Recap, part I

Yeah...sorry about that.

The last few weeks have been one crazy escapade after another. I'll try to fill you in...

As for the rest of the trip: I made it from Tucumcari, New Mexico to Springfield, Missouri with little incident. Had a delightful political conversation with a gas station attendant/mechanic in Shamrock, Texas (there are democrats in Texas outside of Austin! ...although...come to think of it...he'll probably vote for Ron Paul). The worst roads of the trip were just west of Oklahoma City--like driving over a washboard. I arrived at my friends' just a couple hours after they returned home from a wedding...and discovered that their dogsitter had just decided not to show up for at least 24 hours. So we took the dog for a walk, met some of their friends, ate at a typical midwest restaurant, and called it a night.

From there, I had a (relatively) short day to Louisville, KY where I stayed with another friend in her lovely little house with her kitties--one of which was pretty insistent about crawling under my covers! We had a delightful evening, and ate at a super yummy restaurant where we ordered way too much food. I wish I had more time on the way across country; I would have liked to explore Louisville more.

The next stop: Philadelphia for the Fourth of July! I had a lot of mileage to cover, and most of it was under construction. But hey, it was a holiday, so the roads were clear of both construction and traffic. While I nearly got racked by a semi in the five minutes I was in West Virginia (typical), I was another uneventful day--until, of course, I reached the Ancestral Manse of the Benners, where their annual Fourth of July party was in full swing. It was great to see a bunch of the folks that I had seen just a few short weeks before, as well as meet some new and interesting people. I was also very glad I made the decision to take an extra day in the area, as I was able to amble around Chestnut Hill with Annie, and meet up with some of the rest of the gang for ice cream. Then we headed out to Bristol, PA for Indian food. Yeah, I know....it seems a long way to go, and Bristol is not what could be called a mecca for such things...or anything...but it was super yummy food, and a chance to see where my long distance happy hour buddy lives.

Good times, all the way across country. By the time I got to Hollis Center, Maine on the 6th, I had traveled 3146 miles. You'd think that was enough.