summer drives

I finally made it back to the midwest (after quite the long drive.) wyoming doesn't feel very far from home, until I have to drive it.

Regardless, I had quite the delightful drive, once I hit the Illinois border. This is becoming a theme with me--long tedious hours through nebraska and iowa and everywhere else, then glorious blissful times in illinois.

I should have taken some photos, but neglected to. actually, i took some on my phone, but can't figure out how to get them off my phone and onto my computer. anyway, i left at 4:30 am on friday, then traveled straight through colorado, wyoming, nebraska, iowa and the cusp of illinois with only two 15-minute breaks, arriving about 7:30 pm. whew! it was crazy. thankfully the car I'm borrowing has about 6-7 hours of driving in each tank of gas (my saturn has like 15 minutes.) Well, I spent the first night at a dear friend's house. It was fantastic--she lives in this beautiful river town in central Illinois, in a home nestled between the woods and the cornfields. We sat out in her green grass (oh how I love the smell of fresh grass--it's still brown in wy, and regardless, everyone waters their dogs in my apartment lawn) and we talked about all sorts of great things and drank tea and lemonade and just listened to the breeze. Does it get better than this? I don't think so.

Then, I proceeded to the best restaurant in the world. (seconded by acoustic cafe, for my eau clarian friends)--it's called Shane's Deli, and if you're anywhere near Chicago, you should go there and get a steak and cheese sandwich, and possibly, a rice crispy bar. Here, I met my friend Megan who was wearing a cubs hat. We sat in the local park and talked about the Cubs, and life. Finally, I drove into Chicago, met my brother and spent the night hanging out with him, eating pizza and watching One Tree Hill. I also, unfortunately, wore cute shoes (always a mistake)--I now have a huge infected wound on my toe. It's a bit gross.

All this may sound (and seem) not that exciting, but I think that's the thing--it was just so exciting to be back with some of the people I most love in the places I most love...and it felt natural, not just like I was visiting. This is always what I fear when I leave places--that coming back, these places will seem different, won't feel like home anymore. Perhaps, eventually, Chicago won't be home...but it's really nice that for now it still is.