Tuesday, September 05, 2017

riding in the radio while we destroy the world

I'm in Nebraska, and it's just as annoying to be here as it always is. However, I should count my blessings - I made it to North Platte without incident (other than the insect genocide committed by my windshield), and tomorrow I'll be in Denver and ready to start a new chapter (and by that I mean drink rosé with Katie).

Today was the end of this edition of #smalltownlife. I woke up in Iowa and spent a couple of hours taking care of tings - I wanted to leave my room in a decent state, so I straightened up, took out the trash, organized, and tossed whatever I didn't want to deal with into [censored]'s pile (that's mostly a joke). I also had breakfast with my parents - I don't know if my body is prepared for the bacon shortage it's about to undergo, but #noregrets.

Then I lazed about for awhile, since the idea of getting in my car was strangely unappealing - but sometime after 1pm, I finally left my ancestral abode and waved goodbye to my parents as I drove away. My car is packed to the gills with stuff, which is strangely a good thing since it means nothing is moving around (and so nothing is making noise). I had a lot of miles to cover today, and I probably should have left earlier. But I made it to North Platte in record time - I stopped a lot less than I usually do, but I lost a combined total of 40mins to 20mins of bathroom/caffeine/gas breaks + 20mins of delays due to construction on IA-34 + I-80. Still, making it here in 7.5hrs was pretty decent...

...so I checked into the same hotel I stayed in back in June (remember that?), and then went across the parking lot to have a 9:15pm dinner at Ruby Tuesday. Oddly, the bartender there remembered me - I've only been there once before, but when he handed me the drink menu, he said 'you're a red wine girl - I remember you'. I'm somewhat saddened that my haggard, road-trip-weary face is the only thing he knows, since after seven hours in a car I look like someone who could give road head in exchange for meth [editor's note: I have no personal experience with any of this]. But he's right - I'm a red wine girl. So I had the same chicken I ordered last time, and a glass and a half of pinot noir, and we discussed Colorado - he's moving there next week, so perhaps I'll run into him in a bar in Colorado somewhere (in fact, he said as I was leaving, 'hope to see you again, but I hope it's not here'...which is a sentiment I agree with wholeheartedly, since I never really want to come to North Platte again).

And now I need to sleep - Denver and all sorts of adventures await. Goodnight!

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