"How Long Have You Been Married For?": Cross Country 2018

When my best guy friend Carson accepted an accounting internship in Washington, DC, he wasn't sure if he would need his car or not. Less than a month before he left, he found out he needed his car. He immediately texted me and asked if I would drive cross country with him mid-June. I had swim lessons, but I was totally willing to skip one day in order to drive with him and see a new part of the country.

Day 1

Because I was still teaching swim lessons, we left right after I was done teaching. The first day was pretty boring. We drove to Cheyenne, Wyoming. A lot of the way was in the dark. We shared a hotel room (Don't worry, Mom... we had separate beds) and prepared to get on the road early the next morning.

Day 2

We woke up early and were aiming to head out by 6am. I woke up at 5:45 and was showered and ready to drive by 6. Carson was so impressed. He had gotten up at 5:15 to shower and get ready. It became a huge inside joke with us that he took longer to get ready for the day than I did. We ate breakfast in complete silence and hit the road. Neither of us are morning people, so we didn't talk for the first hour and a half when we were well into Nebraska.

We drove all the way through Nebraska to Omaha before stopping, other than for gas. I actually thought Nebraska was really pretty because of all the green trees and various lakes. In Omaha, we stopped at a place featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives called Big Mama's. It was in a super sketchy part of town and the food wasn't great. I wouldn't recommend it.

Sunset crossing the Mississippi River

After our mediocre lunch, we drove through all of Iowa and eventually crossed the Mississippi River. We ended up staying in Davenport, Illinois. When we rolled up to our hotel, there was some sort of race the next day so the hotel was almost completely full. We ended up getting a room with only one King size bed. I volunteered to sleep on the floor and Carson didn't object. Luckily, there was a pull out sofa bed so I slept on that.

Because we had been driving all day, I convinced Carson to come walk around Davenport with me. Our hotel was literally right on the river, so we walked for a bit along the river before heading across the street to get some food. We also wanted to find somewhere we could watch the NBA Finals game between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Carson is a huge Lebron James fan, so he really wanted the Cavs to win.

When we walked across the street, there was a massive jazz festival going on. I love jazz music so I made him stay for a little while. I even wanted to join the conga line full of drunk people you can see in the video, but Carson put his foot down there and refused to go with me. Instead, we ended up eating calzones at a bar down the street and watching the NBA Finals. The Cavs lost and he was sad, but we just went to bed and slept it off.

Day 3

The next day, Carson and I woke up early to drive the three hours from Davenport to Aurora, Illinois, which is a little less than an hour from Chicago. We were staying at his roommate Austin's house. When we got to Austin's house, no one answered the door. We ended up having to call Austin in San Francisco at 6am his time to get the door code to break into his house. We surprised the maid and made her scream all while their massive burly black neighbor watched us. We calmed the maid down by speaking to her in Spanish. Carson speaks because he served his mission in Uruguay.

While Carson got ready for the day, she told me she'd prepared two beds but she could definitely switch to one since we were obviously a couple. Carson and I have never dated a day in our lives. Nothing will ever happen there either, so that was hilarious. Apparently while I got ready for the day, she questioned him about our love life too. It was a good time.

Carson at the Skydeck at Willis Tower

When we finished there, we drove to the train station and took the Amtrak in to downtown Chicago. From the Amtrak station, we walked to the Willis Tower. We bought tickets to go up to the Skydeck. That was an amazing experience. First you took a super speedy elevator up 110 floors. The whole floor was covered in floor to ceiling windows. You could even wait in line to stand on a clear floor over the city, which is where this picture of Carson comes from.

After the Skydeck, we walked over to Millenium Park. The Chicago Blues Festival was happening, so it was PACKED. We took a picture with the Chicago Bean and then left for another part of the city to try and find somewhere that was a little less crowded. We ended up walking over 12 miles that day in Chicago.

Boat at Navy Pier

After leaving Millenium Park, we walked over to Navy Pier. I really liked Navy Pier. It's essentially a massive pier over Lake Michigan with some rides and tons of boat rides. We sat there for a while and talked while watching all the boats go by. It was pretty chilly, so we headed back to the city for some warm pizza.

We ended up ordering a DiGiorno's pizza. Oh my goodness gracious it was DELICIOUS! It turns out that I love Chicago deep dish pizza. They gave us pizza filled with cheese and then topped with some sauce and pepperoni. I'm not going to lie... I have considered ordering DiGiorno's and using their cross country shipping feature to get some for me here. We ate our pizza at a secluded city park away from a lot of the people.

Being the rude person that I am, I forced Carson to head back to the massive crowds of people to brave the Chicago Blues Festival. My grandpa was a jazz and blues pianist in a band, so I have a great appreciation for that kind of music. I made Carson stay for a while before we finally decided to leave because we needed to catch the last Amtrak back to Aurora.

Carson in front of the Chicago skyline

On the Amtrak back to Aurora, we ran into a bunch of drunk college interns. There were three girls and two guys. Two of the girls thought Carson was super hot and were very obvious about it. It was hilarious. When Carson fell asleep and laid his head on my shoulder, they pretty much lost it.

The highlight of the train ride came when someone from Uruguay followed Carson on Instagram. He didn't want to follow her back, so I told him not to. He said he'd feel bad if he didn't follow her back because she was from his mission. I asked if he was ever planning to live in Uruguay again. He said no, so I thought he should just leave it. At this point, the interns were looking at us like we were crazy. Just to put them on, we switched to Spanish. Their reaction was absolutely hilarious. When we got off the train, they asked if we wanted to come clubbing with us. The girls were sad when Carson said we had to go home and sleep.

Cedar Point

Day 4

Carson and I drove from Aurora to Cedar Point, Ohio early in the morning. We got to Cedar Point right when it opened and rode so. many. rides. Cedar Point is an amusement park on Lake Erie famous for their world-breaking rides. We went on so many different roller coasters. There was a two-hour rain delay while we were waiting for one of the rides. I made friends with a couple of the cute little kids around us. She kept asking how long we had been married for. I continually told her we weren't married. Then she started asking how long we had been dating for. We weren't dating either so that was disappointing for her. It was a really funny exchange.

After we finished at Cedar Point, we drove over to my aunt Beth and uncle Sam Lofgren's house in Akron, Ohio. They were all asleep when we got there, so we went right downstairs and went to bed.

Day 5

I woke up early the next morning to talk with Uncle Sam. I also said hello to Nicolas and Samantha. Beth came home right before we had to leave. We had breakfast together and then Carson and I had to leave so that I could catch my flight home. Uncle Sam actually thought Carson and I were a couple as well. The whole trip, we were fighting all these stereotypes.

We drove straight from Ohio to DC. Pennsylvania was my favorite state to drive through because of the beautiful forest views. Once in DC, we unpacked some of Carson's stuff into his temporary Airbnb. It was bright pink and he was sleeping in a flowered bed. It was a good look for him. Then, he dropped me at the airport.

When I checked in at the airport in DC, my flight said it was delayed. I had a super short layover in Atlanta, so I HAD to make it out of DC. I put myself on the waitlist for a flight that left in 20 minutes and RAN through the airport to get there. I ended up being the last person allowed on the flight after someone didn't show up. A lot of prayers were answered that day. In Atlanta, my flight almost got cancelled because of weather, but luckily, we were allowed to leave. I got into Salt Lake around 4am and began teaching lessons at 8:30am. The next day was a longgg day of lessons, but it was so worth it to spend some time with Carson and see a lot more of the country.

Life Lessons

Always drop everything and travel if possible.

Try to pack in as much as possible when you only have a little bit of time, especially if it's a road trip because you will have down time in the car.

Don't try food from Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

Spending time with family is never a bad decision.