Madison Moving (to the) Mountains

[madisonmoves]

Once we made our way into Denver and to Madison’s building, we found out that the office was closed for lunch. So we followed suit and got lunch at a deli nearby, Drew’s Denver Deli. It was very delicious and I’m sure going to be a staple since it was good, cheap, and the people were so nice!

After lunch we headed back to the apartment building and Madison signed some papers and got her keys. We scoped out the apartment (which is beautiful) and then started to unload stuff from the car - thus completing the road trip portion of this adventure.

Over 2000 miles, 5 days, 6 cities, 9 states, a million songs, and a million pictures later, we’re safe and sound in Denver. Tasks over the next few days include: picking out & assembling furniture and all other standard household items, unpacking, seeing some sights, and getting comfortable with the new surroundings.

Oh and a stranger asked if we were sisters as we were carrying stuff inside. And the woman that works in the management office started giving me details on parking and I realized that she thought I was Madison. So, there's that.

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Day five. Final drive day. Coming up on the finish line. The final countdown. Eye of the tiger. We are the champions. Okay this turned from things signifying the end to power playlist songs. No matter, this is almost over for all of us. Day started early with some fruit loops at the hotel and then the customary sunrise packing ritual. Saw signs for Denver. Noticed that the shadow of the car looks like Shrek. Got bored and took a lot of pics. The rest of Kansas was A LOT of nothing. There was a major upset when we thought we could see this giant apparently equally awful and awesome Prairie Dog Farm that had a bunch of other animals and things. After a short detour through Oakley, Kansas, we found out that the prairie dog farm was closed. It was pretty devastating. Back on the road we went. There was little drama and little excitement. There were some huge and amazing windmills which always impress me. There were also A LOT of hay. A "hay girl hay" joke was made before that picture was taken. After a few (hundred) more miles, we came upon the "welcome to Colorado" sign which was obviously a momentous occasion. We pulled over and took some pictures and had a grand old time. Got back in the car and realized that in our excitement, the tape-to-iPhone adapter cord got broken. With over two hours left until Denver. And 40 miles past the nearest town in Kansas. Also realized that my camera battery was dying. So all in all, our lives were slowly crumbling into a music-less, picture-less, sad sad day. We drove to the nearest rest stop for a bathroom break and then looked around for an adapter there. The nice lady at the counter said there was an amco down the street that might have what we were looking for. Thus hatched a plan - Madison drove down to amco and I stayed at the rest stop to charge my camera battery. It was the longest we'd be apart in 5 days. And I was actually slightly concerned she might not come back for me. Luckily amco did have a replacement adapter and Madison did come back for me. It was quite a dramatic reunion. We definitely were not in Kansas anymore, and all of our triumphs called for a celebration. So we put on our rally caps and headed for the mountains. And made a number of stupid videos to pass the time. Those to maybe come in the future.

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Once we left the zoo we headed to a sandwich place nearby called Nora's. It was absolutely delicious and adorable and they even wrapped up half of our sandwiches to go for the ride. AND they had fountain mountain, and said we could refill as much as we wanted. PERFECT PLACE. Next up was an extremely long drive from St Louis to As Far As Possible, Kansas. (Beautiful in the spring.) On the way to Kansas City (our dinner stop), we saw signs for this place NostalgiaVille, USA. Missouri was kind of a weird place, so we had to stop and see SOMETHING weird. It had a ton of weird old stuff. Like the awesome old-timey Mountain Dew sign. And Elvis stuff. And like poodle skirts. And it feels like forever ago so I kind of forget what else. There were some signs that we were losing it. Such as a conversation that went something like: "Ah, teddy graham tried to commit suicide. It jumped off my lap. So I ate it." "So it tried to commit suicide so you murdered it?" "Yes" (Yelling into the teddy graham's box) "DO YOU HEAR THAT BEARS?! YOU BETTER KEEP IN LINE." Then we drove a bunch more and finally got to Kansas City (the Missouri side) and drove around the Plaza area, which was a bunch of shops/restaurants and was very cute, and then went to Gates BBQ for dinner (per the recommendation of the guy that checked us into our hotel in St Louis.) Gates BBQ was good, maybe a little overwhelming, but that may have just been because we were tired and hungry. We both ended up with sandwiches and potatoes and onion rings. (The onion rings were the hit for me). We also had an onion ring that looked like a "no ___" sign. Obviously symbolic of the no rules road trip. So then 4ish hours later, we called it quits in Hays, Kansas. There hadn't been words for a number of hours (or so it seemed.) Also kind of exhausted our playlist and the streaming playlist was being rude, so we ended up on the Lady Gaga cd. You and I pretty much powered me into Hays. Definitely thought we weren't going to make it. But it was like 40 miles between cities so it was Hays or sleeping on the side of the road. The only drama and/or excitement in this part of the drive was when a truck got mad that I had my high beams on. Well there was no one on the road except me and a wolf had already run in front of the car so I had little sympathy for those trucks. Besides that, it was just DARK and EMPTY. Got off the highway, the exit was pretty much only hotels, so we pulled into the first, got a room, and went the heck to sleep. End of day four. Crossed another boarder, exhausted another playlist. Another 500ish miles under our belts, 1,700ish total. Who knows anymore though, I'm bad at math.

[madisonmoves]

Okay one more of the sea lion show. It was just so cute!

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Sea lion show at the St Louis zoo!

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Next we headed over to the St Louis zoo. Which is apparently either one of the top or the top zoo in the country. Saw a good variety of animals, but it was more of a sprint viewing. Places to go, giraffes to see. Also saw a statue of a snake, to which I said "oh snake!" And it scared the crap out of Madison. Giraffes were the last stop before the sea lion show, video to be posted next.

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After the Arch we checked out of the hotel and went to the murder basement to repack the car. This is a video of the normal procedure.

[madisonmoves]

So after we got out of Starbucks, we headed across the street to check out the Arch.

We did not plan well enough, so we couldn’t go up the arch, but we sat in a claustrophobic box and took a picture and decided maybe we wouldn’t have liked that very much anyway.

So then we walked around, went to see the Mississippi, took some pics with the Arch and then walked into town more to find breakfast.

Little did we know Cardinals are in the World Series, as we’ve been cut off from the world for the last 4 days. If it’s not on a billboard, we don’t know about it.

Saw a lovely fountain dyed red for the Cardinals and a nice view of the Arch. Also got an interesting tip when I checked into the fountain/plaza area on Foursquare.. Thanks homeless Bill..

We then found this place called St Louis Bread Co and quickly realized it was Panera in disguise. Come to find out Panera originated in St Louis and is called St Louis Bread Co in St Louis and Panera everywhere else.

[madisonmoves]

St Louis. Hotel Starbucks. Lord only knows what you could do to embarrass someone with that amazing outfit on.

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Made it to St Louis! Closing out on day 3. Crossed the Missouri border, the Mississippi, parked in a murder garage, had a glass of wine at the hotel bar, and now we're in bed. About 1,200 miles from our starting location, 850ish miles to go. Feeling quite tired. Have to wake up reasonably early so we can get food, see the arch, go to the zoo, get more food (obviously), and then make our way to Kansas City. The hashtag we landed on for the trip was "norulesroadtrip". However, alarm clocks feel a lot like rules to me. And I do not like it. Honk if you agree.

[madisonmoves]

Update: we've lost our minds. Madison is yelling at cars. It's aggressive and a little violent. This turned into a laughing fit, which is not good in middle-of-nowhere Illinois because there are not many bathroom options. Laughed so hard I cried, Madison yelled at me to stop cause she was laughing and driving and also had to pee. I honestly cannot remember exactly what caused all of this, but I know it was hilarious. Luckily a sign for a rest stop/murder house came up. We played "I will remember you" as we drove in and said our fond farewells. Okay we didn't play Sarah Mclachlan or get murdered, but we did lose it again walking through the uneven grass toward the bathroom. We looked drunk, we're just delirious. Also just booked our hotel in St Louis and it's apparently right next to the arch. We're pretty pumped to see it! Madison is so glad we're staying downtown because she's feeling so great and wants to go out. I told her there was a club in the hotel. We decided we'd roll up in our best leggings and tell everyone in St Louis that that's how it's done in New York. 10 miles til St Louis!

[madisonmoves]

Semi-charmed life came on AGAIN. It’s on shuffle, I swear!

Actually we listened to it, another song came on, skipped that song halfway through, and semi-charmed life came on AGAIN AGAIN. We’re not doing this on purpose. It’s our spirit song.

Other playlist highlights: 
- mirrors. Found out there is enough time to steer between claps. Good to know.
 - national anthem, Whitney Houston version. Can’t drive across America without it. 
- only one, yellowcard & hands down, dashboard

Things we’re loving:
 - this playlist/spotify
 - cruise control
 - traffic-free roads 
- Mountain Dew - car dancing

Things we’re hating: - people who don’t get out of the fast lane and ruin our cruise control - when there isn’t Mountain Dew available as a fountain soda - deer that don’t mind their own business - lack of real rest stops on this road. The murder house rest stops are just not the picture of comfort and safety

Things messing with our heads: - there’s this crazy spotlight in the clouds. Thought at first it might be planes in the clouds. It was not planes. “Must be aliens. Only reasonable explanation.”

Just had a serious jam sesh to Buttons by the Pussycat Dolls and Call Me Maybe. I take my role as backup dancer to the driver’s lead vocalist very seriously.

Recently took a break at a McDonald’s in Normal, Illinois… Yeah, okay.

[madisonmoves]

Last stop in Chicago was Pequod's in Lincoln Park for some real deep dish pizza. I mean I've been to Pizzeria Uno a few times in my life so I'm not a newb to deep dish pizza or anything.. Kidding, obviously, the pizza was awesome. Madison was convinced going into it that she wouldn't like it, but she was ultimately on board. After dinner we went back to Jeff's for a power nap and ended up watching this amazing video of baby Jeff doing somersaults. We watched it twice. That's how good it is. If you can come up with a way to help Jeff make millions off of it, he'll probably share it with you. We also have been carting around these donuts we got this morning at Glazed and Infused and haven't eaten yet. I'm sure a midnight snack will be needed in St Louis. Started our trek out of Chicago sometime around 6pm, prepared for a blizzard, apparently. Drive started out rainy and trafficky, hence Madison's enthralled demeanor.

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After Hancock we went to "the bean", which we learned is actually called Cloud Gate. (Looks like a bean to me, but who am I to say.) Took some weird pics, cause what else do we do. They included views in the reflection of something else. Views on views on views. Then we checked out the Buckingham Fountain and took some more weird pics and more pics of views. Lovely day for photos. And weirdness. And mitten/gloves.

[madisonmoves]

Today was our layover in Chicago. The weather was lovely but a little cold, so good thing we bought these awesome glove/mitten things in P-burgh! Anyway, started the day with breakfast at The Publican which was pretty sweet. The food was all amazing. It was like.. community dining style, so we if course were caught just staring at other people's plates when their food was dropped off. Maybe we were drooling. Hey it's only awkward if you make it. (Okay it was a little awkward.) Then we headed to Navy Pier to check out the views and get a sweet pic with the captain. Saw a giant carved pumpkin, it was very strange. Also got harassed by the employees of a haunted house on the pier. They could smell my fear. We then walked down past the Chicago Water Tower (one of the only buildings that survived the Chicago Fire, we learned. Also, it's not called the "windy city" because of wind. Fun fact.) Next stop was the Hancock Building. We waited in line with rowdy youths and then went to the Signature Room on the 96th floor to check out some more views. (Views on views on views, after all.) Cameo of Lindsey Goff who also happened to be visiting Chicago & the Hancock Building!

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Third play of Semi-charmed life. Guest star: Jeff Ceretto! On our way to breakfast before touristing.

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Slept beneath our spirit animal last night at Jeff's. Guiding us through our journey with its grace and persistence. Peace, love, and quack.