Travel Week One Completed

Week 1 of the Great East Coast Tour is done and I'm exhausted. Actually, I'm peopled out.

If you're an introvert, you understand what I'm talking about. If you're an extrovert, you probably won't. All I ask is you give us introverts some grace and kindness.

It's not that we don't like socializing. But the more people involved, the more strength we use to keep up. It's. . .exhausting.

At two of the four stops so far, the people I saw wanted me to meet their friends. The other two wanted to got out to eat at fancy restaurants in major cities. I just wanted to see the people I love. And I would have been perfectly happy to catch up over a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Right now, I'm ensconced in my room at a Charlotte Holiday Inn. Thankfully, check-out isn't until noon. It's only a three-hour drive to my next stop. So, I have roughly 18 hours of me time.

I need it. I mean I REALLY need it because my next friend is taking me out to dinner with her friends and then to a concert.

And the friend at my last stop just texted me about making reservations for dinner when I get to her house. I texted back, "Please don't make me go out! We order in or I'll cook." And she replied that was no problem

I'm glad I bookended my entire trip with people I've lived with at one time or another. They understand me.

Back in Ohio

We arrived home late last night with GK's cars and everything that couldn't go in the moving truck, including the Grandpuppy. I was even able to get a little done writing and editing-wise in between last-minute errands, packing up the two cars, and cleaning out the apartment.

Unfortunately, by the time I pulled into the driveway, my entire body hurt like hell between insufficient sleep, a piss-poor diet, and general stress from driving two days straight from San Antonio to northwest Ohio. Autoimmune issues suck the big one.

Today's going to be a time-suck with little writing accomplished, too. We already took the Grandpuppy to the vet for his immunizations. The guys are working on the Buick in preparation for the Buick Nationals next weekend. And I'm going through e-mail and snail mail in between loads of laundry.

I'm meeting some writer friends in Detroit for lunch next week. I'm really looking forward to that.

I just hope I survive until then. Sometimes, I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place.

One Last Jaunt

After the 10-hour drive back to Boise on Saturday, both my hostess and I were too damn tired to do much on Sunday. We wrote at an odd little place called Bikes and Beans. Yes, it's a combination bike repair and coffee shop.

The raspberry mocha I had was incredible. If you're in Boise, I highly recommend this place for your caffeine jolt.

We went out to a cute little Mexican place for dinner. The food was excellent. We followed up with a quiet evening at my hostess's home.

We're spending my last full day here taking in some sights in Idaho. Tomorrow morning. I need to be up at 3 a.m. in order to get through security and catch my flight home. Unfortunately, I'll lose a couple of hours thanks to time changes, but I'm missing DH and Princess Bella, so it'll be good to get home.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I can now cross off Idaho on my list of states visited. Yep, visiting all fifty states is pretty much the last thing I haven't done on the bucket list I made in my twenties. I'll need to get my passport renewed if DH insists on driving to Alaska. LOL

My friends already have a ton of things planned for the short time I'm here. Dinner with a group of writers tonight. Hopefully, seeing the Aurora Borealis tomorrow night. Checking out the Boise state house.

The big thing is remembering to drink lots of water and getting plenty of rest because of the altitude. I'm used to the Appalachians, which are tiny compared to the Rockies.

The best thing is meeting people in real life that I've known online for years, or in some cases, decades. (Yeah, Jo, I'm talking about you.)

The coolest thing will be dipping my toe in the Pacific Ocean from the western North American Continent next week, especially since this region is a major feature in one of my book series.

Pandemic Anxiety and the Modern Writer

Last night, I went out to dinner with DH and the family of his baby sister. We had a nice time despite an extended conversation about the FIL's current health issues. But the kicker was...

I didn't wear a mask.

Mask use has dropped off in our county. We haven't had any deaths the last couple of months. Omicron-B hasn't wound its through our area. And yesterday was the first time I didn't second-guess myself about mask-wearing while in public.

Heck, I even went grocery shopping after dinner and didn't reach for my mask.

It doesn't mean I'm ready for every public thing yet.

I originally had plans to go to the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas this month. However, I'm still not ready to fly on a plane yet.

Even in the pre-pandemic days, I often caught travel crud from a fellow plane passenger who was flying while ill. People seem to like sneezing and coughing on me. I don't know why, other than sheer rudeness.

So, no, you can't pay me enough to get on a place just yet. I'm going to stay home and type away on my laptop because it's one of the few ways I can stay healthy.

On the Road Again

I'm writing this blog from a hotel in Memphis. I'd like to explore it more thoroughly. It's rich in culture and history. Every other time I've been here, I'm passing through to somewhere else I need to be by a specific date and time.

Today, I have the time, but I'm trapped in my hotel room by a disease.

It's been an experience traveling across the Midwest and South. The dichotomy between those who take COVID-19 seriously and those who still believe its a hoax. There was a McDonald's in San Angelo,Texas, where everyone wore gloves and masks. They even offered us a antiseptic wipes at the drive-thru window.

Then there was the Pilot Travel Center in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Eleven women were crowded in the tiny bathroom together. The manager and a customer were both complaining about the mask rules, and I watched the manager rip his off his face. Fewer than a third of the customers wore masks despite signs on the doors that they were required. I turned around and walked out. At the car, I told DH I would hold it until we found another spot.

Up until that Pilot this evening, I felt relatively safe. Most people were taking appropriate safety measures. But the crap I saw explains why over 170,000 people are dead.

All I can do is shake my head and bath in hand sanitizer.

Planning a Vacation

DH and I planned to take two weeks this fall to do some traveling. That got us talking about where we've been in the U.S. and where we haven't.

I'm 35 + the District of Columbia out of 50 states.

(I'm assuming a layover in the San Francisco airport counts. LOL)


Create Your Own Visited States Map

Road Trip Adventures, Part 2

When we left off, DH and I were sleeping in our ice-covered car in the convenience store parking lot at the exit for Stratton, Colorado, off of I-70. Well, us, six other passenger vehicles, and approximately three dozen semi trucks. Plus another dozen tractor-trailers parked along the road berm.

The environmental temperature of our sleep area has been an ongoing battle between DH and me for nearly twenty-six years. I definitely prefer a warmer sleeping environment than he does. Add in the fact that I simply can't sleep if my feet are cold, and well, the heater war was on!

My cold feet would wake me up, and I would turn on our car's engine and fall back asleep. DH would wake up sweating and turn it off. We went back and forth the entire night.

I have to say if you're stuck sleeping in a car all night, you could do worse than a Hyundai Sonata. Even DH, who nearly six and a half feet tall could stretch out.

When I woke up about three a.m. local time, fog had rolled in, I couldn't see anything past the parking lot, but the ice on the windows was dripping. As I settled back down, I knew we'd be able to get on the road soon.

DH woke up when the convenience store lights flicked on at 5:30 a.m. We, along with the rest of the sleeping travelers, used the restroom, bought some caffeine, and filled our fuel tanks before heading out. Predawn light was very welcome at that point. And even better, my joints weren't locked with pain. Yay, CBD gummies!

A few miles up the freeway, we passed the reason the fire truck and one of the ambulances were dispatched the night before. Another eastbound semi had slid into the median and caught fire. The cab and engine compartment were nothing but burned out husks.

At that point, DH and I were both thankful we'd pulled over for the night.

On the plus side, DH got to enjoy the grandeur of approaching the Rockies shortly after dawn. Without a cloud in the sky, the snow-capped mountain tops gleamed.

Denver rush-hour traffic did not gleam. However, we made to the hotel at 9:00 a.m. The Hilton Garden Inn at Union Station gets a five-star rating from me for having a room ready for us. (DH had called them the night before and told them about the ice storm. The person at the front desk said a room would be ready when we arrived, but we'd been screwed over by hotels before so we weren't holding our breath.)

Unfortunately, DH's boss was already sitting at a work station in the lobby, so he had to go back down as soon we hauled the luggage to our room. Don't worry. He was able to get a shower when the team broke for lunch. I'd gotten one as soon as we arrived. I also located the nearest Starbucks (inside the grocery store directly across the street from the hotel) and crack open my laptop.

The rest of the week went smoothly. DH's co-workers started heading out Saturday afternoon, but we stayed an extra night. Vacation, remember?

We left fairly early on Sunday morning because more freezing rain was actually forecasted for eastern Colorado and western Kansas. The trip back through Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri were uneventful. However, another storm was rolling down from Canada for Monday. It wasn't supposed to go any further south than Lima, Ohio, by 6 p.m. EST.

No problem, right? It's seven hours from our friends' house to our apartment. As long as we were on the road before noon, we'd be fine.

WRONG! DH woke me up shortly before 9 a.m. It was already sleeting in St. Louis. I was dressed, and we had the luggage packed and loaded before 9:30. Hugs were shared, and we set out to get gas and breakfast on the way out of town.

The gas station was less than five minutes from Becky's place. By then, the sleet had turned to snow.

Many kudos to the Illinois and Indiana DOTs! They kept the roads salted and cleared as we made our way east. The trouble hit when we left I-70 for I-75.

The snow had come farther south, earlier and deeper than predicted. Traffic gradually slowed to a crawl as night fell and snow fell thicker. DH followed a Penske semi with an obviously experienced driver. The numerous ODOT trucks simply couldn't keep up with the precipitation.

We could see the marks where a plow had been through less than an hour before, but the freeway was already covered in snow. Three of the vehicles that sped by us ended up in the ditch or the median. We lost count of how many other accidents we saw, including one involving an ODOT truck and a pickup with a trailer hauling horses. I hope all of the critters were okay.

Finally, we reached our exit. The county and township plows hadn't been through, but we kept the same slow, steady pace and made it home.

The storm extended all the way south into Knoxville, Tennessee. Our town topped off with four and a half inches of snow, but our stupid superintendent refused to cancel school. But hey, this is the same idiot who didn't salt the high school sidewalks after an ice storm when GK was a sophomore.

So that was our quasi-vacation adventures. On the plus-side, I got lots of good info on the city of Denver itself, especially the old industrial section they're renovating and turning into multi-use structures. I got to visit Mile High Comics to get some reference materials for the 888-555-HERO series. And I got to try marijuana, or at least a derivative, for the first time. Despite the scary travel conditions, it was a productive business trip.

Road Trip Adventures, Part 1

Some time ago, DH and I planned to a trip to St. Louis to see friends and family. In the midst of getting everything ready, we learned Genius Kid wasn't getting leave after all. Such is the ways of military life.

Also in the middle of everything, DH's division was sold to another company. The new employer, based in Denver, wanted to have a company-wide face-to-face event.

The same week we were supposed to be in St. Louis.

DH and I looked at each other, then at the map. What if we went to St. Louis on Tuesday like we planned and simply drove out to Denver on Wednesday in time for the company-wide meeting on Thursday?

For those of you wondering why we didn't just fly, DH doesn't get on airplanes any more. He freely admits to his phobia. The last time he got on a plane was for his grandmother's funeral in 2002, but that was only because he couldn't make the drive from Houston to Toledo in time.

The new employer coughed up the money for everyone to stay at a downtown hotel, which was awesome foresight on whoever organized the event. It was essentially neutral territory for old and new employees to get a feel for each other.

The new employer also didn't have a problem with me tagging along since we were supposed to be on vacation. Denver turned into a work/research trip. I wrote on my NaNo project and did some research for Denver as the setting for a duology under the Alter Ego name.

Everything started off okay on Tuesday. We stopped to vote, picked up breakfast, and dropped off Bella at the doggie hotel on our way out of town. Other than road construction in Indiana and an accident in St. Louis itself, we made decent time. We had a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant with our friends Becky and Tony and caught up with them.

Wednesday started as a gorgeous day, sunny and clear. Temperatures climbed into the high 60's as we crossed Missouri and the first half of Kansas. No sign of inclement weather on our path west according to the radar and news reports. We stopped for a decent lunch because we knew we wouldn't get into Denver until 11 p.m. local time.

After dark, the temps plummeted into the 30's. The real problems started about twenty miles before we reached the Colorado border. Spritz hit the windshield. When DH flipped the windshield wipers, the moisture smeared and stayed.

"Please tell me that's road mud and bug guts," I pleaded.

"It's not," DH said.

We cranked up the heat on the defrosters. I checked local weather while DH slowed his speed in the freezing rain. Nothing was showing up on the radar until we reached the border. A little splotch of pink showed up on the radar right in the middle of our path on the interstate. We decided to go on to see if we could get out of it.

Conditions disintegrated fast. DH followed a semi. The experienced truckers know what they're doing. Speed dropped some more until we were all crawling along about 30 miles per hour. Then we and the semi in front of us started sliding all over the place.

This was about 9 p.m.CST. We were nowhere near any hotels. We followed the semi to an exit and pulled into the same convenience store at a little burg called Stratton. The store had a massive parking lot, and there were already a dozen tractor-trailers parked there.

We went inside to use the restroom and get some snacks. More and more travelers pulled into the lot.

As DH and I debated what to do, a man named Tim asked where we were headed. When we said Denver, he shook his head. He worked for CDOT and had been called into work three hours early. "You're not going to make it to Denver tonight."

The story was the same for all the locals who came in. The damn freezing rain came out of nowhere, and the roads were covered with black ice. DH checked for local hotels, but the closest ones were sixty miles away and filling up fast.

The husband of one of the clerks also worked for CDOT. She texted him about the travelers pulling over. He called her and said everything had gone to shit. He was having difficulty staying on the interstate himself as he salted.

That was the deciding factor for a lot of us. We would sleep in our vehicles and wait for morning. The clerks made sure everyone had a chance to use the rest room and had enough fuel to last us through the night before they closed up at 10 p.m.

I bought a fleece hoodie because I didn't feel like rooting around our luggage in the freezing rain for something warmer. I also bought some CBD gummies with melatonin in the hopes they would help me sleep.

DH and I sat in our car. The parking lot was on enough of a rise we could see east side of I-70. More truckers pulled into the parking lot over the next hour. When it filled, the truckers lined up along the median to wait out the weather.

A fire truck and an ambulance from Stratton headed west. Another ambulance headed east. Our hearts stopped for an instant when the eastbound ambulance slid on ice, but the driver regained control. Once his flashing lights disappeared, there was no one, and I mean no one, on the interstate.

DH ran our engine for five minutes while we adjusted our seats. With my overshirt as a pillow, my jacket as a blanket, and the hoodie's pocket to keep my hands warm, I was fairly comfortable. DH turned off the engine, and we fell asleep in our very own ice cave.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Visiting the USA

Currently reading - The Fixer by Jon F. Merz (Ebook)

Okay, Jay Lake pointed me to this nifty little app.  I'm woefully behind my goal of visiting all fifty states before I'm fifty.


visited 36 states (72%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

No, I'm not sharing my pathetic record of countries visited.