Once upon a time there was a 26ft Uhaul, a man, and a trailer. The man decided he was meant to move to the great cold north of Minot, North Dakota. Since he was a man who enjoyed company on great journeys he decided that he should bring along his wife and two beagles. Thus, one early Sunday morning, the man with his 26ft Uhaul and trailer (along with his car) took his wife in the cab and his two drugged beagles, Harper and Bo and set out on the long 37 hour trek north. 
And so it began, a slow drizzle and no gas. We filled up the tank at a modest $100.00 in Loganville before heading out on the highway. Our beagles were beginning to feel the effects of the drugs and Bo even decided that he should disregard the D.A.R.E. training we’ve all received and drive under the influence. (see picture). Josh decided that that wasn’t such a good idea. (see picture for Bo’s hazy reaction, esp. the eyes with the film over them).
Up through Atlanta to Chattanooga and over to Nashville. Through Kentucky into Illinois and over to Saint Louis, MO. Across Missouri (and no I didn’t drive as it was dark when we arrived) and skirting Kansas and Nebraska we stayed the night in Sioux City, Iowa. Now, Josh was going strong the whole way into Iowa and past his grandmother’s house in Omaha so we continued on. All of a sudden the No Doze decided they’d had enough of working for the day and clocked out for the night. Josh needed to pull over to stop for the night (the night being 4:00 A.M.) in Sioux City. However, we of course have two dogs with us and needed to find a pet hotel. Since the original plan was to stay at his grandmother’s house I didn’t bother getting a list of where the pet-friendly hotels were on our map. Thankfully, we found one the only catch was that it wasn’t on the outskirts of town but downtown Sioux City. Just imagine me handling two drugged puppies in the lobby of the hotel and trying to relay directions to a parking lot big enough for a 53ft vehicle extravaganza while on a cell phone and you pretty much get the idea of our arrival in Sioux City. Add to that picture Josh outside driving around and around on barely plowed streets (because of course Sioux City just received 12 inches of snow that day and the snow plows were still out and about). The poor guy only found one parking lot his size (that is, the truck size) and it was 7 blocks away. Four hours later (and yes I said 4 hours) 8:30am we were back in the truck after a couple hours of sleep and ready for anything.
Josh did have his first Weighing in experience. We saw the sign that said all vans and truck rentals pull into the weighing station ahead. This is us getting the green light. (It was all very exciting on only 2 hours of sleep).
Soon we crossed the state lines into South Dakota where apparently the snow storm which we missed had dumped most of its snow onto the highways for us to cross. Again, Joanna is not driving as there was slush everywhere. Very slippery. We eventually made it into North Dakota and stopped in Fargo for some much needed hot dogs and bathroom breaks. Fargo is about 5 hours from Minot (maybe 4 if you aren’t in a big truck) so we were on the home stretch. After hitting Grand Forks, Josh decided that he needed a cat nap just until we made it to Devils Lake (about 45 min at this point). I’m up for the challenge especially since it wasn’t going to be a long stretch and he’d take over in less than an hour if I wasn’t comfortable. It’s a nice afternoon with clear skies and hardly anyone else on the road so I was feeling good. I made it from Mile Marker 170 to Mile Marker 169. Barely. If that.
Yes, that’s right. I didn’t even make it a mile before it got to the point that Josh was more scared to have his eyes closed than open and watching me drive. He said that I was playing Pong with the solid line and the dotted one. Well, I tried. Let’s leave it at that. (btw, it wasn’t even the trailer that was the worst part, the trailer was the least of my worries.)
So Josh had all traces of sleepiness scared out of him and he resumed driving. I played DJ and we rocked out the rest of the way to Minot to all our favorite music. I think we arrived around 7pm? It was good to walk in the door to my in-laws and smell beef stroganoff and have a warm bed waiting.
Next time I’ll write about the house. We have been BUSY. Here’s a taste: My First View
