Bu-Bye California!! Chicago Bound

**Please note, you can click on any photo to make it bigger so you can see them better**

Well I am writing this blog entry from our hotel room in Elko, Nevada. Sorry this first blog is so long, but there is a lot to cover. Let me take it from the top:

Rachel had a really emotional yesterday. She had to say bye to all of our coworkers, which made her cry a few times throughout the day. Then, she had to come home, and pack her apartment up, while be utterly exhausted. Her landlord lady, who is a crazy Greek lady, brought her over a grocery bag full of bottled water and homemade treats for the drive. Rachel started crying again. She sold all of her furniture, so she has been sleeping on an air mattress for the past few nights, but decided to rent a hotel room last night so we could sleep in real beds and take hot showers before hitting the open road.

After her emotional day and my day of finals & traveling it was time to eat our feelings.  I took my last final yesterday morning, and landed in San Francisco around 11:30PM. Rachel and I headed straight to our favorite San Francisco restaurant, Tommy’s Joint. It is amazing. It is super dive-y, and it is set up like a cafeteria, but the best part is they serve Thanksgiving type food, complete with delicious turkey, mashed potatoes, and all things necessary to commit complete carb-o-cide. The picture on the right is Rachel about to feast. After taking our delicious meals to the face, we headed to our hotel in Burlingame, CA around 1AM. 

Let me preface by saying, Rachel & I recently discovered Holiday Inn-Express which recently went under a complete renovation nation-wide, and are now as nice and updated as Hilton hotels. So, every time we take a road trip, we make it a point to stay in them. So last night was no exception, we stayed in the Holiday Inn Express in Burlingame, California.

OK, so around 1AM we go up to the counter to check in, and no one is behind the desk. After standing there, we call out “Hello” to no answer. We notice a cellphone charging behind the counter, so we knew someone was working. We called the phone at the front desk, which rang loudly, hoping to get someone’s attention. No such luck. So, we notice there is a window that looks into the room behind the front desk, so Rachel walks around and knocks on the window because she saw the top of someone’s head sitting in a chair. Rachel knocking on the window startled the man awake, and he immediately came up to the counter. Yes. The front desk clerk was dead asleep. He came out with the raspy voice you get from being in a deep slumber, and his eyes were half open. He never apologized, and was actually kind of grouchy. Whatever. We got to check-in, headed to our hotel room, took showers, and fell asleep.
 View of San Fran Bay outside our hotel

We woke up at 7AM, had some yummy continental breakfast, then headed to Rachel’s apartment to pack up the last of her apartment, and load the car for our long journey around 8AM.

So, next funny story, Rachel’s landlord is a very energetic, nosey, abrasive Greek woman. She had already given Rachel a grocery bag full of food and bottled water the night before, but that did not stop her from insisting we take more food. We were loading the car, and she said “Rachel, you should take a few more bottles of water. I have tons, let me get you some more.” Rachel told her no thanks, and that we were OK, but Sarah, the landlord, insisted. She came back down stairs with a grocery bag that had 8 more bottles of water inside. Then, we were making another trip back up to the apartment to get more stuff to pack in the car, when Sarah comes down in her thick Greek accent “Girls, here take this cheese too. It is good. Here.” She handed us a bag of individual cheese wheels. We say thank you, and go into Rachel’s apartment to get the last load of stuff, as we are walking out there is Sarah again. This time, and I am not kidding, with a bag full of fruit (bananas, apples, sweet lemons), “Here take this too, you will love them.” We started laughing and thanking her. I put a picture to the right of the front seat filled with items she kept giving us. You would think we were storing food for the apocalypse, but she is sweet.

We packed up the car TO THE GILLS, and we had finally finished packing the car, we were all smiles, hopped in the car, and we were ready to hit the open road!!...until Rachel’s car flashed the “rear door ajar” warning light. Uh-oh. We hop out, try shoving the stuff in, and slamming the door, to no avail, the car was still flashing “REAR DOOR AJAR”. I told Rachel to grab ahold of the side of the car, and push with her boot, but no luck. The door was shut, so we said screw it, we will just have the warning error, and hit the road, but as we pulled out we realized the dome light was on, and would not shut off until we got the door to completely shut. So, yes. We literally had to take half the car out, and repack it so it would fit. By this time of having to pack, unload, and then repack the car, it was time for lunch. We stopped at Pizza My Heart, took a slice of pizza and salad to the face, then hit the open road at noon.

The drive was smooth. We hit some snow around Lake Tahoe, but other than that it was clear sailing. One thing we did not account for was how quickly it gets dark. At 5PM, it is PITCH BLACK, and our drive is mainly through the desert, so we drove until 8:30PM, until we reached Elko, Nevada. In total, we drove for 7 ½ hours today.

We grabbed dinner at a shady Mexican joint attached to an even shadier Casino, then checked into our hotel. I am currently typing this from the bed of my hotel room. We are planning to get an early start, and stay the night in Laramie, Wyoming tomorrow night.

During our trip, Olivia told us on the phone about the Connecticut Shooting, so we have been listening to the coverage on NPR all day. How sad. There are some crazy assholes out there.  

We also listened to Bossy Pants Audiobook by Tina Fey, and just enjoyed the scenery. 

Well that’s it for now. Enjoy the photos! More blog entries to come!!

 The picture above is the inside of Tommy's Joint, set up like a cafeteria. Rachel & I love it here.
Below is a picture of the outside of Tommy's Joint in San Francisco

 A picture of Rachel's apartment as we loaded the last into the car

Below: Packing the car!!

 Below: Rachel carting a load to her car..cowboy hat and all....

 Below: Rachel stressing about getting everything done before we left

The car packed to the gills

Packed to the gills again...

Feeling victorious that we got everything to fit

Only to realize...it all didn't fit. So she was grabbing ahold of the side of the car and shoving it in with her boot....

Changing the GPS state from California to Illinois

Leaving San Francisco... 

Lake Tahoe

Entering Reno...

Nevada Mountains...

Shady Casino where we grabbed dinner...

Literally written on the front of the menu...

The wallpaper in our hotel room.