Oy! I don't want my first post to be such a long one - I just recently packed up my life, threw it in a couple of boxes to be shipped, filled up my car and moved from Cleveland to Seattle in 2 1/2 days - making it in time for Thanksgiving with my friend's family. I'll spare you all the three very long emails I send at the end of each day and just repeat a couple of highlights from this move to the west.

Day 1

Nice People
At my first coffee stop I came back to my car and the guy parked next to me said "Where you going?" I looked at him a bit perplexed and he added "Your car is full - you're moving?" I smile "Seattle". "Happy travels and good luck!" Then to boot, when I was at one of the many thousands of tolls in Chicago, I pulled up and asked the attendant "Sorry, how much is this?" He replied "$800". "Ouch, that really screws up my budget". "Yep, it probably does." "So how much is it?" "80 cents". "Where you moving to?" "Seattle" "Where you coming from?" "Cleveland." "Wow! That almost half way across the country" "Yep". "Well have a safe trip!" "Thanks!" Very nice people in the midwest.

Doubt
When I hit the 400 mile mark I was cheering "Whoooo hooooo! I'm 1/6th of the way thru my trip (2,456 miles)" Then I thought, WHAT the heck am I doing?!?! Leaving my family! Leaving my friends! I ate a carrot stick and got over it.

Hotel
When I finally did get off the right exit, I looked for a couple of the hotels listed on preceding billboards (that all said to take exit 399) but they were, oddly, hard to find. I had two choices, the Days Inn and Cloud Nine Motel (aka the No-Tell Motel). I was tempted by the Cloud 9 - it read "clean and affordable!" The Day's Inn read "free wireless." I'm a modern girl.

Day 2

The Weather
I couldn't ask for more perfect weather - again - 68 degrees and bright sun! I had the window down for a long time. I got a bit of sun burn on my cheek!

A National Snow fence or Signs You'll Never See anywhere else, at least not in Ohio
One of the first signs I saw on my way out of Sioux Falls read WEAR FUR. Purchasing Fur helps Manage Your Wildlife.
Another sign with two yellow lights above it: Route 90 (or any other route), when flashing return to (city you just passed), route closed. Immediately after sign were two red and white railroad crossing like arms that would go over the interstate. The sign attached read: Fines of $1,000 or imprisonment for disobeying. (one read $5,000!)
(Large red) X marks the spot. Think. Drive Smart. Arrive Alive. These were at locations where there had been a fatal accident. This was a new approach. It was like saying "Dumba$$, if you were just paying attention you wouldn't be dead."
Crazy Woman Creek Road, next exit. Do I need to say anything?
A National Snow Fence.... so once I entered the peopleless Wyoming - I noticed a snow fence. And not a small one that we put up in Geauga County to keep the snow from blowing on the driveway. I'm talking a huge, permanent huge fence - 15' tall and would go one for hundreds of feet. A National Snow Fence on I-90 in Wyoming. Who knew?

Night Skiing
If any of you have ever skied, you'll appreciate this. I learned how to ski in Keystone, Colo. And at night, some of the runs were open until midnight. The most wonderful thing about night skiing is that you don't have any idea how high up you are, how long you have to go, where the bottom is. This is great for people like me who would get off the ski lift during the day and look down thinking, what the hell am I doing up here? Night skiing you would just follow the person in front of you with absolute trust that they knew where they were going (the person behind you believed the same thing!)
So, in my decision to go to Butte, actually, even going to Bozeman, I was going to be going over "practice" mountain passes. These are not the black diamond of mountain passes, just small practice ones. Bigger than bunny hills but not that big. I was on the phone with a friend when my battery was going dead so I hung up. And then my ears started popping and I noticed a sign (should have gone in the sign section) Chain On next right. What? Then I realized we were climbing. There were guard rails. Eventually we started going down, fast. That's when I trusted the car in front of me to keep me on the road. It was like night skiing all over again. White knuckles and all.

Day 3
The Weather
It wasn't 67 degrees anymore - it was more like 32. I left Butte with bright sunshine and as soon as I started climbing the mountains, split pea soup rolled in. But it was beautiful just the same. Some people call this big sky, some call it nature, some call it God's County but whatever you call it, it's because it's humbling. As I climbed higher, the sun would poke thru the clouds. It wasn't until I reached King County (where Seattle is) that it changed - it started to rain.
It was so pretty, looking like Jack Frost had come by with a paint brush - everything was just white but nothing on the ground (I know Old Man Winter is breathing heavily down the back of you Clevelanders). Or it looked like the late 60's where you brought your Christmas trees already spray painted white. Pretty just the same.

Go West Young Lady, Go West is sponsored by:
The MY family, all of MY fabulous friends (esp. Heather, James, Deb, Mike and Shari)
with Navigation Assistance provided by Kathy and Associates
addition advice (both solicited and unsolicited) provided by Nanci, Teri, Kathy, Mike, and Pere.
The vehicle used in this adventure was purchased by Me. Maintenance provided by My Family's Garage.
Special thanks to all of those people who came by and took away stuff at the last minute including but not exclusively, the Johnson Family, Shellie, Nanci, Teri and Matthew.
Cat arrangements provided by M.I.K.E.This has been a production of a very sleep Michelle.