Miles on These Tires!

It’s always remarkable to me when people say that they want to drive across the country.  For fun.  Perhaps it’s because my cross country sojourns have more often than not been the thing of requirement instead of desire, but this Navy brat has criss-crossed and zig-zagged across the country innumerable times.   Generally, these trips were done in the backseat of whatever model of station wagon my mom was sporting at the time.  I can recall one memory from my childhood when my eldest sister was 16 and my parents allowed the three “girls” to drive for about 4 miles before my mom had a panic attack on I-90 somewhere outside of Idaho and made us switch so that an adult was always in one of the vehicles. 

As an adult, I have somehow become accustomed to driving cross country again.  On our first trek across country, Tom and I had been dating long distance: he in San Diego and myself in North Carolina.  That trip began with him flying to North Carolina and observing my gradual states of mental collapse as men loaded my worldly belongings into a U-Haul that had been spray painted with another company.  As my confidence was waning, Tom assured me that my things would make it to San Diego with safety, and if not, they were just things.  We took our trip together, the longest amount of time that we had ever spent in each other’s company, slowly making our way through World’s Largest Statue of a Child, Replica of the Parthenon, even the World’s Largest Cedar Bucket!  Our adventure began with a bang and ended with me thinking, “This is a lot of time to spend with just one person.” 

This time, we’ve had the lucky pleasure of both living in the same city for some time and even under the same roof for a short stint as well.  As such, I now know that when Tom gets angry at our GPS for sending us down a small, state route, that it’s the GPS, and not me, at which he is truly angry.  In times such as these, Tom requires only a 10 minute cool down period in which he is allowed to say “This is so ridiculous” as many times as he likes without any reply from the passenger seat.  Upon the completion of ten minutes, I gleefully switch music back on and the matter is closed. 

Tom really liked windmills.  Here he is attempting to look like one.  Similar?  You be the judge.

Our trip from Seattle to Winston-Salem, North Carolina took us exactly four days.  If I thought Tom was a trooper before, this trip solidified the notion even more into my mind.  On day one, we traveled through Washington and Idaho, stopping at the C’Mon Inn in Bozeman, Montana.  Seriously, that’s what it’s called.  I’m actively kicking myself for not having come up with that name before.  The C’Mon Inn was stocked with taxidermy of various forms from mountain goats and beavers and bears (OH MY!). 

Me with a stuffed bear.  C'Mon Inn = Fancy!

 Day two, included a stop in South Dakota at Wall Drug in Wall, SD.  While stopping, Tom took a picture with a jackalope and then ran into Sam Tickle, a fellow South Carolina alum.  The odds of running into a college buddy and fellow naval officer in the middle of South Dakota are so slim that the two shouted from across the backyard of Wall Drug and had quite the “What the hell are you doing here?” moment.  Alas, I didn’t think to take a picture, the novelty of the situation overwhelming us all.  Or perhaps the fact that Tom had gotten married.  I’m not exactly sure…  Regardless, sorry, Sam Tickle!

Tom riding a Jackalope at Wall Drug.  Highly authentic.

Sunglasses increase authenticity, I've heard.

Cheese curds in Wisconsin.  We went for pizza flavor and cheddar.  Pizza was better, we agreed.

During day three was pretty uneventful except for the quick pitstop at Northwestern University.  I’ve been getting my masters online through Northwestern for a year now and had never been to the campus.  After eight hours of driving, we took 30 minutes to walk around a very chilly Evanston, Illinois and took obligatory pictures in front of whatever building or sign I deemed to be important.  Tom kept asking “Is this where the ‘quad’ is?”  And I kept saying “How should I know?  I go here online!” 

Wildcat Pride!  Me at NU!

We pressed through the night, through pouring rain and bugs until we reached Lexington, Indiana.  It wasn’t until the next morning that I figured out that the pictures of buildings in the lobby of our hotel were of Purdue University, a school which my dad took me to tour when I was in high school as potential places of higher education and which I decided looked like a prison.  Alas, the location hadn’t stuck in my mind.

On day four, we sped from Lexington, Indiana to my sister’s house in Winston-Salem, NC.  What a long four days it was but showing up to see my pregnant sister, her 17 pound cat and her beautiful house was a welcome sight!  We made it through a book and a half and 3,000 miles in just four days.  It was insanity!

The gang, sans Christy, at the Dash Game.

S'mores, as in, so good you want some more!

Todd showing us how it's really done.

Preggo!

My mom's solution to me being stressed.

At last!  We got out of the car!  We showed up to Christy’s house in North Carolina at about 5 pm on Friday and took a collective sigh of relief at the ability to spend daylight hours in open air.  Our car spent a few days airing out, after the smell of living in your car for a few days permeated into every fabric.  Christy took us to Mozelle’s, this really delicious bistro in the “West End” of Winston-Salem for dinner.  Oh goodness… cheese grits.  They are so heavenly delicious that words could not do them justice.  And for dessert: bourbon bread pudding.  Stop it!  Second only to that at Humble Pie in Raleigh, a bar that may be unattainable for all bread puddings to reach, we oooo’ed and ahhhh’ed and gobbled it up!  Yum!

On Saturday, with all three sisters under the same roof, we attended a Dash game.  The Dash is the AA league in Winston-Salem that has, according to Christy, the most expensive stadium for AA!  What a claim to fame!  We watched the game, some of us more than others, cheered on the games between innings and ate peanuts with fervor.  Just spending time with my sisters, my very best friends, was so comforting and so fun that I felt even more depressed leaving them.  Christy is going to make a wonderful momma and I cannot wait to hear all about the stories and adventures that parenthood has to offer.

And just like that, we were back in the car.  At least it had gotten a bit lighter with some of the stuff that we left in NC and smelled significantly better after airing it out, but still, we were in the car again.  Five hours later, we were in Virginia Beach saying hello to my momma and our three kitties who had been staying with her since we left San Diego two weeks earlier.  Adding extra excitement to our trip, we had to have four teeth pulled from our eldest cat, Neville.  However, my wonderful parents were such amazing hosts and ordered a bushel of crabs for us to pick.  Picking crabs is so very much a part of living on the Chesapeake Bay and a time honored tradition in our house.  While you don’t get that much meat per crab, the hours that you spend cracking claws and drinking beers are so fun that it never seems to matter.  My mom and I floated around in the pool, shopped for more things that Tom needed to shove into our suitcases and had a really relaxing time.  It was so difficult to say goodbye to them, I cried harder than I’ve cried in a really long time and am getting sad just writing this.  Hearing my mom tell me that I’m so much more composed than she ever thought I’d be or than she had been during previous moves herself gave me so much relief.  Just hearing her encouragement made me feel a thousand times better.

And then, you guessed it!  We were back in the car again!  From Virginia Beach we charged onward to Washington, DC to visit my sister, Lauri.  We met up with our good friend from San Diego, Scott, for dinner and drinks.  The food at the restaurant was SO good!  Mmmm!  After dinner, we went to DC’s only five star restaurant, Restaurant Eve, for some drinks.  Saying goodbye to Lauri the next day seemed somewhat easier, knowing that she will be coming to Italy for a visit in the fall.  That, at least, was a bit easier to bear.

Our flight leaves on Wednesday, the 15th.  Until then, we're spending our last days in the States for a while with Tom's family and visiting some friends in the area.  We cannot thank our hosts and hostesses enough to do their graciousness justice.  We've both had such a wonderful, if not exhausting past few weeks but feel like the time that we spent with our friends and families have helped us get ready for our trip.  Tom and I both will carry those memories with us in the years to come and look forward to sharing our lives with you all from abroad.

Until next time!

Lynne

xoxo