The SuperTrip WonderMap

Hello friends,

I am a smart lady in a lot of respects. Tonight I learned Google Maps is not one of them. So sorry to say instead of one big map you get 13 pieces. They should line up though and then you can see the entire plan. Also, the last half is not 100% correct, more like 90% but I just didn't care anymore. I was too tired of fighting. stinkin' Google Maps...

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7-8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Part 13

Again, I'd like to blame Google apologize for the weird things like those random airplanes.

In other news, my car is squeaky clean but still empty. My boss told me if I packed my car, it would get broken into. I started to argue the point but stopped.

1. I live in the safest neighborhood I've ever lived in.

2. If they want my water bottles, I suppose they can have them.

3. I'm packing my trunk.

4. It doesn't take much to convince a lazy person not to heave heavy items out to her car, especially when she has to it by herself.

Instead, I've paid off my debt to society, or at least Chicago. Take that parking tickets! or as I call them "my Chicago tax." I got another "Chicago tax" last night. ugh. At least it's the last one.

The biggest news tonight, though, has to be the fact that Catie's tickets are FINALLY BOUGHT!!! Yay! Of course, always the complicated one, she ended up being super afraid of flying so now Kelly's tickets are bought too! hah. Flying buddy. I'm pretty excited about it though. It will be nice to have a third person for the ocean cliffs. It gives me a chance to have more fun with my D3000 and spend less time about worrying about killing my family with a turn that wasn't quite soft enough.

Alright kids, that's all I've got. I need sleep. Only one more full day in the city. Today, we had a lot of appointments and the such so the boys stayed super busy. Tomorrow we have a free day. You know, what's fun? Taking my stuff to my car. yes...there's got to be a game there somewhere. hmm...I'll keep you posted.

Goodnight.

the nomad.

the one where I announce my new camera

Let's finish up the weekend, shall we?

So Friday night, post warning, I got home exhausted and still ended up talking to my mother until 2 in the morning. ugh! I love her, but she can talk!

Saturday I was off to a slower start that I was intending due to the large volume of people in our house. (My mom had neglected to read the email and 3 texts I had sent her confirming my weekend and had invited another family to spend the night too. At least, I ended up on the longer couch.) First thing I did, after leaving my mom's, was take my car for an oil change and basic fluid check. I also walked around WalMart comparing tent prices and picking up a few more essentials, though I keep forgetting laundry detergent.

After the first major fix was out of the way, I decided to visit my aunt and newborn cousin in the hospital. It was a fantastic afternoon. The baby is adorable. And spending time alone talking to my aunt was priceless. Only one problem. I don't know how to leave places. I ended up staying 4 hours! Great bonding time. Bad fixing car time.

By the time I'd left, the tire store had closed. I had wanted a rotation and possibly a new tire after learning at the oil change that one of my tires is at 4/32. yikes. But no, I missed that. Also because I was in Smalltown, Indiana it wasn't open the next day either. Nothing is open on Sunday.

Instead of tires I ended up heading to Best Buy. My mom met me there and we scoured the store looking for the perfect camera. It had been my intent to look around, try a few out, and then purchase one online. Instead I found one a really wanted, found out it was on sale (which ended that day), talked the saleslady into a slightly bigger discount ($23), and bought it.

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce my new....(drumroll, please)

Nikkon D3000

I also picked up a 55-200mm lens and a camera bag.

It is lovely. I can't get over the clarity. I can't wait to actually learn how to use it. You know, aside from the automatic button.

After that huge purchase, which felt like it cut me deep (I hate "impluse" buys. I wish the sale had lasted one more day), I went to Chili's with my mom and her friends. Yum.

The rest of Saturday night is kind of a blur. I think we spent most of it talking about the trip, gathering mom's personal trip items, and calling my sister to yell at her because she STILL hadn't decided if she was coming or not.

Sunday I woke up, after sleeping in a bed, and went to church. It's always nice to be back at my home church. I love it. love it. love it. Being with people who actually full like family is refreshing. People whose lives I've invested in and they've invested in mine. I simply love it. I am still loving our new minister. He is wonderful and really studies before he preaches. Though he is in my my mom's age range, he studied at a sister school to mine back in the day. I can't describe how great it is to be among like-minded people. After a year in the Chicago church scene, the only word I can find is "refreshing". I wish I could find a church like that up here. I know it's one of the reasons I still don't have roots in Chicago.

After church (we, true to form, were the last ones out), we headed to Long John Silver's, much to my mother's chagrin. Thankfully it wasn't up to her, my 2 year old "nephew" decided. I appreciated.

By the time we left, I was getting nervous. We still had things to buy and I STILL hadn't found anyone to fix my cigarette lighter. My mom, aka. Ms Fix-It, decided she could do it and headed off to Auto Zone. Leann and I and "nephew" headed to Meijer and then Walmart where I finally bought a 6 person tent.

We reconvened back home. It was there that the most devastating part of the entire weekend happened. Mom got to work on my cigarette lighter. She worked and worked to get it out. Finally, she was able to pull in the new one. Nothing happened. She decided to check the fuse, though my sister's exboyfriend, a mechanic, had told me he had checked it and it was not the problem. Guess what? It was the problem!!!! AGH! I have been living without the ability to charge my phone in my car for about a year because of his stupidity. Truthfully, I could have checked it. I've changed fuses before but silly me, I trusted the guy who fixes cars for a living. Ugh. I could punch him. Needless to say, it actually works now.

After that, I pretty much finished collecting stuff, solidified some more plans, ate dinner, and headed from my dads to sleep.

Thus concludes the final weekend. shoo... If you had read every word, you probably deserve a medal.

the nomad

The Great Divide

Boy, I'm exhausted. It's 12:54 am here in the Windy City. I have to be up tomorrow to take my boss' vans to get the brakes fixed at 7am. ugh. I just saw the schedule for tomorrow and I'm scheduled to work until 9pm. double ugh. During those 14 hours, on top of getting the brakes fixed, I also am supposed to take care of the 3 boys per usual, take one to karate, do a huge shop at Costco for a Saturday party (without a car?), shop at Target (without a car?), conduct 2 nanny interviews (one of which was schedule during the karate class), and allow someone in my room to rearrange the furniture. it's gonna be a long one....

The furniture situation is particularly irksome. Not only is this something that could been put back a week, but this also means I have to had my room clean. not super clean. but clean enough for movers. and much cleaner than it's gonna look 6 days before a MAJOR road trip/life change. After all, even if I come back to Chicago, I'm not coming back to live here.

But fear not, it's done. It's now 1 am and I have finished. Nothing in the chest. Nothing on any chair. Nothing on the floor. The bedside table stuff could be easily transfered. I'm exhausted. have I mentioned that?

exhausted.

The silver lining is everything is now separated to go home or go on the road trip. My car is currently sitting empty. My closet is sitting full. And, my eyes are sitting heavy.

Goodnight.

I've hit a wall

Last night, I continued working on this trip. Actually, I bookmarked every WikiTravel page from here to there. Don't mock. I'm sure that counts as work. I love WikiTravel! I did actually read most of them too. I learned things such as there are no left turn in San Francisco and Four Corners is a fairly pointless stop (but I'm still doing it!).

During my information bingeing, I burned 7 cds for the road trip. I already owned most of these cds but they have either been broken or lost over the years. That still counts, right?

I also watched When Harry Met Sally and thought about crying.

This morning I woke up ready to work more instead I watch The Princess and The Frog. Oh, streaming Netflix, you get me every time...

So now what? Today had been the day I was going to go home, drop off everything I don't need, and have my car fixed. However, my sister broke up with my mechanic, I realized I may need the stuff I don't need for at least another week, and a high school friend I haven't seen in 6 years called to see if I want to hang out in Chicago. Super! I'll just go next week.

The friend called about an hour ago and had to back out. bummer.

So now I need to chart my next course of action... I'll re-read my list...

1. I could go shopping but it'd be cheaper in Indiana.

2. I can't really pack yet but maybe I could get started...hmm...sweaters...

3. Maybe I could go un-pack my car. Oh, yeah, it's raining...

4. oh Catie....

5. this one is out of my hands right now.

6. worked on that last night

7. Yes, this is what I should be working on. ugh. The not fun one...

Well, I'm off to clean. that's a lie. I wonder what else is playing on Netflix...

it starts

Hello friends,

Welcome to what may become the single greatness blog the world has ever seen.

Whoa, that's a lot to live up to. Let's just settle for a blog where I post daily and update you all on life and the trip. deal? deal.

shoo...lot less pressure. thanks.

Now that that's settled, let's get down to brass tacks: I'm leaving for this super trip in 2 weeks from tomorrow! ah!!!! so much to do! so much to do! ahhhhh....

1. Finish Gathering Supplies: tent, buy Costco stuff, etc...
2. Pack Super suitcase (mary poppins' style, of course)
3. Pack Car (note to self: next time travel by umbrella)
4. Buy Catie's tickets. (oh Catie...)
5. Solidify a few places to stay (I'm looking at you, Seattle and San Fransico!)
6. Finish the roadtrip cds. (still time to send some awesome mixes my way!)
7. Put room back together the way I found it. (eh...moving on...)
8. Create a road trip blog (well, at least I did something tonight!)
9. Perform last show at Second City (Monday 7:45 tickets $5)
10. Say goodbye to my boys (I don't want to. please don't make me...)

That, my friends, is a lot to do! Seriously, though, I don't know how I'm going to be able to say goodbye to the boys. I know there is a chance I will be back. But, as a realist, I also know that means there is also a chance I won't. Tonight I choked up during a coffee commercial. These boys have changed me this year. Crying at commercials?!?! Who am I? Well, I guess that's what I'm about to re-find out. Though this is not a "find yourself" adventure, as some would call it, but rather, a "find what's next" adventure, I can't wait to actually get out on the road and reconcile the person I've always known with the person I've been forced* to be this year.

All this talking and I still haven't explained this trip. Shame on me!

Confession: I have always known I was born to do something big.

However, as I age I feel like I know less and less about what that big thing is supposed to be. and where it is supposed to happen.

I am tired of waiting. The last few years have felt like someone hit the pause button. I tried to make a change and, somewhat begrudgingly, moved to Chicago. Here I have been restrained at every step. Again I've been waiting. Waiting for life. I know nothing ever happens when a person is just sitting and waiting. That's the reason I've been a vagabond my entire life. I go where the wind blows, where God leads. I strain hard to listen to His voice. So far, He's taken me further than I ever imagined going. This is a trip all about asking Him to do it again. Again, I yell out, "God, where do you want me?!?"

On September 30th, it all begins. While I say goodbye to the boys I've lived to serve for the past year, my mom is hopping on a MegaBus and heading my direction. At 9 pm, she arrives and I will be there, car packed, waiting to pick her up, throw her suitcase in the backseat and head north. We are only driving far enough to get out of the Chicago am traffic before finding a hotel to crash into (though, hopefully, not literally.)

So let's pretend (like I am) that my actual trip begins on October 1 (like it's supposed to, mom!).

A rough outline of the trip looks like this:

1-4: Drive to Washington State with my momma stopping at Mt Rushmore and Yellowstone Nat'l park

4-7: Deer Park, WA with a college friend

7-11: Drive from Spokane to LA with my sister, Catie, stopping at Seattle, Mt St Helen, Portland, Red Wood Forest, and San Francisco

11-15: Los Angeles with cousins

15-20: Drive from LA to Colorado Springs, CO with my sister, Leann, stopping at Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, and Four Corners

19-?: Stay and explore Colorado Springs/Denver with my dads (yeah, it's plural)

So there you go, the TRIP. She's a beaut, eh? I can't wait to get it started. And now, now you're along for the ride. Check back daily from postings and pictures. I'm sure there will be everything from beautiful sunrises on the oceans to ugly catfights from the front seat to record. And I'm completely inviting you to take part on the trip as well!

If you know anything about that part of the USA and can offer advice, please do. If you want to pray that God tells me loud and clear where I need to go to stay on track for my BIG mission, that would be awesome! If you just want to be a secret internet creeper and track my life, well, I guess that's okay too, you know unless, I have to one day get a restraining order, then that's not okay...

Well, off to do more packing a such. Where was I? Oh yeah, I remember, "2 weeks. ah!!!!"

:)

*all usage of words such as "forced", "restrained", "stuck", etc... in reference to my last year are meant to be indicative of God sending me to Chicago. I still don't know His entire plan about this year but I suspect it have a lot to do with stripping away a lot of what I've always known as my strengths and quieting me down for life that is to come. It in no way has anything to do with my boss, housing arrangement, or second city. They have not forced me to do anything ever. It's just been a year like no other...