(left: Adam and I putting our fingers on the Finger Lakes sign)


(right: driving by the accident on I-90...not sure why I look so happy about it, hm)

July 1

Woke up around 5 a.m., though Jonathan let me sleep a little longer. I thought I would be able to go back to sleep a bit before work, but instead I re-packed since not all of my clothes would fit in my big backpack. So, I decided to use the bag I used to suitcase-around-Europe in 2004.

Considering the hectic workday, I got out relatively early - though still an hour-ish later than I had wanted. But, I average being about an hour late to most things anyway.

Packed up the car easily enough at my parents after meeting Jess E. at work.

We - myself, my 18-year-old brother, and 27-year-old Jess - got on the road around 3 p.m. but stopped in Troy for food and then in Menands for gas.

I may have been planning this for several months, but I never actually looked at the driving route apparently because I did not realize I-90 would take us to Chicago.

I've never driven this west before; just taken the train....for a total of 79 hours last summer (from Albany to Colorado and back....yeaaaah....).

While on the road, we unexpectedly hit traffic near Exit 28 at around 5 p.m. We were stuck for at least 30 minutes. It wasn't rush hour traffic though, it was an accident.

We finally got near the accident and saw emergency vehicles and then a charred pick-up truck with a horse trailer. It was a dismal scene. And smelled gross.

Jess said it smelled like dead bodies. I realized it also kinda smelled like glue. I'm assuming the horse did not make it.

We stopped in the Finger Lakes to get gas and switch drivers. I'm hoping to get gas around half-a-tank so we won't be stuck anywhere out in the middle of nowhere.

I almost left my purse at the Dunkin Donuts at the rest stop.

I settled into the backseat and looked at old photos on my phone --I already missed my friends, family and boyfriend a lot, and it had only been a few hours. They are all very important to me.

Until I'm reunited with everyone, I guess I'll be having a love affair with the road.

We stopped at a rest area in Ohio and found a book of hotel discounts. We used one at the Red Roof Inn near Cleveland where we stayed the night after driving until about 11:30 p.m.

It was very cool seeing the sun still out at around 10 p.m.

Quote of the Day: "Kill them." ~ Weird Al (yeah, you'd have to listen to the horoscope song)