Road Trip

Wait, mom... A road trip?

A few weeks ago Dan and I were offered the chance to go on an all expenses paid road trip out to Portland, OR courtesy of his cousin. In completely unlike-us fashion, we made the spontaneous decision to take advantage of this opportunity and go on the trip, so I apologize for the slight diversion but the next couple of entries will be not so horsey-related. In short, Dan's cousin (who lives out in Eugene, OR) was looking into ways to get her car from Bloomfield, CT to the west coast after deciding to live out there permanently. When shipping it turned out to be quite pricey she offered to cover the travel costs if Dan would be interested in making the drive (since he's not working right now). Since we both love to travel and I had been saving up vacation hours, we jumped at the chance to make the drive together and decided to turn it into a mini vacation. Plus, a cross country road trip has been on my bucket list, I LOVE Oregon and one of my best friends lives in Portland. Even better!

Bon voyage!

Our plan was to front load the trip and get as far west as we could the first day and then take it easy for the rest, sightseeing as we go since neither of us had seen the western part of the country. So this morning we were on the road by 4:15am, armed with enough snacks to last us a week and a pair of delicious homemade breakfast bagel sandwiches and travel mugs of fresh coffee (thanks to Dan's uncle who outdid himself and got up to make us breakfast and send us on our way). After driving through seven states - and over 900 miles later - we made it to Joliet, IN where we will spend the night before taking off again tomorrow morning. It worked out perfectly, actually; we're already 1/3 of the way and plan to arrive on Wednesday in Oregon so the next several days should be a bit easier travel-wise.

When we finally got to the Chicago area, before checking in to the hotel, we decided to stop for food at a small brew-pub in Munster, IN called Three Floyd's. Best decision ever! A family-owned microbrewery with a hipster-rock atmosphere, the food they served (although a limited menu) was suprisingly unique, almost bistro-like. Dan had a sausage sandwich while I had a burger with sundried-tomato ketchup, carmelized onions and bacon...maybe we were just incredibly hungry but it was unbelievable. And the beer was fantastic as well. Too bad it's only local and we can't get it out on the east coast :(

So tonight we will rest up before heading off again for the second part of our journey west. We're hoping to make it to Oregon by Wednesday afternoon and then hang out there until the following Tuesday.

It sucks being away from Charlie for the next 10 days, especially since he's been so good recently and he is essentially ready to go (teeth checked and new shoes to boot!), but I'll have him waiting for me when I get home. I also really wish there was a way we could have taken our dog, Emma, with us. She is the perfect travel companion and we pretty much never go anywhere without her; she got so excited when she saw our bags and then she had to be left behind with Dan's dad. Heartbreaking! :( Maybe next trip....

Anyway, stay tuned for more updates! 900 miles down, 2200 to go! Now it's time for bed :)