stacy was here (and probably spinning....): 07/01/2008 - 08/01/2008

 

 

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Stacy Was Here :
Back at the Beginning

Friday, July 11, 2008

Hey everyone!

Not much to report, really... we've been hanging out a lot with Chris' friends, relaxing at the farm house, and job hunting like crazy. I've had a few interviews with one company, and it seems to be going well, so hopefully I'll hear back soon. The last interview was on Wednesday, and they said I'd hear back within 7-10 days, so hopefully early next week. Cross your fingers for me!

Chris s taking a security class to qualify for surveilance and security guard jobs, and we're still waiting to hear back about his scores on the FAA test. I really hope he did well. I'm pretty sure he did, but we won't know anything until they post his scores on the website.

All in all, things are going pretty well. I'll feel a lot better once we're both working so that we can find an apartment and all that, but we're both working on it, so hopefully it will all turn out okay. All of the well-wishes are very much appreciated, and I'll post when I can to keep you all updated!

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 11:00 AM   1 comments

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Days 5 and 6

So, I realized I haven't posted a picture of Pyewacket yet. It's hard to get her to look at the camera, so here's a cute photo Chris took of her curled up into a ball in one of the hotel rooms.

After Chris finished his exam (which we don't have the results for yet), we pulled out of lovely Naperville, Illinois and got back onto the highway.


We crossed the border into Indiana and then spen the next 2.5 hours in traffic. It literally took us two and a half hours to go 15 miles. I'm not speaking to Indiana for at least two weeks. Fortunately, after the first 15 miles it cleared up, and the toll road was at least quick.


While we sat in traffic, though, we took a picture of this sign, which I thought was interesting:


After the dreaded traffic debacle, Chris got me these gummy snacks, and they're pretty cool.


They come with these little plastic tongs to pick the worms out of the bag with.


And when you squeeze down on the worm with the tongs, the light in the tongs make it look like the worms are glowing :)


After that, we pulled into Ohio, which I've always liked a bunch.


In Perrysburg, Ohio, we met up with my friend Meigan and got some yummy fried food. Fried cheddar cheese balls are awesome, just sayin'.


We stayed in Perrysburg overnight, then got back on the turnpike in the morning for our LAST DAY OF DRIVING!!!!!

After a few hours we entered Pennsylvania, my old home while I went to Chatham. Pennsylvania is beautiful, and it's too bad we were only in it for like an hour.


Yay! We're coming down the home stretch now... it's the first sign with Buffalo on it!


In between the New York border and Buffalo, there is a whole lot of green. Much like the green I've been posting pictures of all week, so we didn't take any more pictures until we got to Buffalo.

We didn't get off the freeway, but it looks nice from what I could see. Chris is from the suburbs, so we didn't actually go into the city while we visited last time.

Huzzah, it's the Niagara River... And that is Grand Island in the back ground.


You know you're really back east when you see Tim Hortons. It's like Starbucks, but with better food and drinks, and a whole lot less pretentious.


And this water tower belongs to the Town of Wilson, which is next to the Village of Wilson, which is where Chris' grandparents farm is, where we are staying.


We got to the farm, which is just beautiful, and settled in. The car and trailer are unloaded, and we're all fine, humans, cats, and geckos. The only casualties on this trip were one strap on my cello case, and two of the gecko tanks (soooo thankful the geckos were in their carriers, and not in the tanks!) We traveled a grand total of 2853.6 miles without any major issues, and I feel really blessed. We had all of our worldly posessions with us, and we didn't know anyone along the way until Ohio, so there was a lot of potential for bad things to happen, but they didn't.

This morning we dropped off the trailer, and I saw this on a truck. Pretty interesting, so I'm gonna go read up about it and maybe I'll post more about it later.

While Chris finished up with the U-haul business, I watched this dog chase his own tail for fifteen minutes. Awesome.


I'll have more to post in the coming days, but right now we're visiting with friends, so I certainly don't want to be glued to my computer right now. Suffice it to say we are well and happy, and I look forward to the coming weeks to see how this new life shapes up for me.

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 8:35 AM   2 comments

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Last night in the hotel room I took the opportunity to take some pictures of my girlies. Here is the lovely Francesca Von Kneaderbird lounging on daddy's pillow and doing her best model pose.


And here is Zelda Whiskerpounce, obviously contemplating more mischief. The fur on her head has also started to grow back, and I can definitely tell you that she is not short on energy at all.


In Iowa, we found the cheapest gas so far. It's more than a dollar cheaper than it was in Arcata. *sigh* The Motel 6 in West Des Moines was the nicest one I've ever seen. It was terminally small, but it's not like we need that much room, and it even had a bath tub! Hurrah for bath tubs. Sitting in the car for millions of hours makes my legs hurt and my feet swell up, so soaking in the tub was very nice.


Look, it's the Mississippi River! This is the second time I've driven over it. It's huge!


And after crossing it, we are in the fine state of Illinois, home of Wayne Campbell and the Blues Brothers. But before you get to those places, you pass a lot of roadside farms, like the one that hosts this cute little barn.


We are staying on the outskirts of Chicago, in a town called Naperville. We're just vegging in the hotel, and the rest is very much welcomed at this point. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, Chris takes the test to be an air traffic controller, and then we press on to Ohio to visit Meigan and rest before the last day! Two more day and we'll be in New York!

Oh, and we got some really yummy chinese food delivered to our hotel room. Decadence!!! The almond cookies were to die for!

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 3:44 PM   0 comments

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Day Three: Cheyenne, Wyoming to Des Moines, Iowa

This morning we left Wyoming and headed into Nebraska. Nebraska is all farm land, which is a bit tedious, but at least more pleasing to look at than Utah or Nevada.


And just to show that we actually get out of the car sometimes, here's a shot of a map at one of the rest stops.


At one point in Nebraska, there's this random archway. It's some kind of memorial, but it looks like a bridge, it just doesn't go anywhere....

All in all, not much to say about Nebraska... it's a nice state, just not a lot going on. Here's the Missouri River, which forms the boundary between Nebraska and Iowa.


Iowa, by the way, is gorgeous. I could totall dig living in Iowa. Not many pictures yet, but I'll try to take more tomorrow. It's farmland, but with more rolling hills and small towns along the road. Lots of rustic looking barns and stuff, too.


And here is Fuzzy in his pizza coma. We ordered a pizza so we wouldn't have to drive around looking for a restaurant with the trailer on the car, and wow is Papa John's good stuff. I especially like the garlic sauce they give you with the pizza. Yummmm....

The drive is tiring, but today was our last long day. From now on, we're only going 300 miles per day instead of more than 600 like we have been. Plus we're finally into the interesting parts of the country (well, we have been since Wyoming, really.) We might even have time to go swimming at the next hotel!

I think driving cross-country is a great way to ease into this move for me. What we're headed toward is a new life, especially for me. Doing the drive is giving me time to evaluate everything and consider what I want to make of the new life that's waiting for me. Plus it makes the journey into more than just two disparate points on the map. Like when Joseph Conrad talks about the blank parts of the map in Heart of Darkness. The map isn't really blank, in this case, but it's a lot of vague squares and squiggly lines, but now I can fill it in with pictures and experiences. It helps to instill you with a sense of all of the different lives that fill this country.

Oh, and here's a litte driving tip. A vehicle towing a trailer requires a large stopping distance, at least four seconds really. So cutting off a vehicle towing a trailer is a REALLY BAD IDEA. Just saying.

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 6:25 PM   2 comments

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