The Beginning of a Long Year.

We moved to Boston in the middle of July, leaving friends and family behind and looking forward to what may lie ahead. We decided to leave a week earlier then planned because we realized we needed a few days to look for apartments before August set in. With a Penkse truck packed up with our posessions and memories, we started out on our six day journey across this vast country. The first day, we drove through Washington state, Idaho and made it to the middle of Montana before we stopped to camp for the night. we stayed at a sketchy, pay-on-your-honor, 10$ a night camping spot on a river. The town was nothing but a gas station, a few rickety houses and several "meth watch" signs. There was no firewood to cook our dinners on, so we scoured the surrounding areas for sticks and logs, and when we did get a fire going, it was so dry and hot we thought we'd catch the whole world on fire. We went to sleep with the sun and woke up at 6, ready to go.

The sun rose up over green hills and pastures, it was one of the most beautiful things we'd ever seen. We drove all that day through the rest of Montana through dry Wyoming and finally into the black hills of South Dakota. Eleven hours of straight driving, and little food made us desperate so we opted for a hotel, where we could get a break from the scorching heat. Early we rose, the next morning, refilled our cooler with ice and hit the road. The prairies were glorious. the felt neverending. We drove through city after city, population 15 or 19 apparently or some other ridiculously small number, but they were big enough to be on the map. We realized then, just how far from home we already were. I had never seen land so flat and sky so big, it was a revelation to be sure, and gorgeous. Minnesota is where we laid our heads that night, in a beautiful little campground surrounded by trees, the campsite director let us stay there for free, because she was amazed by how far we were traveling, and how far we still had to go. The moon rose that night and we were in awe of how good the world could be, we heard critters in the woods and saw lightning bugs in the forest, like fairies in some myth. Our souls rested. The next morning we made oatmeal and changed clothes behind the truck, we knew that today, we would see my sister in Chicago.

Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and then, there we were. Just a few short hours on the road. It was surreal to find my sister in another state, and to hang out with her though I had just said goodbye in Seattle. We ate, walked the city, there were fireworks on the lake and we watched them from beside a glorious fountain. Every time the wind picked up, we got soaked by fountain spray, but it was magical. Justin went with my sister's boyfriend to get the car, and she and I took a train to meet them. We took the wrong train though, and had a midnight adventure through Chicago suburbs to find an available restroom, then sat conspicuously on a bench beneath a "Park and Shop" sign. the morning was dramatic with goodbyes and my sister's relationship stuff but we had to go and get on our way. There wasn't time to visit other friends, though I wanted to.

That day we drove all the way to New York through the rest of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and we slept just miles from Niagra falls in a KOA cabin. Our firewood was wet, so dinner didn't happen til after 9, we drank beers and wished we could just get to Massachusetts and turn right back around. It was sinking in that we were almost to our destination.