Day 4

I am here right now.

So what happened to days 2 and 3? Well, day 2 should have ended with me in Evanston, WY. It turns out that Evanston is a crappy little town, very poorly laid out, impossible to even see the hotel signs until after you've passed the exit you'd have to take to easily get to them - at least, when you're coming from the west. I got there shortly before midnight, and the hotel manager wanted $100 for the room. I asked if there was a AAA discount, and he said that actually the AAA rate was *higher* than that. wtf? So I drove about 40 more miles to the east, pulled over at a rest stop, and slept with the engine running for warmth.

Wyoming, by the way, sucks. I would say that it's a total waste of space, except that it's a great example of space. Lots of it. Lots of useless space.

So day 3 I crossed it and about half of Nebraska. Also mostly space. Somebody really ought to consider colonizing those states and doing something with them. Anyway, at about 10 last night I decided I was tired enough to stop, and since there's nothing within a whole lot of miles of anything out there, I found another rest stop and, well, rested. From 10 til 2. Woke up, thought maybe I could drive some more, made it to the next rest stop about 37 miles down the road, and decided I was wrong. So I pulled over again and slept another 2.5 hours. 4:30 this morning I woke up and started driving.

And kept driving. For 18 hours I drove, stopping only to get gas, buy snacks, and use the bathroom. Oh, and to clean my frickin' windshield, because apparently even though I filled the wiper fluid, it has decided to not spray anything. Whether it's clogged, frozen, or just stupid I can't tell and don't really care.

So I've stopped in Danville, Illinois, less than 100 miles of Indianapolis, why? I mean, what's another 100 miles after the 1000 I drove today? Nothing! Except that the weather has turned to crap. I've finally hit active snowfall and icy roads. Icy as in I slid in a straight line right across 2 bridges. You know how signs say "Caution, bridges may be icy", or some such? Well, this is the first time in memory that has actually mattered. It seems that towing a trailer with a small car is a very tricky thing to control on ice. So, given those conditions, my fatigue, and the aforementioned lack of working wiper fluid (which makes driving in these conditions even more interesting, let me tell you), I decided that the better part of valor would be to stop in Danville, IL.

So here's the amusing part: The annoying hotel in Evanston was a Best Western. Why? Monday's Best Western was good. But that's not the amusing part. The amusing part is that here in Danville, a Triple A discount actually means you pay less for the room. Which is a big part of why I am not sleeping in my car tonight, and why I did Tuesday.