As promised
The tale of my travels...under the cut because this could take a while
I suppose before I start this there are a few things you need to know. 1) My mom flew out and rode back with me 2) The air conditioner in my Jeep was broken the entire trip (I went to get it fixed before the trip but apparently they couldn't find anything wrong with it - once back in MI, I took it to that dealership and they were able to fix it. Apparently something under the dashboard was leaking, so they had to take out the dash to fix it. But I digress...) So we drove with the windows down the entire trip 3) My stuff was shipped/taken in a UPS Freight truck, so I had only my computers and some clothes with me
Day 1: I think we meant to get up and going a little earlier than we did; but, it was probably for the best because that way we avoided Bay area and Sacramento traffic. This day was all driving through the mountains, which were beautiful. Which I know because it was under construction almost the entire way. California must not have been too bad because I didn't make a note about it; but Nevada -oy vey! It was like 10 miles of constructions, 10 miles with out construction, 10 miles with, 10 with out...etc. We made it through all of California and Nevada on day 1 and stayed in the Rainbow Casino on the Nevada/Utah border. Literally on the border. If you went down the road about half a mile there a 3 foot wide line painted on the road with Nevada and Utah painted on their respective sides. This exit, at the border, literally has like 6 casinos and 2 gas stations and that was is.
The Rainbow Casino was so tacky; but, it was also the cheapest and nicest place we stayed on the trip home. Our room had 2 queen beds, and mirrors on the wall they faced. This shiny fake wood, black carpet with black tiger stripes, a curtain above the bed, and the wall behind the bed, where your head rested, was padded. How nice of them to consider that. The casino was all neon lights and mirrors. But the food was good enough and they were open late, for when we got in, and early for when we left.
Day 2: Salt Flats to the Rocky Mountains to Wyoming. We stopped at the salt flats because my mom wanted some salt. If you haven't seen these, they are just these huge fields of white, or dirty looking white if they weren't dry yet. They are pretty impressive and a lot of movies and tv show films parts there, so it's cool to see and be like "I've been there." When I was driving out the California 4 years ago they seemed to drag on forever; but, this time they didn't take that long. The Rocky Mountains are beautiful and I enjoyed driving through those. Then came Wyoming. It's really not that exciting. It's pretty; but, also quite boring. This was also the day that I knew I was in the middle of the country because religious signs started popping up on the sides of trucks and the road.
We made it all the way into Nebraska an stayed in Kimball. Kimball is tiny, tiny town. I think they had 1 stoplight. It was also one of these mythical towns that appears on the signs on I-80, but you can't see from the interstate. (These are all over 80 - signs that claim there is a town but you can't for the life of you see anything resembling a town from the road). We were told there was a Holiday Inn and a Motel 6 in the town. The Motel 6 was right off the interstate, but had no food or gas station anywhere around and I needed both. So we found the Holiday Inn and there was something going on because they were full. So we were sent to this ghetto little motel. The Sleep 4 Less. The beds were not comfortable, you had to duck to get in to the shower and it leaked all over the bathroom. It was us and the combiners. My Jeep looked like a Mini Cooper in the parking lot compared to their large trucks. For dinner we went to Big Mamau, a bar/restaurant across the street. When we walked in everyone turned and stared at us. There was a large deer head on the wall behind the bar and when I order a salad there were pickles in it. Yes, pickles.
I was so scared for my stuff in this small town. It's funny now, actually it was then too. But this is where I figured out that I'm more scared of small towns than big cities.
Day 3: We made it through Nebraska and Iowa and stayed at the Iowa/Illinois border. There was a lot of corn this day. I don't remember much else and didn't write anything down. I know we stayed at a Holiday Inn and ate dinner at Bennigins.
Day 4: Made it to Ann Arbor. Slightly earlier than planned. I missed the toll place for the Illinois toll road, oops. (But went online to pay it later)
For the drive to DC mom drove a rental truck and I took the Jeep. The drive to DC was really beautiful. We skipped the Pennsylvania toll road and opted for a highway that went through Northern West Virginia (at the recommendation of my old landlord) and it was perfect. There was no construction (unlike on the Pennsylvania toll road), hardly and traffic and it was so beautiful! The drive was also pretty easy and with out much to really comment on. If you ever have to come from the Ohio area to the DC area, I highly recommend going this way and skipping the toll road.
I suppose before I start this there are a few things you need to know. 1) My mom flew out and rode back with me 2) The air conditioner in my Jeep was broken the entire trip (I went to get it fixed before the trip but apparently they couldn't find anything wrong with it - once back in MI, I took it to that dealership and they were able to fix it. Apparently something under the dashboard was leaking, so they had to take out the dash to fix it. But I digress...) So we drove with the windows down the entire trip 3) My stuff was shipped/taken in a UPS Freight truck, so I had only my computers and some clothes with me
Day 1: I think we meant to get up and going a little earlier than we did; but, it was probably for the best because that way we avoided Bay area and Sacramento traffic. This day was all driving through the mountains, which were beautiful. Which I know because it was under construction almost the entire way. California must not have been too bad because I didn't make a note about it; but Nevada -oy vey! It was like 10 miles of constructions, 10 miles with out construction, 10 miles with, 10 with out...etc. We made it through all of California and Nevada on day 1 and stayed in the Rainbow Casino on the Nevada/Utah border. Literally on the border. If you went down the road about half a mile there a 3 foot wide line painted on the road with Nevada and Utah painted on their respective sides. This exit, at the border, literally has like 6 casinos and 2 gas stations and that was is.
The Rainbow Casino was so tacky; but, it was also the cheapest and nicest place we stayed on the trip home. Our room had 2 queen beds, and mirrors on the wall they faced. This shiny fake wood, black carpet with black tiger stripes, a curtain above the bed, and the wall behind the bed, where your head rested, was padded. How nice of them to consider that. The casino was all neon lights and mirrors. But the food was good enough and they were open late, for when we got in, and early for when we left.
Day 2: Salt Flats to the Rocky Mountains to Wyoming. We stopped at the salt flats because my mom wanted some salt. If you haven't seen these, they are just these huge fields of white, or dirty looking white if they weren't dry yet. They are pretty impressive and a lot of movies and tv show films parts there, so it's cool to see and be like "I've been there." When I was driving out the California 4 years ago they seemed to drag on forever; but, this time they didn't take that long. The Rocky Mountains are beautiful and I enjoyed driving through those. Then came Wyoming. It's really not that exciting. It's pretty; but, also quite boring. This was also the day that I knew I was in the middle of the country because religious signs started popping up on the sides of trucks and the road.
We made it all the way into Nebraska an stayed in Kimball. Kimball is tiny, tiny town. I think they had 1 stoplight. It was also one of these mythical towns that appears on the signs on I-80, but you can't see from the interstate. (These are all over 80 - signs that claim there is a town but you can't for the life of you see anything resembling a town from the road). We were told there was a Holiday Inn and a Motel 6 in the town. The Motel 6 was right off the interstate, but had no food or gas station anywhere around and I needed both. So we found the Holiday Inn and there was something going on because they were full. So we were sent to this ghetto little motel. The Sleep 4 Less. The beds were not comfortable, you had to duck to get in to the shower and it leaked all over the bathroom. It was us and the combiners. My Jeep looked like a Mini Cooper in the parking lot compared to their large trucks. For dinner we went to Big Mamau, a bar/restaurant across the street. When we walked in everyone turned and stared at us. There was a large deer head on the wall behind the bar and when I order a salad there were pickles in it. Yes, pickles.
I was so scared for my stuff in this small town. It's funny now, actually it was then too. But this is where I figured out that I'm more scared of small towns than big cities.
Day 3: We made it through Nebraska and Iowa and stayed at the Iowa/Illinois border. There was a lot of corn this day. I don't remember much else and didn't write anything down. I know we stayed at a Holiday Inn and ate dinner at Bennigins.
Day 4: Made it to Ann Arbor. Slightly earlier than planned. I missed the toll place for the Illinois toll road, oops. (But went online to pay it later)
For the drive to DC mom drove a rental truck and I took the Jeep. The drive to DC was really beautiful. We skipped the Pennsylvania toll road and opted for a highway that went through Northern West Virginia (at the recommendation of my old landlord) and it was perfect. There was no construction (unlike on the Pennsylvania toll road), hardly and traffic and it was so beautiful! The drive was also pretty easy and with out much to really comment on. If you ever have to come from the Ohio area to the DC area, I highly recommend going this way and skipping the toll road.