Well, we made it! Thank the gods for small miracles.
Here are some of the details from the trip. After our planned road trip to North Carolina in early June we decided that a 3 day road trip to Minnesota would be too much to handle. It was hard enough traveling with 2 adults in the car and a screaming baby. We bit the bullet and bought plane tickets for the girls. Sara and the girls flew in last Monday, the 22nd, and I stayed behind and continued packing and cleaning. It took much longer to pack and clean than it should have - almost 3 days. Now moving is horrible. Packing up and moving from a 3rd floor walk up is hell. A week later and my thighs and butt still hurt from going up and down all of those damn stairs
Tuesday morning I got up at 5, after having gone to bed at 12:30 the night before, and continued packing and cleaning. 4.5 hours later I was finally ready and started the long trek westward in a rented truck with the most neurotic dog in existence. The dog never settle down once. She would spin around in a circle lay down and then immediately stand right up. At one point, as we were making our way through Pennsylvania a thunderstorm surprised us and the dog freaked out jumped between my feet and hid from the thunder. I immediately turned on the flashers and pulled over to the side of the road. I wasn't sure it was a safe practice to drive with a pet so near the pedals. Turns out I didn't have a choice. Tootsie either rode between my feet or on my lap. Every tollbooth operator between Maryland and Minnesota thought she was just the cutest friggin' dog. "Aw, does she always ride in your lap?"
"Yep, almost every damn mile."
Anyway, Tootsie and I put in 14.5 hours on the 1st leg of the trip from Maryland to Illinois. Once I got the hang of towing the car everything was fine except for the duration of the drive. The Ohio turnpike seemed to stretch on forever. Then as I was driving through Indiana, nearing Chicago and my cousin's welcoming home I must've driven through a time warp because the end destination kept moving further and further away from me. My GPS, when it worked, would tell me I had 2 hours left. Then an hour later I would still have 2.5 hours left. It appeared to me that Chicago was running away from me. Eventually, I persevered and pulled into the charming village of Western Springs, Illinois at 11PM Central time. It was much later than I had planned but I was still able to stay up, have a beer with my cousin, Raleigh and catch up for a little bit.
The next morning we got up had breakfast with Raleigh and her son, Eli. Then Tootsie and I climbed back into the Penske and tacked on an additional 8 hours until we reached White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Day 2 was a cake walk. It was pretty simple drive up through Illinois into Wisconsin and then into Minnesota. I was disappointed by my inability to find a White Castle for my lunch stop but I kept puttering forward. At 4PM we pulled up to the house and with my brother-in-law's help we managed to speedily unpack the truck. In a little over an hour the truck was emptied and we were enjoying a beer and visiting with family.
We've been here for a week now and it still seems a little bit unreal. Feels like we're on vacation visiting friends and family. Later today I will go into work at a new store and start my work week. I think getting back into a routine will be good for us. I'll let you know how life in Minnesota progresses.
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