Driving Across The Country

Jess and I set out on yet another driving adventure! She can officially be called my co-pilot!

Day 1: Sunday

We started out in Baltimore (naturally) and drove a good 6-7 hrs and made it to Columbus Ohio! We stopped at a few places along the way, got some Subway, took a few pics and got several postcards!

We found a Red Roof Inn to crash for the night. As we pulled into the back parking lot, we realized it didn't wrap around to the front of the building leaving us a bit stuck! We had to do an 18 point turn and Jess had to get out and direct me. It was intense! If you reverse the truck to the left the trailer will reverse to the right. It took some time to figure it out, but we did!

Day 2: Monday

Even though we got to bed after 1am, I still was wide awake by 9am. We got on the road with the goal to hit Oklahoma City by night. We listened to our Dixie Chicks, Lisa Lobe, Michelle Branch. Beatles, Lee Ann Womack and sang our hearts out! We also listened to an awful Nicholas Sparks book, The Choice. The characters were just kind of annoying! But it kept me awake non the less.

We stopped in St. Louis. We went to a mall, did some shopping and ate at Cheesecake Factory. St. Louis was so cute! Just had a good community feel, nice houses, pretty trees, cute little towns and we loved seeing the arch!!

On Expedia, I was searching for motels in Kansas City, MO which is where we wanted to get to that night. I found a room for $44/night at Harrah's hotel and casino. haha. It was one of th

e cheapest places to stay in the area, so we booked it! It was big and glittery with lots of signs and big lights. We checked in and put on something nicer and walked around the casino for a little bit. It was pretty shocking how many people were gambling on a Monday night in Kansas City!

We ordered some late night cheesy fries, which were pretty gross and then turned in for the night.

In the morning we hit the buffet! I'm pretty sure a buffet is a necessary staple at any casino. We got there as breakfast was turning in the lunch, so I basically

had a fresh out of the oven otis spunkmeyer chocolate chip cookie for breakfast that morning. It was so worth it!

Day 3: Tuesday

We spent most of the day driving through Kansas. Wow..... there is nothing in Kansas. The land was so flat. I could just imagine big tornado's ripping through there. I was pretty glad it was cold enough to not even have to think about that.

We finally got into Colorado towards the end of the day and stopped in Frederick CO to stay with Ashley Cox (my college bestie!) It was great chatting and catching up with her. She is having a baby girl in April and just sold her house. It is so crazy to how time changes things. I am so thrilled she is so happy!

Day 4: Wednesday

We decided to not take i-70 the rest of the way and went up to i-80 instead to save an extra hour. I was worried about the truck and the big mountains through Colorado too. Well....Wyoming turned out to be pretty scary driving as well! Jess was driving while I napped. When I opened my eyes, I couldn't see anything out of the windows....just white! It wasn't a blizzard....just fierce winds blowing the snow on the mountains around making it so impossible to see. We just kept a slow speed and were super careful. We slid a few times but Jess handled it like a champ!!

We made it through the bad parts in about an hour. There is nothing in Wyoming either! We stopped at a gas station to fill up and had pleasure meeting Less!! We walked in the small little shack of a service station and were confronted with Elk heads that scared the crap out of us. Less was there to explain it to us though! Good times!

It only took another few hours to get to Utah. We stopped at Little America on the way of course, because the signs said we HAD to. We had lunch, and off we went for the last stretch to Jake's parents!

It was so crazy to be pulling in to this state knowing it's my new home! I had a great house welcoming! Jake brought Bry and Luciano home with him and we had a great night playing games and being a family! I was so happy to have my kids and hubby again too! doing fun stuff!

Ahhhh. What a great trip!!!! Thanks Jess for coming with me!!!!