Our Drive Cross-Country

After tirelessly searching through the chaos of boxes acquired during our move to Boston, I finally found the camera chord to upload our cross country pictures to the blog. It's been two weeks since our arrival in Massachusetts, and life finally feels like it is calming down after driving 2,540 miles and 44 hours to our new life away from college.

Our goal was to make [[five]] stops along the way: Jackson, WY to visit our distant Sevy clan (Jocelyn & Adam); Mount Rushmore, SD for self explanatory reasons; Chicago, IL because it has always been my *dream* city; Kirtland, OH for reasons only other dorky Mormons like me would understand; and Niagara Falls, NY because no matter how many times I visit it, it never disappoints. We broke the trip up into four days, and Chris honestly drove for most of the trip because the idea of towing a 4,000 pound trailer freaks be out.

Here's the breakdown.

On DAY ONE, we got very lost on our way to visit Jocelyn and Isla. In spite of the modern day obstacle of losing cell phone service and having no address, we safely made it to their cute little cabin at about 1pm based on verbal directions (thank you, Thomas). We hung out for about an hour and chatted while Jocelyn sent us on our way with PB&J's and bananas for the road. She's so thoughtful. Then we headed South Dakota, which was all safe and well with the minor exception of a speeding ticket in Wyoming (but the cop that pulled us over was the nicest guy ever, kudos to him). We didn't make it to our hotel until past midnight, but this was easily the most beautiful stretch that we drove through on this trip.

Leaving Idaho

On DAY TWO, we spent a couple of hours in the morning hanging out at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Park. Even though we didn't get to hike or take any tours, it was so awesome to see the mountain statues and indulge in the thought that for decades, people from all over the world have been gathering at that spot to observe and take in the same wonderful accomplishment of a talented sculptor and his team. So cool. We then headed off to Chicago, and this was easily our longest drive since we lost an hour and still had to endure 15 hours inside of a car. We couldn't help but stop at a cute 1880's Town advertised along the highway. It turned out to be such a fun detour, and it made me nostalgic about the 19th Century. This did, however, add an extra hour to our already long trip. Thankfully, Janet and her family took us under their wings for a couple of days and allowed us to take part in their lives.

 

DAY THREE was the most laid back day, and Chris finally got a rest from all his driving. Janet and her family stepped up to the role of tour guide and took us around Chicago, and while I am sure that I only began to seeing a little bit of an amazing city, I fell even more in love with Chicago then I thought I would. Such a great city! However, what I loved about Chicago was almost countered by the insanity of the Illinois tolling system. It's Michigan Ave reminded me so much of Boston's Newbury St...except with less pretentious people. Also, I have finally found pizza that that satiate my irrational love for cheese. I have never experienced and more frequent tolls and confusing tolls for the outsider. Anyone traveling through Illinois has got to be disenchanted with the experience because of the toll booths. We missed three or four because they were so confusing. Good luck finding us with two different license plates, Illinois! Still, Chicago was amazing and made up for this startling experience for the non-inhabitant of IL. At about 6:30, after being stuck almost two hour traffic, we headed out for Ohio.

I could so see myself living in this breath taking city.

Janet & Ethan at Giordano's

Aaaaaamazingggggg

I would move here in a heartbeat if it meant I could live across from Millennium Park.

 

The Classic Bean Picture

Janet's cute dad sent us off with beautiful tomatoes from his backyard garden

By the time we hit Ohio, the humidity was creeping into every inch of our stuffed car...still, DAY FOUR felt like the most [[fast-paced]]. After having spent the night before at a hotel we found along the road, we woke up and finished our drive to Kirtland. We spent the morning there touring the first Mormon temple ever built, and enjoying the historical sights...not to mentioned the best, and cheapest, burger and fries I've had in my life at a local dinner. It was interesting to go through some Mormon history with our different set of tour guides. We didn't get nearly as much time as we would have liked because we wanted to make it to Niagara that same night. Leaving Ohio at about 3, we were able to make it to NY in time to watch the lighting of the falls...and since it was so late, we didn't have to pay for parking, an extra perk. 

Found a detailed shopping list kept by Newel K. Whitney, the shopkeeper at the time of the Mormon pioneers, with a list of items bought by Parley P. Pratt, one of Chris' ancestors.

On the American side, just before sunset

Watching the light show on the Canadian side

Our FINAL DAY on the road was a short one since we stopped somewhere before Albany only three hours away from Boston, MA. At this point, I was freaking out about leaving our car and trailer, which happened to be literally carrying our entire life, parked at the side of a motel, but I always made friends with the hotel receptionists so that they would be extra aware of our trailer, so nothing happened, thankfully. We slept in and made it to our new home at about 2pm, where my parents and Kevin helped us unload the truck. Unpacking was neglected until the next few days after my near fainting episode due to the stuffiness of our new apartment on a very hot day. We spent the rest of the day watching TV, and, spent the night at my parents, afraid to tackle the insanity of settling in.

Naomi hanging out while we organize boxes.