MN-CA Day One

One down, two to go.

Today was the long one and I managed to make my destination, if not my schedule. Minneapolis MN to Cheyenne WY, left at 11:50, arrived about 1:30 am (central time). I hadn't planned on spending as much time with the movers this morning as I did (the original plan was to leave on Sunday), but it worked out better anyway (other than the whole arriving-after-midnight part).

The weekend was a bit nuts (which is what pushed the plan to Monday). Largely packing electronics and throwing out bags upon bags of crap so they wouldn't get packed and have to be dealt with in California. Kelly helped out on Saturday and Sunday and Dave stopped in Sunday evening too. Kelly and Jen were also over today and were a big help with the many last-minute items that I didn't get to (Jen stuck around for most of the day to sign off with the movers so I could hit the road earlier).

Other than an accident on I-80 a few miles out of Des Moines which brought the whole interstate to a halt for about fifteen minutes, the drive itself went smoothly. Nebraska drove me nuts with three mile stretches of "road work" every three miles for about the first third of the state. The first five had cones and about a three-foot traffic shift, but from then on there was nothing. The only way you knew you were in a "work zone" was the warnings posted under speed limit signs promising double fines. Oftentimes the only way I knew I was out of a "zone" was that the fine signs had gone away. I'd say it was a money grab by the state, but I hardly saw a trooper the whole way.

I'm just glad that the biggest leg of the trip is out of the way, that the cat calmed down after the first couple hours and seems to be settling in to the drive, and that I decided to get a hotel (yay Super 8, free wireless internet!) instead of car camping in a Wal-Mart parking lot.