The Road Home
I left Portland early Tuesday morning and headed to Boston
where I caught up on some phone calls, emails, and hours of sleep before
hitting the road again at 2am Chicago bound to collect my mother at Chicago
Midway Airport. Now, I have a bit of a
grudge I need to get off my chest before I go any further. Out west (where I have always lived) we pay
road taxes and therefore have no road tolls. I don’t know what the deal in New England/The
Midwest is, but I spent over $50 dollars in “road tolls” over a period 1,000
miles of driving. There seems to be a tollbooth
about ever 50 miles and if I may say so, that is just plain crap. Not only is it expensive and a pain in the
neck, but the roads aren’t even good! The pavement is riddles with potholes and
rough spots and the shoulders are littered with debris! It rather ruined my mood and used up all my
food money so my diet for 24 hours was rice cakes and peanut butter :(, which makes for a
very grumpy Madi….
On a different
note, I got to the airport at 8pm in the dark with time to get lost three
places at the terminal while people honked angrily and yelled that I was a dumb
bitch out their windows…oh yes, Chicago is a real treat. I was deeply disappointed I didn’t get to spend
more time there to enjoy the rest of the sights and pleasantries…shame
really. By the time Mom and Savannah
arrived I was exhausted, starving and in desperate need of a shower.
We took
shelter for the night at a skuzzy Comfort Inn on the other side of town and
slept in long enough the next morning to feel somewhat rested. After a 9-hour drive, day one of our
mother/daughter road trip got us to the Embassy Suites hotel in Lincoln,
Nebraska. Now I know what your thinking,
“Lincoln…Nebraska…bummer right?!” No way!! Lincoln is actually a really neat
place that I would love to revisit with more time in the future! Who would have
thought!? We ate spicy Thai food, snuck the dogs into our room under our
jackets and called it a night! The
following day we were hard-core road warriors and drove 13 straight hours to
Ogden, Utah where we celebrated our success by going through my first fast food
drive through. Now, I am not sure how I
feel about this because on one had I feel more accepted by the mass American
culture of high cholesterol meds and television obesity campaigns, but on the
other hand I feel as if I have cheated on ever moral I’ve ever had,
specifically because it was a McDonalds drive though! However the deed was done and Mom and I ended
our day with McFlurrys and fries. Oh the
shame…..
On our last
day we drove all the way home to McCall just in time to start making lists for the
holiday baking extravaganza that takes hold of the house around this time every
year, and I ended the trip with a somewhat heavy heart. I set off three months ago to the day and I
am about the set off for a new adventure soon! My new job decided to allow me
to stay in the USA through Christmas, which means we are busting out all the
decorations and getting the Christmas radio stations all fired up.
I left Portland early Tuesday morning and headed to Boston
where I caught up on some phone calls, emails, and hours of sleep before
hitting the road again at 2am Chicago bound to collect my mother at Chicago
Midway Airport. Now, I have a bit of a
grudge I need to get off my chest before I go any further. Out west (where I have always lived) we pay
road taxes and therefore have no road tolls. I don’t know what the deal in New England/The
Midwest is, but I spent over $50 dollars in “road tolls” over a period 1,000
miles of driving. There seems to be a tollbooth
about ever 50 miles and if I may say so, that is just plain crap. Not only is it expensive and a pain in the
neck, but the roads aren’t even good! The pavement is riddles with potholes and
rough spots and the shoulders are littered with debris! It rather ruined my mood and used up all my
food money so my diet for 24 hours was rice cakes and peanut butter :(, which makes for a
very grumpy Madi….
On a different
note, I got to the airport at 8pm in the dark with time to get lost three
places at the terminal while people honked angrily and yelled that I was a dumb
bitch out their windows…oh yes, Chicago is a real treat. I was deeply disappointed I didn’t get to spend
more time there to enjoy the rest of the sights and pleasantries…shame
really. By the time Mom and Savannah
arrived I was exhausted, starving and in desperate need of a shower.
We took
shelter for the night at a skuzzy Comfort Inn on the other side of town and
slept in long enough the next morning to feel somewhat rested. After a 9-hour drive, day one of our
mother/daughter road trip got us to the Embassy Suites hotel in Lincoln,
Nebraska. Now I know what your thinking,
“Lincoln…Nebraska…bummer right?!” No way!! Lincoln is actually a really neat
place that I would love to revisit with more time in the future! Who would have
thought!? We ate spicy Thai food, snuck the dogs into our room under our
jackets and called it a night! The
following day we were hard-core road warriors and drove 13 straight hours to
Ogden, Utah where we celebrated our success by going through my first fast food
drive through. Now, I am not sure how I
feel about this because on one had I feel more accepted by the mass American
culture of high cholesterol meds and television obesity campaigns, but on the
other hand I feel as if I have cheated on ever moral I’ve ever had,
specifically because it was a McDonalds drive though! However the deed was done and Mom and I ended
our day with McFlurrys and fries. Oh the
shame…..
On our last
day we drove all the way home to McCall just in time to start making lists for the
holiday baking extravaganza that takes hold of the house around this time every
year, and I ended the trip with a somewhat heavy heart. I set off three months ago to the day and I
am about the set off for a new adventure soon! My new job decided to allow me
to stay in the USA through Christmas, which means we are busting out all the
decorations and getting the Christmas radio stations all fired up. 
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