So enough about Chicago for a while. Afterall, I’m currently living in Denver and haven’t said a word about it! (Don’t worry folks– the Windy City will always be my home and I do plan on returning).
Well, we might as well start at the beginning–
THE ROAD TRIP:
First off, I should tell you that the night before I decided to leave Chicago for Denver, I decided to go up to Summerfest in Milwaukee to see some friends, hear some tunes, drink a few beers, and rub my Cubby pride in all the Brewers disheartened faces.
Displaying my cubby pride despite being amongst the enemy. (P.S. The Cubs played the Brewers that night and won 9-5!)
Needless to say, this little excursion not only caused a late start to my attempt at a 5:00 A.M. departure, but it also added another 2 hours to my drive that day. See I stayed in Milwaukee that night*– when I attempted to leave in the morning, I began my trip by getting on the highway going the wrong direction. I don’t know how or why I always try to drive West to leave Milwaukee and go towards Chicago– I’ve only been driving there from the North since I was 16 and it has always been East, but somehow EVERY TIME I leave I manage to head towards Madison. FML! How can I not seem to remember that 94-East takes you to Chicago?! EAST! NOT WEST!
*Too much summershandy impairs one’s ability to drive– and thus increases one’s tendency to couchsurf.
So after adding a ten minute turn-around back through Milwaukee to my journey, I was successfully going in the right direction. But then, thanks to a whole slew of construction in Southern Wisconsin, I missed my exit (towards my parents’ houses) and ended up taking a detour route which consisted of 30 mile per hour speed limits and more construction. Needless to say, I didn’t start packing the car until well after 10:00 A.M.
THE ACTUAL ROAD TRIP:
Finally, the car was packed– and I do mean packed. There wasn’t a nook that wasn’t stuffed with some book or random toiletry. And let me just add, all I could bring with me was what I could fit in my car. I drive a Jeep Wrangler, so it wasn’t a whole lot. The last thing to go in the car were my two cats: Liko and Lilac.
Liko
Now, my cats and motor vehicles aren’t exactly a peanut butter and jelly pairing. Simply put, they hate all the things a road trip consists of: they hate the car being in drive, being outside, moving, hearing loud noises, wind, strange scenery, etc. The only thing that seemed to calm them down was organic vitamin drops added to their food to “increase contentment” and the sound of my voice.
Now, I already admit to the fact– rather grudgingly, that I spend way too much time talking to my cats. Yes, I am one of those crazy cat chicks who has at length conversations with two animals who cannot respond back– but I am still determined that I know what they are thinking.
Lilac
One of my friends once explained a joke to me which basically takes how hot you are and compares it to how intuitive you are with your cats. Based upon which side weighs out you’re either dateable (hotness > intuitiveness with cats) or undateable (intuitiveness with cats > hotness). When I asked him whether I would be considered dateable or not, he said, “uhhh… ” inhaled quietly under his breath and quickly looked away. I guess that makes me pretty cat intuitive, right?
Anyways, the cats decided to meow throughout a good five hours of the 18 hour trek. Which isn’t bad at all, considering it could have been the entire time. They were actually pretty well behaved (thanks to my intuitive powers I was able to provide appropriate and well liked topics of conversation).
REASONS DRIVING TO COLORADO FROM ILLINOIS IS POSSIBLY THE MOST HORRIFIC ROAD TRIP EXPERIENCE WHEN DRIVING BY YOURSELF:
First off, Iowa is nothing special to drive through. It’s a farming state (much like Illinois apart from Chicago), with a few more hills (think Southern Wisconsin). However, it does have things like trees and grass. It also has gas stations called, “Kum & Go“– no, I’m not joking. Yes, they do exist, and yes, it may be one of the most interesting sights the highway in Iowa has to offer.
Now, Nebraska is a whole other story. Having left at 2:00 P.M., from Chicago I didn’t get to Nebraska until about 10:00 or 11:00 at night. There is basically nothing in Nebraska. It is flat. There are fields. There are cows and tumbleweeds. It has to be one of the most boring (AND LONGEST) states to drive through. Nebraska never seemed to end.
Now, driving on July 3rd, I encountered three things of semi-significance in Nebraska.
- Omaha has to be the largest city. It had fireworks and traffic resulting from the 4th of July events. The highway also has 6 or 7 lanes near the city.
- There is basically nothing in Nebraska west of Omaha except for Lincoln– which seems like a small city in comparison to the bright lights of Omaha (I think the highway may have gone up to 3 lanes).
- Hotels in Nebraska on the day before the 4th of July are A) expensive and B) hard to find.
So yes, I had to stop and sleep in Nebraska. I couldn’t have driven any more that night. I was starting to think things were wrong with my car (Is my tire pressure okay? What if I messed up my suspension permanently because the car’s so heavy? Did I just get a flat, or is it supposed to pull to the left when you’re on the left side of the highway?). I paid double what I would have paid on any other night. I had two options for rooms, two queens or a king size bed– they were the same price, so I took the king. The inn wasn’t horrible, but as I lay there trying to fall asleep and attempted to stop my body’s constant buzzing from the car ride, I couldn’t help but think of the damn shower scene from Psycho. Not that I was likely to get murdered or anything, but still– road side hotel, late at night, somewhere in Nebraska– it crossed my mind.
After three hours of sleep, I woke up and got right back on the road (kitty’s in tow– unhappier than ever to be put back in the car). Here I was thinking I was almost there, just a few more hours of Nebraska and I’d be in Colorado before lunch. WRONG. There was about six more hours of Nebraska, and in the daylight it was even more disheartening to look at the stretch of endless road in front of me. Although, I did see a sign that caught my eye. A PETRIFIED WOOD MUSEUM! Oh, the glee I felt at possibly being able to stop and see such an attraction! I also spotted a semi with large red letters printed on the side of it. The message: “JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, NOT A SWEAR WORD!” This about sums up the visual entertainment of Nebraska.
Oh, I forgot to mention. I was stuck listening to one CD the entire roadtrip. I repeat, ONE. The way my cat’s carrier had been sandwiched in my car, I was unable to eject or put in any CDs. I forgot to change the CD as I was leaving the hotel, and so was stuck with the same CD for the second day of my trip. I’m sure there are some decent radio stations, but I couldn’t find a single one that wasn’t country or top 40. Alas, I learned all of the lyrics on my mix CD by the third time it played which resulted in longer conversations with my cats and further delibaration on my sanity/undateableness.
OH, HELLO COLORADO!
Finally, I was welcomed into Mountain Time, and shortly after I was in Colorado. This was the easiest part of my trip. It was only about an hour and a half from the time I left Nebraska until I got near Denver.
As a side note: anyone who is making a similar trip should know to stop for gas pretty much as soon as they get into Colorado. For some reason, gas stops seem to be less frequent in the stretch from the state line to closer to Denver.
As I neared Denver, I finally remembered I had a camera! (Yeay sleep deprivation!)
I know it's not a good picture, but I was driving!
Finally, I got off the highway. And– my printer fell on my head as I was doing so! Ha! A perfect ending to the long, but necessary journey here.
