Monster Vision

Against my wishes, we did the last 20-hour leg in one go. It turned out okay, but Icky was not pleased with the in-car litterbox facilities we forced upon him. Mostly though, he was just fine sleeping through several states.

Here is a lonely gas stop in Montana somewhere.

We drove through the night, and through a hailstorm (well, we pulled over), but it was real purty.

Then we made into Washington State!

It was foggy in the mountains!

We were a little bedraggled, but we made it to our house!!

Icky inspected the house very carefully, and seems to like it.

We set up camp in the living room until our furniture is all moved in.

We hope you will all come visit!

After Freeport, we stopped in Madison to see unrelated friends Deb and Aaron and we had a delicious lunch together. Then we headed to St. Paul to see my Aunty Kathy. Icky felt like a prince in her cat-friendly home, even though the big dog scared him a bit.

In the morning we set off through Minnesota and South Dakota. Here is our intimidating rig!

You can see some boring old road photos on Flickr, but here are windmills!

Icky did not enjoy the scenic overlook, but I am enjoying taking film photos after a 2+year hiatus.

Of course we stopped at Wall Drug.

We made it to a pet-friendly hotel near Mt. Rushmore for the night. This morning we left Icky to relax while we ventured to see some MONUMENTS! We didn’t pay to see Crazy Horse, but we u-turned in the lot and nabbed this itty-bitty photo. Look it up, though. It’s going to be quite impressive when it is finished in 300 years.

And here is Adam picking Teddy’s nose.

Here is our progress so far. We have about 18 - 20 hours left, and Adam wants to do it in one go. We’ll see, Adam. We’ll see.

If you don’t mind my being gushy for a second, we’re into record breaking times now - most consecutive days spent together. And it’s awesome.

Our last day in NJ was spent at my cousins’ house, where we did some tree climbing,

and unicycling, and some upside-down chin-as-a-nose talking. You know the game. 

Then the next morning we set off for Indiana! We drove and drove and drove for 14 hours. Icky figured out what the car ride was for, which is sleeping.

Finally we stopped at Mr. and Mrs. Responsible Jon’s. We had a very responsible night there, and drove some more to Illinois to see Adam’s sister and brother-in-law. No pictures were taken in either location, despite the fact that Adam’s sister is very pregnant and we need to commemorate how large she is.

Then we drove farther into Illinois and it was still so very flat.

We are now just finishing our two-day stay in Freeport, IL, in the bosom of Adam’s family.

We rode my mopeds around town and Adam rode his pop’s motorcycle and got a hug from a creepy Harry Caray.

Tonight extended family came to Adam’s Grandpa’s house for a belated birthday party for Adam’s 92nd birthday.

And I got a tattoo.

Just kidding!

Because we were going to be driving 3,000+ miles anyway, and were only 7 hours away, we left the cat at my mom’s and zipped down to Virginia for half of the Hells Satans Moped Rally.

We made it in time for the party on Saturday night, where there was a skate bowl thingy.

and we stayed through to the pool party on Sunday afternoon.

WORTH IT.

(Updated map!)

Hey Friends!

Last week, iRobot had a launch party for a couple new robots - on a boat!

We didn’t want to buy the group picture, but here is Max modeling it! 

A few nights later, we had a going-away party! YAY, but sooo sad.

Then, packing! So stressful

And thanks to so much help, we sorta left on time. Sorta.

And Icks totally loves the car!

Missed visiting my gramz but made it to NJ. Heading to VA in the morning!

Map the progress here!