Bring in da Nois-e

After twelve and a half hours driving in my truck, you'd think that I could actually wrap my mind around the fact that I'm in Illinois now. Instead, I just keep saying "Illinois!" in a perplexed way.

Incidentally, after twelve and a half hours driving in my truck, I'm talking to myself. A lot.

Isn't it weird that you don't pronounce the "S?" It is.

So, yes! I started my Road Trip! I'd go into all sorts of details about packing up my apartment, and loading (cramming) up my truck (which I could not have done without the capable help of the fantastic and lovely Miss Heather). I could talk about all the 'lasts' of this past week, and all of the things that were causing me to choke back tears (e.g. *sniff* this is the last time I'll get annoyed at someone at this intersection *sniff*), or the full-out bawling this morning.

But I'm on my Road Trip Adventure of Insanity now. And on Road Trip Adventures of Insanity, there is no room for looking back. Especially when your truck is so loaded up that you can't use your rearview mirror.

I hit the road this morning. The Winston-Salem to Sacramento directions on MapQuest say that the journey (straight through) should take about 40 hours of driving. I'm taking a week to do it. For some reason, I decided that I needed to make it to St. Louis on Day One. It took me twelve and a half hours (my loaded, heavy truck is slooooow on hills - like the Appalachians) to get here, but I am 12 miles away from St. Louis.

I'm totally pretending to start the Oregon Trail tomorrow. You remember that the jumping off point was St. Louis, right? Oh, yes.

Today, I drove through North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. That dumbfounds even me.

The biggest adventure of the day was in finding out what state came next. I'm not so hot at the geography. I was all "Am I in Indiana or Ohio??? Indiana! Indiana!" I was really excited to be in Indiana. I don't think I'd been there before. Or Kentucky. I think...

I was pleased to have no adventures today - that was the goal. My stuff stayed nicely packed. The only mishap was when I poured a whole canister of Pringles all over the stuff in my front seat. Oops.

I have a couple of pictures. They're boring, though. Plus, there is a weird lady hanging out at the front desk, and my camera is in my truck (along with EVERYTHING I OWN - including my med school diploma). I don't feel like chatting with weird lady again. Hopefully I'll have some fun pictures tomorrow.