The Trip is Going Well. . .

[noludoru]

Middie is enjoying himself; as am I. I'm stretching it to three days of driving - after the first 13 hours, I decided limiting today to ten was a good idea!

We went from VA to Illinois on the first day, and other than the novel experience of driving a 16' truck through windy mountain roads, it was uneventful. (Translation: nolu obeyed the speed limit for once instead of doubling it.)

Introducing Yellow Truck - I kind of want to keep it. So many people complain about how loud/uncomfortable/hard to drive moving trucks are, but I kind of like it. It's a lot quieter and smoother than my car, at least, and Middie absolutely loves riding in it.


Yellow Truck! by noludoru, on Flickr

MIDDIE. CAN YOU READ THE SIGN!?

IMG_9085 by noludoru, on Flickr

Illinois was gorgeous - all rolling hills and fields bordered by trees. I switched the GPS to "shortest distance" and ended up adding an hour to my trip in the form of long, winding back roads through sleepy little towns in the middle of nowhere.


Illinois by noludoru, on Flickr

We arrived at sunset and I met up with Beanie for Mexican food (NOM!) and met the Sheltie crew. Beanie is awesome, and I want a Sheltie now. I tried to steal Payton and Georgie, but Middie wanted to eat Payton. No pictures because it was dark and cold and there were five wiggling dogs to keep track of. Bring on the lynch mob.

Today was mostly spent in Missouri. It's hillier, was covered in snow, and had all kinds of fun signs.


Missouri by noludoru, on Flickr

We didn't take any breaks except for dinner today, so he gave me sadfaces.


IMG_9192 by noludoru, on Flickr


IMG_9149 by noludoru, on Flickr

And we got a super comfy hotel room for the night because of the impending Blizzard of Doom. They were very kind and let Middie run around in the courtyard for a bit.


IMG_9222 by noludoru, on Flickr

This is where he really wanted to be:


IMG_9223 by noludoru, on Flickr

SO STINKIN CUTE.

IMG_9231 by noludoru, on Flickr

He's conked out next to me right now. The way he manages to sleep the whole day, wake up for an hour or so, and then sleep the night through is baffling. When I first brought him home I didn't see him sleep for three months.

[Dizzy]

That does look like fun. And I love shortest route! I tend to set my GPS then try and find my own way anyway down back roads

[Torch]

How stinkin cute is he??!!! Middie looks like the perfect travel companion.

I think the same thing about Henry with the sleep patterns. Sometimes I do the math and realize he's slept about 22 out of 24 hours. Wish I could say the same.

[LostAndConfused]

Looks like a fun trip. I love road trips so much. 2 years in a row, my husband and I did a trip from OH to NM. The first time we were like, "I wonder how many states we can hit during the trip?" The answer is 12.

Looking forward to more pictures and good luck with your Blizzard of Doom

[chaospony]

Looks like you guys are having fun! Yay for awesome hotel people.

Glad Middie is a good travel companion.
He isn't singing along with every song on the radio is he? That can get real old real fast!

[Barb04]

So glad you're posting your trip. Looks like the two of you are having a good time. Love all the pics. Stay safe driving. Looking forward to your next sets of pics.

[noludoru]

Thanks everyone! <3 He is quiet - mostly - while we're driving. It keeps me from killing him.

We just had an incident this morning where he bit (or at least heavily slobbered on) the manager of the hotel. Unprovoked, at least from what I could see. The guy walked past him like about 20 other people had done that morning without him batting an eye and he growled and lunged. I have no idea WTF is going on in his tiny little brain.

This is frustrating - I thought the biting people issues were just happening at home with my parents. This is something we need to work on, though, because he's bombproof with 99% of people and when he does decide to take exception to them I have absolutely no warning. (Seriously, bompbproof - I have had crowds of kids run at him full throttle and tackle him and he just ate it up. Strangers have picked him up and hugged him before.)

[Emily]

Cool! What part of Illinois did you drive through? Southern IL, right? I only ask because we have no rolling hills up here by the lake, it's all flat prairie. But a friend of mine who's son goes to Southern Illinois University told me that southern IL is totally different and really beautiful.

[noludoru]

Originally Posted by Emily

Cool! What part of Illinois did you drive through? Southern IL, right? I only ask because we have no rolling hills up here by the lake, it's all flat prairie. But a friend of mine who's son goes to Southern Illinois University told me that southern IL is totally different and really beautiful.

Yep, southern! It's still FLAT compared it VA, though. The hills you see in the photos were what I was talking about - very, very mild. It was lovely.

[Emily]

Originally Posted by noludoru

Yep, southern! It's still FLAT compared it VA, though. The hills you see in the photos were what I was talking about - very, very mild. It was lovely.

Nice! Yeah, here it's like comically flat for the most part. I'd really like to see more of the southern part of the state.