OH, HI

i didn't see you there.

wait, hold on.

OH, HI, OH i didn't see you there!

i was trying to work in my favorite greeting with the current state i am in. did it work?

whatever! i'm in OHIO!!!!!! i've never been here before!!!!!! and now i'm here! in a suburb of Cleveland!!!! who would have ever thought i would be here?! not me.

these are the states i was in today:

- new hampshire
- vermont
- massachusetts (because i missed my exit)
- new york
- pennsylvania
- ohio

wow! and now i'm in the Midwest! my first time here. it's windy. right when i got south of Buffalo it started to get windy. and then it started to rain. and it kept getting more and more windy and i just kept thinking, "if i die in a tornado before i make it to chicago i'm going to be so mad."

(but at the same time i kept thinking about how cool it would be to see a tornado. i've always wanted to be a storm chaser.)

when i was getting into Buffalo the song 'Mexico' by River City Extension came on my shuffle. literally, right as i was entering Buffalo. and i realized that Mexico and Buffalo are similar sounding, three syllable names.

so what did i do? i sang the song at the top of my lungs and changed the words from Mexico to Buffalo!!!!!

you wouldn't think that something so small would make someone so happy. but i was so freaking excited about this, it was INSANE. like, yeah. i smiled about it for like, 20 miles after Buffalo. no joke.

ALSO, i drove a lot today. like, from 9am until about 8:30pm. i stopped at three rest areas to use the bathroom. but it was pretty much straight driving.

boy did i have great music, though! and once i realized that Twizzlers could double as fake drum sticks, things got a lot more interesting.

BUT! here's the donkey story:

i was driving through South Wallingford, Vermont when all of a sudden there was a huge traffic holdup ahead. i could see all the cars stopped on the other side of the road. and only one car stopped on my side.

so i slowed down. and finally i stopped. and wondered why everyone else was stopped.

and then - i see this donkey going crazy on the side of the road! like, running around like a wild donkey. and then i look across the street and it's a donkey farm.

so, we're all stopped because this one donkey has gotten loose.

AND THEN - like, everyone gets out of their cars to try and help the donkey get back home.

like, people that were just going somewhere, they see a loose donkey and think, "oh, i can help."

what!?

i was sitting in my car like, "yeah, sorry donkey, you're on your own."

i couldn't believe people actually got out to help. so finally, the donkey runs into this field and starts to calm down. and then cars can start to drive again. slowly. it was crazy.

anyways. i'm super tired now. it's 11:55 PM and i think i'm going to bed. i can't remember the last time i thought about going to bed during a PM hour. hm. no, i really can't remember.

plan for thursday:

- wake up at 7
- leave at 8
- arrive in chicago 6 hours later.... but it will only be 1pm because of the TIME CHANGE!!!!

i've never driven across a time zone before!!!!!!! how crazy is that?! i imagine there's this giant wall made of iridescent jelly that you drive through. and then there's a 'welcome to the new time zone' parade on the other side!!! how great would that be?!!

like a giant time zone force field. yes. that's what i imagine. i've flown across time zones before. hm. maybe the force field doesn't reach up into the sky.

anyways. like i said, i'm really tired. so, i'm going to go to sleep pretty shortly.

tomorrow i'll meet up with ALIYA! KERIANNE! NOEL! TYLER! (SAM?!) oh i can't wait.

the home city of our president!!!! cool. today i was in the birthplace of uncle sam. Troy, NY. who knew!? i thought Uncle Sam was a fake person. was he a real person?

and FUNNY STORY:

so, i missed my exit in Vermont that would have taken me straight to New York, so instead i went on Rt. 2 west which i picked up in Massachusetts.

and so, i'm on 2 west and i leave Troy and continue towards the signs for 87 south. and i'm thinking, "hm, this kind of looks familiar."

AND THEN! i realize that i'm on the same road that Ryan and I stayed on after we saw Crash Kings in Clifton Park, NY!! remember it was that super horrible confusing road and we couldn't figure out how to get to our hotel??

it was construction mixed with Crash Kings post-show fluster/excitement. but mainly construction. it's like, this giant 8 lane road and the whole thing was just covered in orange cones. like, create your own path.

but, today there was more order. still construction. LAME.

but, how funny! the same road! i didn't even know i would end up there. hm. that was THE FIRST DAY i met Ryan!!! how crazy! and now we've been on so many awesome trips together!

and now she's in Houston and i'm in Cleveland.

it's so weird that i'm in cleveland! i can't get over it. it's like one of those cities that you joke about going to. right? Cleveland. Denver. Detroit. right? they're just kind of funny seeming.

and tonight i was in a CVS just down the road and saw people and kept thinking, "wow these people live here!"

it's so weird. maybe it's not weird. i mean, everyone has to live in some city.

OK. i have to go to bed now. it's AM now. 12:09am.

i'll update everyone when i get to CHICAGO!!!! cool, right? i can't believe i'm going! and i'm driving! and i made it this far!!! whoa. that's kind of cool, i think.

i'm just like, "okay, i'm going now. i missed the turn? oh, i'll just pull over and figure out a different route." that's what i did! i just pulled over, looked at the map and made a new route!

so cool.

ok now i'm really going to bed. talk to you all later!!!! hope you're having a great night!

<3


"if you can't get behind your own life, get behind the driving wheel. and GO. just GO. find a place that you don't know..."