the road trip from ...

 ... you know where.  It is 2020 after all.  The places and times I stopped were great.  It was the driving part that nearly did me in.

  The trip started by almost NOT starting.  I very nearly had to delay by 24 hours but introduced someone to my inner Amazon and *she* convinced him that not only had I just become his worst nightmare, but it was also in his best interest to 'comply.'

  We made it all the way across the Michigan Upper Peninsula on Monday, stopping in St. Ignace after dark at the foot of the Mackinaw Bridge.  My intent with going that route was to retrace my trip to get 'there' and emotionally erase my past.  It was a bittersweet journey, reminiscing about the people I had met, and the bridges that *he* burned to keep me from establishing many close friendships.  There is actually only one person I have stayed in touch with, and only because she was my co-worker and not someone we knew jointly.

  Of course, Charlie was thrilled to be on a road trip.  The cats ... not so much.  I finally realized they did better if there was no noise.  No radio, no running commentary to Charlie, and the GPS as silent as possible.  I was not making the mistake of the trip to Texas in 2010 when Oreo escaped and spent two years living wild before I was able to make it back to Florida and apologize.  (It still took him six months to forgive me).  Gracie and Lucy were not only harnessed and leashed, but the leashes were attached with a clip ring to the travel crate with limited movement allowed in the truck.  Still, they spent most of their time in the crate, only occasionally venturing to the front seat to voice their displeasure with me or nap.

  Mackinaw Bridge was scary the first time across in the daylight, and there was no way I wanted to cross it in the dark, with snow and high winds. There was no snow the next morning, but still windy, and still scary.    About an hour after I crossed the bridge I had to stop for a life-changing phone call.   My divorce is final!!!!   I stayed the night in Okemos/Lansing Michigan to spend a few hours with the cousins I saw on the drive up in 2014.  It was so good to see all of them again, and one cousin I had missed the first trip up.  Of course, Covid-19 limited the hugs, but not the laughter.

  Wednesday was the worst and longest travel day.  I think when (not if) I go back to visit those Michigan cousins or my sister in Pennsylvania who is an equal drive distance away, I will find an interesting town halfway there to stop for the night and play tourist.   I had the hardest time staying awake during the morning, and stopped a few times to doze, even with driving into the rising sun.  Not sure if the stress of that, combined with the exhaustion of the entire week had just taken its toll on me, but what I had planned to be an 8-hour drive day turned into a 12-hour one.

  This was the point where I crossed the Ohio River from Ohio and into West Virginia.  Within an hour I was driving in the dark ... in mountains that I'd never been in before ... and in construction zones.   I arrived almost three hours later than I had planned, utterly exhausted.  I unloaded what I needed from the truck for the night, opened up my mattress in a box that had been shipped ahead of me, and slept on the floor...

  ... for about 5 hours.  Strange house, strange noises, strange dreams.  I woke up at 3:30a and spent the rest of the day going nonstop.  Put together a new bed frame, unloaded the trailer as soon as it was light out, returned it, did some shopping for necessities, put together a table for a television center, unpacked while waiting for the television and internet to be connected, put together a desk for work, got my computers set up and ready, showered (after not having any hot water for most of the day it was amazing to just stand there and let it pound my tight back, neck and shoulder muscles loose), then I finished "dressing" the bed and collapsed at midnight.  I almost overslept this morning and was nearly late for work.  One of the many things that I forgot in my rush to leave Wisconsin was my alarm clock.  

  Charlie and I did the tourist thing a little bit when we returned the UHaul trailer and ran errands to find Walmart and pick up a box that had been misdelivered.  He was so excited to see things and made a point to bark at every dog he saw (farting on me in the process which I did NOT appreciate).  The cats have no interest in exploring so far, although Lucy did find the only place in the kitchen that she could get stuck and after four hours I finally found her behind the kitchen corner cabinet and had to pull her out.  Needless to say, I took steps to make sure that never happens again.

  Thursday morning while I was unloading the trailer, I was 'visited' by a bright red cardinal, which I took as a good sign and plan to get feeders filled as soon as possible that I will be able to see from my kitchen and office windows.  I will share photos soon of the house, and area when the weather warms up enough for walking.