Moving back to Madison

We started off our drive back to Madison at Griffith Park Observatory. It was a lovely 74 degrees and sunny.



A little over a week later, this is where I find myself.



It's 18 degrees and snowing. We may have made a very grave mistake.

But, we're going out to do fish fry for dinner with some of my favorite Madisonians, so I really can't complain. (Please note that by simply asking me to join you for dinner, you definitely make my list of favorites)

We took the southern route across the west half of the country because we wanted to avoid having to go through the mountains in Colorado and possibly getting caught by a snowstorm.



We totally still got caught in a snowstorm in Des Moines, but at least we didn't have to worry about going up or down a MOUNTAIN whilst in the midst of said snowstorm.



We spent our first night in Phoenix. I wish I could say that I saw enough of Phoenix to really enjoy it but we had spent the day before cleaning and packing and moving and then got up early the next morning to finish cleaning and jam our cars full of the stuff, that for some reason, we didn't send with the movers. (Disclaimer: When moving, there is always way less room in your car than you originally anticipated) After meeting our landlord and handing off our keys we hit the road for a good 6 hours. By the time we rolled into town, checked into our hotel and found somewhere to eat, it was 9pm and I almost passed out in the salad I ordered.

I didn't keep a journal on the trip, but I wish I would have so that I could have remembered all the weird things along the way. Here are just some of the tidbits I was able to pull from my very fuzzy remembrances.



1) The Bellhop (is that what they're really still called?) at our first hotel was uber attentive. Like creepy attentive. Like started pulling stuff out of the car when we opened the doors to get out. Like tried to light my sister's cigarette while she was waiting outside and then asked to bum one off of her. Maybe it was just a , "you had to be there," moment but dude needed to back it down a bit.



2) There are places in the desert that a whole bunch of people pull up their RV's together and just live. When you stumble upon these places, at first you will think they're RV dealerships. They're not. People live there.



3) Abandoned buildings, especially abandoned entire housing complexes are, hands down, the creepiest things, EVER.



4)Eating nothing but trail mix and Jalapeno Cheddar Chex Mix will give you a tummy ache but that will not prevent you from doing it again the next day.



5) Don't feed a cat turkey lunch meat with Pesto on it if you intend to ride in the car for 7 hours with it. You might get poop on your pants.



6) By the time the light flashes on the camera of a photo enforced section of highway, it's too late to slow down. You're busted.



7) There is no better way to charge your travel battery than blood orange margaritas, a wonderful meal and the company of loved ones. A big THANK YOU goes out to my Aunt Amy and Jen.



8) I'm sure there are parts of Texas and Oklahoma that are nice, but not the ones that we saw. Those parts kind of sucked.



9) You should definitely listen to Tina Fey's Bossy Pants on CD. Get it from the library. Load it on your Ipod and be prepared to laugh. I will now be adding phrases such as "Dummies" or "You big dummy" and "that's the worst" or "you're the worst". I will also be implementing curses such as "Asshat" to my repertoire. And most importantly “If you retain nothing else, always remember the most important rule of beauty, which is: who cares?” 
― Tina Fey, Bossypants

10) Hands down best BBQ is a place in the back of a Gas Station in Kansas City, KS.
My pulled pork sandwich was so tender and juicy it was akin to eating pork cotton candy on a perfectly buttered and toasted bun. It was amazingly glorious. I maybe teared up a bit.


Last but not least, there is no better feeling than getting the keys to your apartment and being able to sleep in your own bed in your own apartment.

But we still don't know how that feels yet because we've been bunked out on an air mattress until our stuff arrives which now has been pushed back for the 2nd time to the 15th of February.

I still find myself very lucky because K and I are together. Also, K had the super smart idea of putting our memory foam topper on top of the air mattress. Sheer Genius! I love that boy.