Bright lights, big city

Call it small town detox. Call it Midwestern rehabilitation. Call it the great urban escape. Whatever you wanna call it I’m getting the hell out of Dodge for the weekend!

I’m on the road this weekend heading for Chicago. Its my first time driving north to the city, rather than taking the train. At this point, in an effort to preserve my sanity, I’m pretty sure I would ride a donkey North to Chicago.

This wasn’t a random point and shoot. My dear friend Katie is in the city for a conference so it makes good sense to drive up to spend the weekend with her. Yes, it is Homecoming weekend here in town.. but the lure of friendship, food, and humanity is far too much for me to ignore.

If anything, my time in the Midwest has shown me that there is really no distance  too great for me to drive to get out of the cornfield. I recently wrote about the issues of trying to shop in a small town. While I may not always be willing to make a two hour round trip for a box store, I think nothing of it when there are friends, and food, involved.

Some things I’ve learned about making a road trip.
1. You really have to love your car and love spending time in it.
2. You need a good audio book, a rocking iPod or a talkative companion.
3. You will probably benefit from having a cell phone charger in your car.
4. Towns with a population of 200 really do exist.
5. There are way less rest stops than there ought to be.
6. Don’t underestimate how much corn can change a landscape.
7. Those straight flat roads were meant for speedng. Cops know this, too.
8. A curve comes along once every 100 miles. Don’t miss it, stay alert!
9. Roads without lights are very, very dark at night. Don’t take your well lit roads for granted.
10. Nine times out of ten, roads are numbered, not named. Tricky..

Is it weird I was excited to see a 3 lane highway? Whatever, I’m ready.

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