uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, cinco, seís

I have made it to ye olde Iowa after a v. long day of driving, and I'm not particularly excited about turning around and going back in a couple of days. However, there was some stuff in Colorado that needs to be in Iowa, and I could spare the time to make the trip this weekend, so I did it.

Of course, that meant loading the car this morning, so I didn't get out of Denver until almost 10:45am. But I made it all the way with only a couple of gas/bathroom stops + a longer break to sit down and eat dinner at Runza (an apparently Nebraskan chain I had never heard of until I started driving I-80 regularly). And I had a couple of nice chats to break the monotony of the drive - both Ritu and Terry called me, and it was great to hear their voices.

And now, I'm rather desperate for sleep, but I've been engaging in bedtime procrastination. It's time to rectify that. Goodnight!

i caught a vibe

No time to blog tonight - I'm exhausted, but I'm safely ensconced in my bed in Denver. I didn't leave Iowa as early this morning as I probably should have - I was finding myself loath to make the drive and loath to come back to my Colorado life (especially since this week requires a lot of meetings and a lot of extra work). However, I'm excited to be back in my house here and I'm excited for some social plans this week - and I leave for California next weekend, so it's not like I'm going to languish here.

sssanyway, after I loaded my car and took care of some house tings and said goodbye to [censored], the drive was entirely uneventful - I had to stop for a fifteen minute nap at a rest stop near Kearney, and I ate a proper supper at the Qdoba in North Platte, but otherwise the drive was steady. I spent most of it listening to an audiobook called PEAK PERFORMANCE, which was actually pretty good / inspiring - I haven't been in the mood for peak performance in awhile due to the pandemic, but maybe the war horseman of the apocalypse makes me think I should go out and achieve something before it's too late.

But there's no performing tonight - I need to sleep nine hours so that I can survive work tomorrow. Goodnight!

if you're a fly gal, get your nails done

I'm back in Denver for the first time in many weeks (not counting the three-hour layover I had here on the way back from Hawaii in mid-December). Today was a v. long day - I had to load my car, close up my house, and drive 10.5hrs to get here. But I was v. efficient in the drive - I stopped for gas three times (Mt Ayr, IA; Gothenburg, NE; Keenesburg, CO) and one rest stop, but otherwise subsisted on two travel mugs of coffee + a cooler with a sandwich and coke zero + a bunch of popcorn.

Along the way, I alternated between music and podcasts - I'm still loving SmartLess (Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Sean Hayes), and I listened to them talk to Sandra Bullock, Woody Harrelson, and Jimmy Fallon. I also listened to several Brené Brown podcasts, including a two-parter with the guy who wrote Atomic Habits, which may make me read that book. Overall it was an efficient way to get through ten hours of driving, but I came into my house and promptly felt like collapsing.

I did, however, unload most of my car so that things won't freeze, and I forced myself to drink some water and check tomorrow's schedule. I have to go back to work tomorrow for the first time since Dec 6, and it's unclear how brutal that reentry will be - I have too many meetings tomorrow, but it may be easier for me to talk to people to find out what I missed, so I guess I'll take it.

And now, I'm going to try to be in bed by 10pm so I can get a solid night's sleep before tomorrow begins - goodnight!

i can tell that we are gonna be friends

I am in Lincoln, Nebraska, which is a town I have spent far too much time in over the past four years (and by that I mean I sometimes stop here on my roadtrips, and anytime is more than I want). I knew I wouldn't get out of my house in Denver in time to make it to Iowa straight through, and I was right - but I did make it out around 12:30, which is better than I had anticipated. 

If I hadn't worked yesterday, that might have been different. But I had to load my car, and it was like playing real-life Tetris - I acquired a bunch of stuff in Denver to bring to Iowa so that I can start in on some house projects, and that stuff + the various tings I need for the next few weeks took up all the available space in my car. It's not completely crazy - I can still see out all the windows, and I probably could have fit a couple more things in the passenger seat. But loading up took quite awhile. I also had to tend to my houseplants, clean out my fridge, eat, shower, etc.

So, all of that was fine, and then the drive was completely uneventful. I listened to some music, and I listened to some podcasts - Conan O'Brien talked to Joel McHale (great), Dax Shephard talked to Stanley Tucci (Stanley was awesome; Dax can be a bit long-winded), and I'm now in the middle of SmartLess (Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes) talking to Ryan Reynolds. This was a departure from my usual trend of listening to a slightly depressing nonfiction book while crossing Nebraska, and so far it's good.

I *maybe* could have made it the whole way, but I would have gotten home right before midnight, and that seemed too risky. So, I checked into a hotel, grabbed a burger sans bun from Wendy's, and chilled until now. And I should really go to bed so I can get on the road - I have approximately one million packages in my parents' front entry (so many that now my dad is not just sending photos to me of the accumulation, but sending them to the entire family), so I need to get there before anything else shows up (spoiler: more is coming). Goodnight!

signed a deal, i got papercuts

I am sitting in bed in a hotel in Kearney, Nebraska - a place I have stayed often enough that I feel right at home. Today went much more smoothly than I expected it to - I got up early enough to move most of the stuff that I was taking to Iowa out to my garage before starting my work day, which made the afternoon easier. I had a long 'offsite' meeting (they called it a homesite to pretend that it was exciting, but it was just sitting in my house looking at people on a screen like I've been doing for the last 571 days, so whatever) - but the 'offsite' that was supposed to be four hours turned out to only be three hours, so that really helped. I did a bit more work after that, but then I sneaked away from my laptop to finish my preparations.

Katie and James stopped by briefly right before I left - I had groceries that were going to go to waste, and since my journey this weekend is more involved than usual, I couldn't just bring a cooler of stuff with me. So they came over and picked up the making for a peasant feast (mostly potatoes, onions, and dairy products, although the peasants would say wtf to the almond milk). Hopefully I shall see Katie again someday, since we are as ships crossing in the night the next few weeks - but since our friendship managed to survive the travails of junior high, we'll probably make it through this drama too.

I left my house around 3:30, which felt like a miracle. Traffic getting out of Denver definitely wasn't a miracle, and I hit some ubiquitous construction at the I-76 / I-80 merge at the Colorado/Nebraska border, but otherwise it was smooth sailing. I stopped for gas somewhere, and then I grabbed McDonald's in Ogallala, where I made the decision to shoot for Kearney. By making it here tonight, I have a <4hr drive to get to tomorrow's destination - my niece's wedding, which is in western Iowa and so closer to here than my parents' house.

And now, if I want to get to that wedding and appear to be well rested and in good health, I should probably go to bed. Goodnight!

i'm weak, and what's wrong with that

I'm typing this on my personal laptop, which I was too lazy to pull out last night, and so I can use a shift key like a normal human again. Oddly enough, this laptop has a new keyboard too - but that's because I had to get the battery replaced (laptop, thank you for saying that the battery needed serviced less than two months before AppleCare expired, since the battery replacement was free). When they replaced the battery, they noticed that I had worn away multiple keys, so they replaced that too. So, it feels like I'm typing on an all-new laptop, even though this one probably has a few more years left in it.

sssanyway. I awoke in North Platte after getting less sleep than I wanted but enough sleep to ensure that I could make it across Nebraska without falling asleep. I quickly got ready, loaded my car, and ate some so-so hotel breakfast while doing a couple of quick personal and work things. Then I spent the day driving from North Platte to my parents' house. It was entirely uneventful - I stopped in Grand Island for gas and soda, then in Lincoln for an excursion to Whole Foods to pick up some stuff for home + a late lunch, and finally in Clarinda for McDonalds coffee and fries to carry me across the finish line. I took Highway 2 from Lincoln to home this time; I think I usually take 34 or go all the way up to I-80, but 2 is technically faster although it's a two-lane road with a lower speed limit for most of it, so idk. But the drive through Iowa was pretty even if Nebraska was super boring, and I didn't get speeding tickets anywhere, so that was pretty exciting.

I pulled into my parents' house around 5:30, which meant I only drove the last bit (which I know best) in the dark. Then I spent the evening talking to them, eating supper, and hearing some truly ridiculous tales of [censored]'s current efforts to deal with [censored], which involves renting a dumpster and generally coming to grips with the despair of [censored]. I found this all vastly entertaining, which I'm sure didn't help [censored]'s mood, but I may help him with this project tomorrow, so I may be singing a different tune tomorrow night.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

she left a little letter said she's gonna make a stop in nebraska

most of today looked like most of my days - i had a whole bunch of meetings, without enough time to eat lunch, which means i scarfed half a sandwich and left the other half to sit on my desk drying out until i was able to eat the rest of it at three p.m. sadness.

also, my left shift key is broken on my work laptop, which is SUPREMELY IRRITATING 9i accomplished that capitalized anger with the caps lock key, but without the caps lock key i end up closing parentheses like this0.

so i spent the day in meetings, carrying around my laptop and the wireless keyboard that i had quite fortuitously bought for myself a few weeks ago when i got sick of the cheap wired keyboard that my company provided for me. but i left the office around 3;30, picked up a prescription, ran home to throw a couple of things in my car, and left boulder around 4pm to head toward iowa. i'm taking the rav4 on what is likely its final journey across the great american west - surprisingly, there hasn't been much fanfare in the towns that we've passed through, but i guess it's the holidays and people are too busy to commemorate the final passing of an old but noble steed. so, i sped across colorado as quickly as possible, then dropped to the speed limit upon entering nebraska 9the cops like to pull over people from out of state for any reason, but especially colorado plates since it's a well-known fact that we're all carrying multiple pounds of marijuana0.

i arrived in north platte, my usual stop, at 9pm central time 9eight pm mountain time0, and checked into a room in my usual hotel. then i went to my usual ruby tuesdays for a quick, somewhat late supper. yes, it's weird that i have my 'usual' places on i-80, but i've done this drive many times. i was happy to see that the guy who served me the last two times i was in north platte has either succeeded in his dream of leaving north platte, or has at least gotten to take thursdays off / maybe got a better job at applebees, because he wasn't at the restaurant while i was eating. hopefully he's being a ski bum as he dreamed of - but im biased, because of every state i've ever driven through / lived in / visited, i dislike nebraska more than any of them. and that includes oklahoma, where i spent several nights sleeping on a couch waiting for [censored] to be done with [censored].

sssanyway. now it's time for bed, since i have six more hours in the car tomorrow. goodnight1

punk rock video

I awoke this morning in Nebraska, wishing that I could snap my fingers and skip the rest of the drive (even though the drive across Iowa is infinitely more enjoyable than the drive across Nebraska). But I couldn't escape my fate that easily - so I showered, packed up, ate the free hotel breakfast (great coffee, tasty sausages, really sad powdered eggs), and headed east. I made pretty good time, although I had to stop in Creston (Iowa) for lunch - which required going into a McDonald's and sitting there, since I can no longer have my go-to road trip protein (McNuggets) and also can't easily eat a quarter pounder without the bun. Yes, life is hard.

But I got to my ancestral home a little before 2pm, and my wandering lifestyle can halt for awhile (j/k, I'm going on a road trip next weekend, and that doesn't count our plans to watch the eclipse deep in the dark heart of Missouri).

And now, I need to sleep - I spent some quality time on the patio this afternoon, but I want to spend even more time there tomorrow. Goodnight!

you got something to prove, you got nothing to lose

I need to go to bed - today was yet another long day on I-80 and I'm ready to sleep. This is my ninth or tenth time crossing Nebraska, and my sixth solo voyage...and Nebraska is super fucking boring even on the first pass, so today was pretty annoying. But it started off great - I had breakfast with Katie, and we daydreamed about how wonderful it would be if I lived in Denver/Boulder (I realize that some of you will not be happy to hear this, so apologies in advance for leaving you forever).

But I had to get on the road eventually, and then I drove alllll day. I'm spending tonight in Lincoln, the capital of this illustrious (aka incredibly boring) state...I got here around 7:30, and then had dinner at a Mexican place nearby. And now I'm going to sleep early - I'm ready for Iowa and some #smalltownlife, so I don't want to dawdle while getting out of here tomorrow. Goodnight!

buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks

Today was great, but I definitely overheated and now feel like an octogenarian. I took the morning pretty easy, but I made some iced coffee and some delish scrambled eggs and then sat out on the porch and worked for awhile. Yes, I'm living the dream.

But I had to live a different kind of dream this afternoon, since Sarah and I had plans to be social. Our first stop was a late brunch at Ophelia's Electric Soapbox, which I've wanted to go to for awhile - they are a sister restaurant to Linger and Root Down, both of which I love. Ophelia's is in an old brothel downtown, and they've turned it into a restaurant/concert venue. We got there in time to hear the last couple of songs from the brunch band, who were pretty good, and then we spent a lot of time talking over bottomless mimosas (which were served in pint glasses, bad idea) and some incredibly tasty brunch food.

Then we walked down the street and grabbed a drink and some nachos at a bar across from Coors Field (the Rockies' ballpark). The nachos were entirely unnecessary and yet so necessary, and my drink was pretty killer (some sort of mule-type drink with whisky and ginger beer, which I didn't finish because I didn't want to get drunk). Then we went to the ballpark just before the game actually started.

I'm not the biggest fan of baseball - it has some entertaining moments, but mostly I think it's boring. However, games can be fun - and the Rockies have clearly tried to lure more people in by creating a whole rooftop bar area and charging less than $20 for tickets to the bar area (which includes open seating in some nosebleed sections). I decided to prioritize water over drinks, which was probably wise since I overheated in the three innings when we sat in the cheap seats (the sun was pointed directly at us like a torture camp heat lamp). After that, I was pretty fucking done, but I wanted to power on since I thought I'd feel up for more fun (or at least a cocktail) once I cooled down.

Alas, my stomach started to hurt and I never got back in it to win it. We ended up leaving altogether at the bottom of the seventh, and Sarah was interested in coming home as well, so we got back here a little before nine like the old people we are. Then we watched a comedy show (Ari Shaffir on Netflix - really hilarious, you should watch him), and now I need to sleep and hope that it will help me recover from my heat-induced hangover. Goodnight!

hoping to find some long forgotten words or ancient melodies

Today felt like two days in one. I spent most of the morning overindulging in social media and schadenfreude, just like the good old days when I had a home and nowhere pressing to be. But I had to rally eventually so that I could meet Katie for lunch - there are a bunch of great food trucks that set up shop downtown during the summer months, so she suggested that we meet James there. However, her coworkers all decided to come as well, which made for a v. different, entertaining-in-a-bizarre-way vibe. I think I liked them all, but one of them managed to power through all the worst questions I get as a writer in the shortest amount of time possible (1. do you sell enough to make a living? 2. how many copies have you sold? 3. [insert somewhat condescending commentary on bodice rippers] 4. how did you start writing - but really, how did you *actually* start writing?). She obviously didn't mean any harm and was actually interested, so I didn't take offense, but it was a reminder that at some point in the future I need to develop a compellingly uncompelling version of my life so that I don't have to answer questions about writing....

But that's an extreme #firstworldproblem, especially since I'm lucky to be able to make a living from writing, so I'll suck it up and move on. Lunch was really great, all in all - it was warm out, I liked the people, Katie is always lovely, and my food was good. I picked some bison from an American Indian food truck - it was supposed to come on frybread, which probably would have made it spectacular, but I can't have frybread, so the wild rice substitute had to suffice. The bison was delish, though - braised and shredded, with cheese and sour cream and a tasty corn salsa. But there were a lot of other trucks that looked wonderful as well. Clearly this is another area in which Denver is more than capable of meeting my needs.

When we were done with lunch, I drove to Platform T and worked all afternoon - first with an iced tea, then with a cold brew iced coffee. The writing went kind of well, although I was having doubts today...but that's standard at this point, so just ignore my whining. Then I came home and talked to [censored], since I wanted to hear about his first [censored] and his new [censored] and all the other developments in his new [censored]. After that, I ate dinner (leftover beef tacos), turned on the tv, and watched like five episodes of an old season of Top Chef while answering emails that were almost as old. I am really not good at email, but you all know that, right?

And now I must sleep and hope no distracting news breaks overnight since I want to write tomorrow - goodnight!

find me and follow me through corridors, refectories

I am sitting in a hotel room in North Platte, Nebraska, which is a town I have driven through many times before. What I had not done before is drink thirteen ounces of so-so wine at Ruby Tuesday, which is what I did tonight - I was having some deep thoughts about Spinster Honeymoon, and by that I mean that I thought about journaling and instead spent too much time messaging people on twitter. But twitter is part of the plot of that book, so let's call it research and move on, shall we?

When I woke up this morning, I was still in Iowa. But it didn't take long to get ready to go - and it was all v. desultory since I wasn't on a specific timeline. So, that gave me time to have breakfast with my parents (my dad made hashbrowns in addition to the usual bacon and eggs, so I think he really does love me!). Then I said my farewells to them and headed west (well, north first, then west for hours and hours). The Iowa portion of my journey was entirely uneventful. Right after I crossed the Nebraska border, I discovered that tornadoes had passed through there recently - I saw some pretty gnarly remnants of what used to be machine sheds twisted into post-modern art shapes, and I had to take a detour because some of the electric poles had been blown into the highway. It's incredible what a tornado can do - one of the poles I saw had been snapped at the base, but then deposited, still vertical, in the field nearby, and the lines hadn't been severed. Bizarre.

After that, things got super boring - Nebraska is kinda the worst for scenery, and as I've said before, Nebraska has the longest stretch of interstate that is perfectly straight (seventy miles that doesn't deviate by more than three inches). But I took a break when I got to Kearney to see the museum inside the Archway - I've driven under it many times, since I-80 passes underneath it, but I've never stopped. They had some good exhibits about the history of the North Platte trails - the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails all went through Kearney (then Fort Kearney) to Fort Laramie, where they split off to their different destinations. And the transcontinental railroad and I-80 followed in the same path - so many decades of western expansion went through there, and they did a decent job representing it. It was a little heavy on theatrics and light on facts, but it was really nicely done and I'm glad I stopped.

Then I drove to North Platte, where I decided to spend the night - I could have pressed on, but I was tired and the pickings between here and Denver are slim (although I like Ogallala as much as the next girl, I guess). So I checked in and walked next door to Ruby Tuesday, where I ate some chicken and drank the aforementioned wine, which was better than I expected and not as good as I wanted. Then I came back here and talked to Katie for an hour, since it was too much to expect us to wait to start catching up until we see each other tomorrow. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!