roadtrip!

As I mentioned in a few earlier posts, T and I decided to make a big move this year. We picked up in Calgary, AB, Canada and moved down to Alexandria, VA, USA. East to west, north to south, health care to no health care, etc. T flew down earlier as he needed to start working asap. However, I took the leisurely move of tying up all the loose ends before making the drive down. And oh what a drive it was!

Here is a map of the route I took:The trip from Calgary to Winnipeg I've made many times, and although there were a few flash blizzards and a lot of empty fields, it's a pretty good drive. Then mom joined me for the drive down into the USA. Heading out of Winnipeg on a Friday afternoon (after all the pertinent border crossing papers arrived), we quickly got lost in a flooded land of closed roads and detours. Mom thought that making up our own detours would be a good idea. I just thought we were lost. Luckily, a few words with the guys at a small town Rona resulted in a hand drawn map that shaved a full hour off the official detour time.

A relatively quick border crossing put us in Fargo for the night. Next day, we were off through Minnesota and Wisconsin. Although I've been through Minnesota many times, I don't think I've ever made it to Wisconsin before. And it looked exactly as I pictured! Rolling hills, farms, cows, it was quite beautiful in a quaint kind of way. If you ignored all the cheese related billboards. We did make sure to grab some delicious Wisconsin cheese before heading out the next morning though.

The next day brought us to the tri-state toll highway of Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. A relatively uneventful day aside from the death defying drive through Chicago. But we made it through, white knuckles and all. The toll highways, while costing us a total of $42 to get across the three states, were well worth it as there were no stops, no slow downs, and convenient little highway "Oasis" stops with gas, food, restrooms and dog walking areas. Winston made quite a few friends at these stops!

Finally, our last day took us through Pennsylvania and Maryland before hitting Virgina. Here is where we starting getting closer to the mountains, and seeing some very beautiful countryside. That is, until we hit the Washington DC beltway and gridlock traffic! After getting lost twice, we finally made it to our new home in Alexandria!