On the road to greatness

Driving 14 hours in a car by yourself is, to say the least, an adventure. By hour 3 I had named my GPS "Lulu" and had begun to talk to her... or perhaps at her, since she doesn't really respond. I named her thus because she has a British accent and whenever she gives me directions, I get a little thrill saying "will do, Lulu."
 Insanity is not inherited- it must be bred out of necessity and cultivated by lack of comradeship.


Having been on the road for 14+ hours, I made the wise decision to stop at a hotel. I kept pushing myself, insisting that I would stop when I reached 950 miles or when it was 11:00pm home (Ohio) time... the excuses kept coming. Finally, I passed a hotel that featured wireless, a pool/hot tub, air conditioning, and a relatively decent price of 39.95. Sadly, I did not stop, because Lulu insisted that my exit was 127C even though the only exit in existence was 127A. Bad Lulu. I ended up on a toll road (something which I had sworn to avoid) and managed to drive another hour only to find myself stopping at an over-priced (ok, so it was only 41.99) hotel with no pool and no continental breakfast. However, I made the best of my situation by taking 2 bars of soap and 1 role of toilet paper from the hotel to stock my new house. 


By the end of the day, my right leg had begun to spasm, and I could actually feel it twitching as I drove. Being the resourceful person I am, I switched to driving with my left leg- not an easy feat when your entire 4 door sedan is packed tight with boxes and your right leg now has no where to go. Imagine if you will the scene of me sitting in the driver's seat, left leg extended and pressing down on the gas pedal while the right leg is situated underneath being used as a prop to help the left leg remain stable. Meanwhile, I am using my right hand to take pictures while I drive with only my left. All of this, mind you, is being done on a highway with a speed limit of 70mph. I am, of course, going a healthy 75. 


Day two began at 6:30 in the morning (7:30 OH time) because I couldn't sleep any later due to the fact that my body insisted I get up. I left the hotel hungry (darn you Super 8 and your lack of continental breakfast!!) and drove as many miles as possible until my stomach began to digest itself then stopped for gas and ate a burger I had purchased the day before (yay brunch at 8:30 am!). 


Through all of this, I managed to see quite a bit of the US: Indianapolis, St. Louis, David Cook's hometown (the 2008 American Idol... not sure what town), most of Kansas (including the town where Dorothy's house is- I drove on the 'yellow brick road'. No, there were no yellow bricks), the panhandle of Oklahoma, the top of Texas, and across the entire state of New Mexico. I never thought that I would see so much and in such a short amount of time. I suppose the word adventure really does cover it all quite nicely. Now I am officially moved into my own house (eek!) and am beginning my lesson planning and preparation. Who knows what adventures (or misadventures) will follow. Hopefully many.