i whisper things, the city sings 'em back to you

I am back in Denver, sitting in bed and ready to crash. Today was as smooth as it could be given that I didn't get enough sleep last night - so, I didn't get out of my parents' house until around 11am, which is later than one should theoretically set off on a ten-hour solo drive across the snowy midwest.

But I had a nice morning before I went - I loaded up my car and cleaned up the downstairs like I was leaving a second home (which is basically how it always is, since [censored] and I take out the trash, tidy up, clean out the fridge, etc). I also ate a last meal of ham + potato chips and my beloved A&E french onion dip - perhaps not the meal I should have eaten, since I knew I would eat garbage on the road, but that dip is addictive.

Then I said farewell to my parents and [censored], got in my car, and headed out. The most dangerous part of the drive was probably 0.5 mi from my departure, when I met a truck full of hunters on the unbladed gravel road east of the railroad tracks and had to pull over into several inches of snow/ice, but that was duly accomplished, and as soon as I got to the highway, the roads were clear the rest of the way.

So I drove all day; I made four stops mostly out of boredom / needing to use the bathroom because I was drinking liquids to alleviate my boredom, but I made it home in decent time (especially since I gain an hour coming this way). I listened to music for the first part of the voyage, but then I listened to a couple of podcasts, and then I listened to more of Matthew McConaughey's 'Greenlights' - it's a really excellent audiobook, and he's actually quite a good writer (at least of memoir; some of his poetry is not my jam, but his storytelling is great). So good, in fact, that I finished the chapter I was on while getting ready for bed, and I will probably have to finish the rest of it while walking or something since I don't want to wait for my next road trip.

And now, it's time for bed. My house seems to be in good shape thanks to Katie's check-ins, and I unloaded everything in my car that could freeze overnight, so I can sleep in tomorrow - and then we'll see what the day holds. Goodnight!