Off we went. After several miles and even more U-turns, we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of Meyersville, Pennsylvania. I think that the best description of Meyersville came from one of the old folk we encountered at the "Pit Stop," a road side icecream trailer. The man said, smiling, "You can't get lost in Meyersville, there's nowhere to go!"

But again, we pointed our noses toward the already-set sun, and found our way to I-70. Three hours and one speeding ticket later, my lovely mother and I set our weary eyes to rest in Sandusky, Ohio. The same Sandusky that we visited almost two years previously, but for the much more family-oriented reason of visiting Cedar Point.

Thursday morning was upon us, and we set out towards Muscatine, Iowa, where we were staying in a friend's house for the night. Unfortunately, our plan to get there by 7pm was thwarted by an unfortunate break down of my precious Pecos Bill at a Cracker Barrel in Indiana.

You see, I was enjoying a nice, familiar lunch at the Cracker Barrel, rocking chairs and checkers included. I had my usual... the Pork Chops with fried okra and green beans on the side. Grabbed a few clove candy sticks and was ready to go. Too bad my car didn't even try to turn over when I turned that key.

The lovely managers at this Cracker Barrel tried their hardest to get us on the road; we tried jumping my car from two different engines, from a battery pack, and even resetting the fuel pump. Nothing. So we called AAA and got a tow out to a local shop, in Gary, Indiana (birthplace of Michael Jackson?!)

See how nice they are in Indiana? I got a tow with a view! But for serious, people. The folks in IN were indeed some of the nicest I've ever met, but the actual place? TERRIFYING. I don't even have any pictures of Gary, IN because I was afraid to take my camera out of the shop. The only places within walking distance were a terrible Chinese take-out, a Dominoes, and a gas station. This is on a four-lane road, sided by condemned furniture galleries and sex shops. Never again will I spend 8 hours there.

But we eventually got out, and drove our last four hours to Iowa. The Ahmanns, my good friend's family, were so lovely to us. And their dogs are just adorable! It was nice to wake up to a real breakfast of cinnamon buns and tea. But sadly we had to be on the road before we could hang out more.

Friday came and was thankfully uneventful. We spent lunch in an "Amish" homestead in Iowa, but it was really just a big tourist trap. A pretty tourist trap, nonetheless:

There were pretty flowers outside of the deli in which we ate lunch, and all of the buildings looked authentic, even if they only held trinkets and cheap souvenirs. But we got some good chocolate, and had fun in the quilting store, imagining what life would be like if we had enough time to do all of these wonderful crafts. And then it was off again, to explore the rest of the Midwest.

The rest of the day was what you would have expected from Iowa and Nebraska: corn fields out the wazoo. Corn fields and windmills. I actually thought that they were very pretty, but they got to be almost hypnotic to drive through. Mom and I had to switch spots more frequently than normal, and I even pulled into a shady spot at a hotel to take one of my famed 8-minute naps. Then it was off into the wild, golden-yellow yonder.

That night, I really pushed myself. I wanted to make it to the Colorado border before sleep, and by George I did it. We pulled in to a Super 8 Motel just over the border between Colorado and Nebraska some time around 3 in the morning. The place smelled, and the beds were horrible, but they were beds.

So Friday morning was a leisurely drive to Denver, where we met with long lost relatives cousin Shanda and her Sophomore son, Truett. After watching the end of Truett's football camp, we ate at Chipotle (how classy!) and Truett marvelled over my snake-in-a-tupperware, and I fantasized about their horse ranch in southern Colorado. I will go there soon and there will be pictures!

After quick hugs and speedy-getaways, we made the 45-minute hop over to Boulder. I found myself moving into a beautiful apartment with an excellent kitchen, fully furnished living room, and a cozy bedroom, and have been here ever since!

Look for another post tomorrow about my first few days in Boulder, the days before my research began!

Ciao, lovelies!
Amy!