Road Trip-Day 4: Friday, July 20th

After staying in Chicago, we had a couple of stops that Jess had planned out. First stop was America's leaning tower of Pisa, yes we have one! It was kind of ridiculous that 30 min outside of Chicago this was just built in some town. Our next stop took us through lots and lots of farmland in Illinois and Iowa. Driving and driving and more driving... exciting stuff, but I actually preferred the backroads because it wasn't just highway. We made some stops, out in the middle of nowhere and then we reached our destination...The Field of Dreams!!! It was awesome to be there, it still looks just like the movie. It was a great stop, esp for all you baseball fans out there. We walked through the corn and sat in the fields. We didn't stay too long because we had to make it to Lincoln, NE by that night. So it took a long time, but we finally made it to Lincoln, late at like 10:00, and stayed in the one hotel we booked for the entire trip, the Cornhusker Marriott, I kid you not. Bryan, Jess' brother who is in a hard rock band, noticed that some of his friends, another band he had played with were in town. So even though we were tired and could have fallen right to sleep, instead we went to a hard rock concert and Jess and I quickly realized that we, even not being dressed up were definitely completely out of place! I normally hate hard rock, but it was a blast! So I listened to music I never do, tried to pull off the look, so how do you think we did!?

Road Trip-Day 3: Thursday, July 19th

Our day three wasn't so much about driving and was more about getting to Chicago. It was still about a 6 hour drive, but we got to Chicago around 3 (also because we gained and hour by going through a time zone, that was a nice surprise). Getting into Chicago was a little hairy, the highway had a lot of construction and we ended up in a lane that turned into an exit only with no time to change. We ended up in a really bad part of town, and I tried to get back to the highway but only got more lost. I found some police women who gave us an escort back to the highway, lights and all! We finally got back on the highway in the right direction we got to my friend Chris' who we were staying with. I have never been to Chicago before so I was really excited. We decided instead of going out on the town to take a bike ride to see the city along the lake. It was absolutely gorgeous and so even though we never made it "downtown" I think we saw the city in the best way possible for the first time. At dusk, purple sky, city lit up, beautiful.Then we went back and out to dinner with friends. Can't wait to go back to Chicago to visit!

Road Trip-Day 2: Wednesday, July 18th

We got up early on on Saturday to head on the road towards our destination of Columbus, Ohio and what do I see when I turn on the computer to check the weather but this ad! IT WAS A SIGN! Meant to be! Because at that very moment it WAS raining in Rochester! Ha!
We left Brian's apartment, made our obligitory coffee stop and headed out west on 90 towards Niagra Falls. We arrived in town by 9:00 and apparently the only people who are sightseeing in Niagra Falls at 9:00 am on a Wednesday morning were us and the Amish! The falls were absolutely gorgeous and I was really glad we stopped b/c I had only seen them briefly before from a distance on the Canadian side. We took our pictures, paid the $1 to go to the overhang and get a better shot, and were out of there by 10:00, back on the road. We finally left NY, went through PA for about an hour, and then drove through Ohio till we arrived in Columbus at my best friend Ally's apartment around 4:00. I was so excited to see her, haven't seen her since Christmas and we talk almost everday! It was great to make a stop there and go out for a drink on the town. I didn't get to see a lot of Columbus, but what I did, I definitely liked!!!
Next time I see Ally she will be visiting me in Colorado!!

Let's start with the Road Trip- Day 1: Tuesday, July 17th

So our (and by our I mean my best friend Jess and I), our journey to Colorado began late on July 17th from my house in Vermont. We said goodbye to family and friends, and so although we wanted to leave at 5:00pm, the hugging and crying delayed our departure till closer to 6:00pm. Eventually we were off and headed to our first stop at my apartment in Schenectady to pick up a few last items, which I acutally fit into my already jam packed car...see all the space saver bags in the back!



After having our lives threatened one last time in Schenectady (we had to say goodbye to a friend and let me tell you, the parking lot of Burger King late at night is not the place to do it) I finally left my home of two years (six if you count school) and started driving west! Was I sad? yes and no. Sad to leave my friends and coworkers from the Capital District, sad to leave my family, but not sad to move out of upstate ny and begin a new life! Our drive to Rochester was pretty uneventful. Jess and I practiced using the walkie-talkies we brought with us, which was a fantastic idea and I highly suggest doing that for any multi-car road trips. We arrived at Jess' brother's apartment in Rochester around midnight, in the pouring rain, and I easily passed out on the couch, resting up for the long trip ahead of us.