When I left at 7:03am (yes, I was quite proud for leaving on time!) I logged the address in the GPS and headed off. I had it set to the setting of "less fuel" instead of "fastest route." I was following the GPS until I realized it was taking me north, through Ann Arbor. So, I pulled over and looked at the route it was taking me--which went ACROSS Lake Michigan! So, my "head start" on the day stopped being a head start as I didn't leave A2 until 8am!
Despite the rough start, the beginning of the trip went quite smoothly. Even Chicago was smooth, as I didn't hit complete rush hour. There WAS a horrible accident in Chicago which was backing up traffic for miles--thankfully it was on the other side of the road though. I don't believe I have ever seen an accident quite that bad before, and it involved an oil truck. There were so many ambulances and fire trucks there. Absolutely insane.
One thing I learned rather quickly on the trip, however, was to take advantage of the rest stops--because you don't KNOW when the next one is coming.
One HORRIBLE idea to have at a rest stop, however, is a sprinkler. Not only a sprinkler, but a pulsating sprinkler. Especially since there was almost 100 miles between the two rest areas. When you have a constant stream of liquid going into you like I did, the sprinkler just spells disaster.
Here is a picture of the sprinkler system:
It's a little harder to see the actual sprinkler.
One adventure of many of the trip is making two random friends. The first was at a gas station. The attendant was extremely nice and we talked for a while. It was a nice relief after being in the car by myself. The second friend on the road that I met was at a rest area. I took a "hike" to the scenic overlook. Once I arrived there was a man already up there. We started talking and he was actually from the Lansing area. It was another nice chance to stretch (as it really *was* a hike to get there) and to once again talk to another human!
The REAL adventure occurred, however, when I went through the storm.
This is a picture of the storm in the distance. At one point it was lightening and raining so hard that I had to pull over. When the rain stopped I noticed a lot of flashing lights (again) as there was yet another horrible accident. It appeared a car went in the ditch during the rain, over the rail that was protecting it. Thankfully (for me) it was on the other side of the road. I loved the storm, despite it raining so hard.
I then arrived (well, eventually) in Minneapolis. The time was now 8pm (9pm eastern time) and I had been on the road for 14 hours. This was what greeted me. Traffic. A lot of traffic. And contruction galore!
I went back to Jordan's apartment and we had a grand ol' time catching up and hanging out. Logan (Jordan's bf), Jordan, and I went for a walk. During our walk we noticed a helicopter cicling an area with a spot light. We also heard sirens and quickly realized that they were tracking someone! It was pretty exciting! Our walk was quite peaceful after that, as we walked around the lake.
Today at Caribou, a police officer comfirmed that they were indeed searching for someone that night.
Today has been a day lacking of adventure, but it has been quite peaceful. I believe tonight we might go see "The neverending story" at the movie on the lawn. It's a nice change from the constant adventures that seemed to happen every hour yesterday!
