Sarah and Steve Leave Town :(

One of the better parts of living in LA has been being in close proximity to Sarah and Steve. Rhianwen hasn't lived on the same coast as her big sister since, well, I dunno. She was 11 or something. Sarah graduated from Drexel and high-tailed it to UC Berkley for grad school, and as a result the sisters have only seen each other sporadically over the last so many years.

So when we arrived in LA, we decided to stay on Sarah and Steve's floor for three weeks to make up for all the lost time! WEE!

Also, they were helping us out until we got an apartment, and it was a blessing of which the value cannot be overestimated. Without them, our move out here would not have been possible.

So seeing them pack up and head back to San Francisco this past weekend was bittersweet. We know that it's the best thing for them, career-wise. But watching dearly beloved people move hours away after years of yearning to be close is hard. Thank God they're only a (relatively) short drive north on the 5.

Anyways, Rhianwen and I helped them pack up, and these are some photos.


Notice my wonderful hat made out of newsprint. At one point I had a bubble wrap cape, but that was not caught on camera.


They purchased that root beer because they know we love it! They love us! Aww!


Sniff... please move back, guys!

Our Past Week

Hey there faithful blog readers! We know, we know, you've been dying to know what shenanigans the LA Benners have been up to recently. We apologize for the lack of posts, but this time of transition leaves our lives (and internet connections) rather irregular. So here's a recap of the past couple weeks:

Weekend of May 16-19:
Benner went home for his Uncle Butch's funeral, which was a rather mournful time. Uncle Butch was a very sweet and funny guy and very supportive and loving godfather/great uncle. We are missing him. Benner hung out at McShea's with the family (big surprise) and got to visit with his cousin Sean who was in town from Rhode Island. The funeral was widely attended, and they passed a microphone around for people to share some of their favorite Butch stories.

Benner talked about the first time we had Butch over for dinner after we were married. He was sure that Rhianwen would get along fine with Aunt Marge, but Uncle Butch was a different story; they didn't exactly share the same sense of humor. Half way through the meal, Butch starts in on his first fart joke and Benner freezes, thinking Rhianwen will never like Butch now. Then he looks over, and Rhi is cracking up. That's when Benner realized Butch was a one of a kind guy: even Rhianwen laughed at his fart jokes.

On Sunday, Benner went to Narberth Presbyterian and caught up with Pastor Steve for a few minutes. Afterwards, he went golfing in South Philadelphia with Adam, Alec and Jake. It started raining, but that didn't really stop them from finishing their game out (and nearly crash a couple of golf carts doing donuts on the fairways). That night, Benner spent the night at Adam and Megan's, where he played with Edan and watched Nancy Drew, which was better than he expected. Edan by the way, took his first steps last week and Benner got to see him in action.

Over on the other coast, Rhianwen was feeling somewhat daunted about her first weekend in LA alone, because Sarah and Steve were out of town too. Fortunately, it ended up being a great weekend. She went to a barbecue at Manhattan Beach and met lots of new people, and her toes touched the Pacific Ocean for the first time. Despite how hot it was that day, the water was surprisingly cold! The scenery and conversation was of utmost quality, but perhaps most interesting was watching the volleyball game; The sand was so hot that people played with their socks on.

Later, Rhi explored Pasadena, went shopping, visited a new church and, of course, applied to jobs and prepared for our move later that week. It was nice to have some time alone, but Benner and Rhi agree: it's better to be together, and seeing each other that Monday after Benner got back from Philly was a relief.

Benner's travel time wasn't particularly enjoyable, so Tuesday was spent resting up and applying for jobs. Also, we both needed to mentally prepare for the big move into our new apartment on Thursday. We thought it may be a doozy, and whoa man was it.

Thursday, May 22nd: The MOVE
Moving was a complicated endeavor. We didn't just pack up a truck and move it from one apartment to another. If you'll remember, we packed up all of our belongings into a little metal pod and had them shipped here. They've been sitting in storage in Pacoima, CA since the end of April. And in case you didn't know, when you rent an apartment in CA, it doesn't come with a fridge. So you have to buy or rent one. In the long term, it's better to buy a fridge-- you save money because the rental places will nickel and dime you--and you know you're getting a new fridge which has less complications. So we bought a fridge and had to pick it up that day too.
And we didn't have the help of our dear friends and family on the east coast, so we prayed that God would give us the grace and help we needed to get through it. And faithfully, He did.

So here's was our day:
9:00: Picked up a 17 foot uhaul and drove to Lowe's in West Hills which is the only Lowe's that had the fridge we wanted.
It was on sale, to our surprise.
We loaded the fridge, Benner fastened it tight and we drove from there to Pacoima.

11:30: When we arrived in Pacoima, ABF was surprised to see us. (Even though we had called them twice that week to confirm.) Our "relocube" was stacked and we couldn't access it. And the guy who could get it down had left town to drive a big truck somewhere. We had to wait 30 min.
for him to come back. In the meantime, we saw wild cats (Benner says they're feral, whatever that means) in the parking lot and waited.

12: We loaded our pod. Stuff had shifted in transit and some things were banged up and broken. We packed really well and strategically until the end--some stuff wasn't in boxes which was less than ideal. We then unloaded everything and had to strategically pack it onto the truck. The truck was a large space so we had to be careful of how to pack it because it would move. We saw rain clouds as we loaded. The second we closed the truck, the first raindrop fell. Thank you God.

We were in need of some fuel in the form of food. So we dropped off the Uhaul at our apartment and drove to get some In-N-Out. For the uninitiated, In-N-Out is fast food the way God intended it to be. The beef comes from local cattle, the vegetables are fresh, the potatoes are cut daily on site, the service comes with a smile and they are the greatest burgers on the planet earth (on the plus side, word is that In-N-Out employees are paid fair wages and have full benefits, which means it's a business we don't feel bad supporting). Benner in particular had been craving an In-N-Out burger since we came out to California, but held off the pleasure until the moment that he absolutely needed it.

After we finished packing up that truck, Benner needed that burger. And it was glorious.
We sat in the parking lot of the In N' Out and stuffed our faces with meat and French fries and loved life for a sweet moment.

Then it was back to moving.

Our new friend, John Unger who we had met once before heard that we needed help and just showed up. We were so happy to see him. Moving the fridge and our furniture would have been really hard just the two of us, and we were already feeling sore and weak from the first move. Plus, our apartment is not wheelchair accessible, which means we had to strap the fridge on a dolly and get it up multiple small sets of stairs. Thank God for John Unger, he made it happen. We were so grateful. John, we owe you dinner.

And for the first time since April 1, we were living in our own space. And for the first time since April 24th (minus two nights in hotels) we weren't sleeping on an airbed. Heaven.

We are thrilled with our new place. It's got more storage than any east coast apt. building can boast of. Our kitchen is new, and at night, the courtyard/pool/grill area looks like a place we'd vacation. We are thankful to Sarah and Steve and the Lozanos who took us in during our time of transition, but are thrilled to back on our own.

Interesting facts about our building:
- We are told that John Wayne's gradson lives in our building.
- We are steps from CBS Radford, the studio where the NY scenes of Seinfeld were shot. Currently CSI Miami is shot there.
- We got a notice on the Sarah Silverman film is shooting in our apartment building over the next week or so.
- We can walk to Trader Joes, we're on the LA river (which is a euphemism for the large drainage ditch that runs through the entire city-- woohoo. You would think this means we're in a bad neighborhood but we're in a great neighborhood, actually.)

Saturday, May 24th: Benner's Birthday! Ikea is like an amusement park, right? So of course Benner wanted to spend his birthday there. He was a little disappointed when he found out there was no roller coaster, but we enjoyed it anyway. It was an amusement park of furniture, and we bought some for our new apartment, including dressers and bookcases and all that fun stuff. Then we ate 50 cent hot dogs and drank Lingenberry juice, which is perhaps the best part of all when going to Ikea.

Then we went back to our apartment and spent the day trying to settle into our apartment. Benner built pieces of furniture like a man possessed, and Rhi organized, organized, organized. Finally, at the end of the night, Benner was treated to one of the best cooked meals he has ever had; Rhianwen made linguine with scallops in a white wine sauce, and it was UH-MAZING.

Seriously, best meal ever. And then she made her trademark pumpkin chocolate cake with cream cheese icing, complete with Batman candle for Benner's birthday. Our friends, Sean and Sean, came by for some cake and hung out for a while.

After they left, Benner fell asleep almost instantly. It was a long day.

And that's our past week. We miss you Philly!

Road Trip: Final Day

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It felt like this road trip would never end. There were long stretches in the Midwest where we wished it would, just as there were parts in the Southwest where we hoped it would go on forever. But in the end, the trip expired just where it was supposed to: Our destination.

We woke up Friday morning, wanting to wring every last second of our hotel stay in Flagstaff that we could. Not necessarily because we weren't looking forward to California, mind you. Rather, we were in need of some R&R and paid good money; we didn't want to check out a second earlier than noon. Besides, Weird Science was on the USA Network and we wanted to watch it.

So that's what we did. Thank you, Flagstaff Radisson.

I wish I could say packing up the ol' Versa was a more poignant experience, but we were just about ready to get to LA. We drove through Western Arizona listening to the final installments of the audio book on Australia, marveling at the parallels between that distant land and the country we were driving across at that moment.

"I was surrounded by an endless nullity," Bill Bryson said at one point, describing his thousands-plus miles road trip across Australia. He went on to talk about running out of gas in a place where help had no chance of reaching him, just as our own fuel light flickered on. Watching mile after mile of desert expanse pass by our windows, with nothing but a harsh landscape that is terribly unkind to life beyond that, we couldn't help but imagine Bryson hiding in the back somewhere, narrating our own journey. It was eerie, to say the least.

The difference, of course, is that Bryson was talking about a distant, unknown place where danger lurks behind every cactus. Here, in Arizona, the biggest danger is not having cell phone service. Which, of course, makes driving quite the chore. Here was one of the more exciting moments in our drive.


The monotony was broken up, for a moment at least, when we crossed the California state line. There was a checkpoint, and we panicked. I cannot tell you why we panicked. We had done nothing wrong. We were not smuggling in illegal immigrants, we didn't have drugs on us and we let that hitchhiker who was covered in blood out miles ago. But for some reason, we felt like we had something to hide. Finally, it was our turn and the inspector approached our car. We rolled down our window and held our breaths.


"Where you comin' from?" the inspector asked. He had aviators and a bushy mustache, and must have come directly from his night job at central casting.

"Philadelphia," Rhianwen answered. I could tell she was thinking up stories to defend herself against any number of crimes she could imagine she might be guilty of. I, meanwhile, was ready to burst from the passenger seat running at any moment. I don't know why, other than to say cops make me nervous.

"Do you have any apples, oranges, pears, peaches, papayas, parrots or ferrets?" the inspector asked in a sing-songy cadence that caught us both off guard.

"No," Rhianwen said with a slight grin.

"OK," he said, waving us through. "Enjoy California."

We breathed again. Thank God he didn't ask about chinchillas.

Entering California was a bit of a bright spot. The scenery was definitely an improvement.


Eventually, we started seeing signs for our destination. As "Los Angeles 350" gave way to "Los Angeles 300," which of course eventually gave way to "Los Angeles 50," the homesickness sprang up in a way we hadn't experienced since Road Trip Day 1. The harsh realities that we had somehow tricked ourselves into ignoring finally showed themselves: We weren't living in Philadelphia anymore. As soon as we parked the car that night, we were officially living in California, even if we didn't have our own apartment yet.

"Maybe we should go back," I told Rhianwen weakly. "It's only 3,000 miles back the other way." She entertained the thought seriously (and perhaps still is), but we concluded that we came out here for a reason and should probably give it a chance.

We pulled into Pasadena around 7:30pm, tired and scared and just a little bit hungry.


Turning into Rhianwen's sister Sarah's apartment building, we took a second to look back at our trip and be grateful: We sped across the whole country, never got a ticket and barely even saw a single police man. We drove through dark nights in areas where animals run wild, and we didn't hit one. We had seven stops to make, and somehow had free, comfy places to stay in all but two. We drove more than 3,000 miles spanning busy highways with crazy drivers, and never even came close to an accident or even an incident. We never got lost, defying the incredible odds and potential to do so. We saw more beauty (like the Grand Canyon), than boring (like Iowa). Perhaps most amazingly, we spent more than 52 hours in a small, cramped and crowded Nissan Versa together, and Rhianwen and I came out loving one another more than ever.

Truly, this was a blessed trip.

And speaking of blessings, when we parked our car and entered the apartment building we would call home for the next few weeks (or at least the floor of one of its units), who was there waiting to greet us? Sarah, of course. She came bounding up to us the moment we got off the elevator, threw her arms around Rhianwen and acted as the best one-woman-welcoming-party of all time.

From there, we sorted out our luggage and ate dinner, then caught up on DVR'd episodes of the Office and 30 Rock that we missed while driving (thank God we have the same taste in TV). Then they tried on ponchos.


Eventually we fell asleep on the world's most comfortable air bed, and that was officially the end of our Road Trip, I suppose.

Sarah's husband Steve, it should be noted, was away this weekend and will probably come home tomorrow night shocked to see how much our luggage, clothing, electronics and various other belongings have taken over his living room. If you're reading this Steve, well... I brought a Wii with me, so that should make up for it.

Road Trip Final Day Stats
Leaving From: Flagstaff, AZ
Going To: Los Angeles, CA
Google Maps Distance: 457 miles, 6 hours and 34 minutes
Actual Distance: Blurg
Total Distance Driven So Far: Double blurg
States Visited: Arizona, California
Lessons Learned: Arizona and Australia: Separated at creation of the Earth?; Road trips are long, but ultimately teach you things about yourself and life in general, and thus are worth it; I totally forget lessons really fast.

Road Trip: Day 8

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Rhi and I are exhausted. We just finished our drive tonight and didn't feel like typing up a long, wordy description of yesterday's events. So, here's a slideshow followed by a few choice comments. Please enjoy!



- We started the day in Santa Fe, NM and went from there to France's house in Albuquerque. It is such a unique, one-of-a-kind house. I asked her about how she designed it, and she said she just made it up as she went along without any blueprints or designs. We love France.

- Tuba City: Not as fun as it sounds.

- I (Benner) had never been to the Grand Canyon. I didn't know what to expect, other than it being big and all. It is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen on earth. I am planning to go back.

- That Flintstones campground thing at the end of the slideshow is one of the most horribly kitschy, stupid and awesome things I've seen. Not quite as good as the Grand Canyon, but it too may be worth a trip to Arizona by itself.

- Rhi and I saw 4 moose on our way from the Grand Canyon to Flagstaff, three females and one full-on giant male with huge antlers. Two were just hanging out on the side of the road, the other two were actually in the road. It was cool.

- It gets so dark at night in Arizona, it's almost scary. It is an enveloping, almost breathable darkness. Headlights help, but they too often felt like they would be overpowered by the inky blackness.

- Never go to the Rodeway Inn in Flagstaff. Never.

- We'll post the final installment of Road Trip tomorrow, when/if we have time. It was a long but nice day from Flagstaff to LA, and we're eager to talk about it along with other thoughts. Just too tired to type it up for now. Until then, friends.

Road Trip: Day 7

You gotta admire a town where, if you want to build something, they'll only let you do it as long as it complies with a style of architecture that dates back 4,000 years.


That's Santa Fe for you. Adobe everywhere you look, and I gotta say it makes for a very interesting city.


On Wednesday, Rhi and I walked around the Plaza of Santa Fe with France. It's basically just a bunch of touristy shops and countless art galleries and restaurants that charge 25 times more than they should for things, but the scenery is fantastic and there's a couple of neat places. The coolest part of the plaza is where Native Americans (Pueblo, Navajo and perhaps some Hopi) lay out blankets on the ground to showcase their own jewelry and other wares. We didn't take a picture because it can be perceived as disrespectful. You'll just have to go and see for yourself.






That's me standing in front of a donkey statue, located quite fittingly in a street called "Burro Alley."

So after that, France left Rhi and I to go visit El Castillo, the retirement home that Rhi's Nain (Welsh for grandmother) lived in for many years. Nain--who was a remarkably intelligent, loving and accomplished woman--passed away last year at the age of 92. (I cannot begin to describe how great she was in a simple blog post. I would need to write a book to even approach that task.) This was Rhi's first time back to El Castillo since Nain passed away, and it was a bit of an emotional time.

We also went to visit Mary and Chase, who live in El Castillo and knew Nain since she was a small child. They were very good friends their entire life, and moved from Colorado to El Castillo many years ago at the behest of Nain and Taid (Taid is Welsh for grandfather, and he passed away a little over a decade ago). It's really incredible to see 4 people who have been such good friends for almost 90 years.

Anyways, Chase is one hilarious guy, even at 94-years-old. He regaled us with long stories about his family, the army and, at one point, reiterated the entire plot of National Lampoon's Summer Vacation (his house in Colorado was used as a location). On the wall of their apartment hung a couple of paintings, one by Mary's mentor and another by Mary herself. I was quite impressed with Mary's skills, and thought she might have even surpassed her teacher.


We then went with France to the grocery store to gather ingredients for a special dinner we were cooking for the New Mexico posse (minus Rhi's uncle Tom-- Tio Thomas and his honey, Irene. Tom was out of the country.) Back at Barbara's, Rhi and I prepared a big dinner for everyone with a recipe taken out of a cookbook that Rachel and Jenn gave her before we left Philly. We made Caramelized Onion Chicken, which doesn't taste anything like it sounds (there's raspberries, soy sauce and ginger involved in the equation). It was quite delicious, if I do say so myself.

Perhaps it was the company that enhanced the meal, though, as it was great fun with wonderful conversation.


That's Charlie, Wyn's boyfriend. He leads quite the interesting life, or about as interesting as it gets as a blues guitar playin', harmonica blowin', traveling pharmacist who serves needy reservations all across the state. Which is to say, very interesting.


So that was our night. We ate good food, drank good wine, had good conversation and even popped some good champagne over some good dessert. Everyone cleaned up together before saying goodnight, and we climbed back into the comfortable bed for one last night before we got back on the road for the worst day of driving yet.

Sigh.

Road Trip: Day 6

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All apologies for the lateness in posting the past few days. We are still alive. We just haven't had access to a wireless Internet connection over the past few days in New Mexico.

And boy have you guys missed out. New Mexico is a gem of a place. We left Colorado Tuesday morning, happy to have only a 6-hour drive to Santa Fe ahead of us. For the uninitiated among you, Rhianwen was born and raised in New Mexico until she was 3-years-old. Though she and her family moved to Philadelphia, they left behind the Lewis side of the family and close friends. It still feels like home to her since she visits often, and I have to admit that it's beginning to feel like home to me. There's just something about the place.






The sky is bluer, the air crisper. Things are just better in this state. Anyways, we got into Santa Fe around 5pm and met immediately with Rhi's Aunt Wyn (known as Tia Wynnie), who took us out for a delicious dinner.


Wyn is a fabulous person, understanding, sweet and funny and entirely comfortable in her own skin in every situation it seems. It's always fun to talk with her, and the conversations are usually wide-ranging and always interesting. Even more so when they're had over some great Southwestern food, which for me is about 33 percent of New Mexico's allure I must say.

After dinner, we said goodbye to Tia Wynnie for the night and headed over to Barbara's house. Barbara is one of Rhianwen's mom's dear friends. She also a wonderfully laid back hostess and has a beautiful house. Rhi's godmother France drove up from Albuquerque to meet us there and took off of work so she could be with us our entire visit. We were thankful for the quality time. It was one giant slumber party.


These are two of the most dear people in our lives, and they've known Rhi since she was a little girl. France was even there when she was born, and took her on a month long tour of her native country France 13-years later. We spent a couple of hours talking about our lives with France and Barbara, and turned in early to one of the most comfy beds we've ever slept in. Perhaps it was only so comfy in comparison to the air mattress we slept on the two prior nights (no offense, Alec), but it was magical nonetheless.

Road Trip Day 4 Stats
Leaving From: Denver, CO
Going To: Santa Fe, NM
Google Maps Distance: 395 miles, 5 hours and 45 minutes
Actual Distance: I totally stopped keeping track of this
Total Distance Driven So Far: I'll let you know at the end of the trip
States Visited: Colorado, New Mexico
Lessons Learned: New Mexico is the Land of Enchantment; Mexican food is 100 times better in the Southwest; If you're looking for some rest, you can't do better than a nice, old-fashioned bed.

Road Trip: Day 5

The respected theologian and cat of the world Garfield was very prolific, particularly in his thoughts on Mondays. Basically, he sums them up as thus: "I hate Mondays."

Yes, Garfield, we hate Mondays too. But this Monday, it was not so bad.

We took a day off from driving to get some much needed rest and some much needed exercise, as well as see a little bit of the Denver area. We woke up at 10:30am, which is really kind of like 12:30pm for us considering we just came from the East Coast. From there, Rhi, Alec and I went to Bruegger's Bagels for some breakfast, where Rhi's cousin Margaret met us. And you'll never guess who we saw there.


That's right: John Elway. I wouldn't have even noticed unless Alec pointed him out, but there he was in the flesh. Even in person he gives off the air of a Super Bowl champion, but at the moment I was too busy giggling to myself about how funny he looks to notice. Seriously, he looks sort of funny for some reason.

After bagels, Alec left us with Margaret, and we went to Red Rocks to get some hiking in. It was awesome.


We took that picture. Not that we're awesome photographers or anything, more like it's impossible to take a bad picture of the place. Did I mention these rock formations are 250 million years old?


Here's Rhi and I sitting on some rocks. Some 250 million year old rocks, that is.


That's Rhi's cousin Margaret Holtz. She lives in Denver and draws maps for a living, or something. Her job sounds complicated.


We spotted this house from a distance while we were on our hike. Rhi and I love mid-century modern and modern architecture, as well as adobe buildings. This seemed to be the perfect combination of the two, and it's also built on the grounds of a national park. What's not to love? Other than getting strange people taking pictures of your glass house with high-speed optical zoom lenses, that is.

After the hike a flirtation with altitude sickness, Rhi and I went back to Alec's for a nap and the Flyers game (WOO FLYERS!). Later, Alec had another appointment so we went to Margaret's for dinner, but on our way we saw a fox.


That's the fox we saw, about to attack a cat in somebody's front yard. This isn't the kind of fox I'm used to seeing in Philly. This thing was huge, and just trotting along the sidewalk in broad daylight. It looked and acted mean, and I was sure the cat was done for, but the fox was more of a wuss than he seemed and the cat scared him away. Denver is a strange place that way.

Anyways, so we went to Margaret's for dinner and played some board games with her roommates Allison and Grace.


Very nice people and all, we really enjoyed their company and they're sweet demeanors. But, I confess, I suspect them of cheating at Cranium. (You're supposed to actually imitate the people on the card, not just give verbal hints with no attempt at mimicking their actions. I'm talking to you, Grace.) (Sorry, I'm a sore loser.)

After that, we met up with Alec again to go see "Baby Mama," starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. It is hilarious, we all recommend it.

Now, we're really tired and going to bed. All this rest and relaxation can really take a lot out of you.

Road Trip: Day 4

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As Kanye West once said, “You know what the Midwest is? Young and restless. These [expletive deleted] might snatch your necklace.” I imagine the youth in Lincoln, Nebraska are among the most restless in the entire Midwest, so I went to bed last night worrying that our car might be broken into overnight in the parking lot of the Best Western and have our proverbial necklaces stolen. My fears were proven unfounded, as our car was not only safe this morning, but last night’s rain even left it a little cleaner than when we pulled in.

Of course, we got another late start to our morning and we missed the complementary continental breakfast by mere minutes. But given the spread of day-old bagels, suspicious cheese Danishes and stale cereal, we probably weren’t missing much. The coffee, however, was surprisingly delicious.

We felt a little dodgy from our pizza hangover, and we decided to eat a little healthier today. We stopped by the local grocery store in Lincoln, and I was hankering for liquor and chicken wings. Boy was I in luck!


Eight great tastes that taste great together! But alas, it was before noon on a Sunday, and they would not sell us alcohol. So we settled on some beef jerky, nuts and carrots.

Back on the road, we discovered that nothing in Nebraska had changed while we were asleep.


It was still all flat, all farmland. I’m not really a Bruce Springsteen fan, but I can see why he named one of his albums after this state: his musical style is as bland and flat as the plains. (Leave all the pro-Springsteen hate mail in the comments section, people.)

On about the third hour of Nebraska drivin’, we came across a sign for Pioneer Village. “See how real pioneers lived!” the signs screamed. I had thought the people around here still lived like that, so I really wanted to see it. Rhianwen wasn’t quite as excited, but acquiesced. We pulled off the exit and were immediately disappointed to see signs advertising Pioneer Village as 13 miles away. It wasn’t worth it, but we did see dozens of horses grazing by a lake so we had to pull over and check it out.


We threw carrots at them, but they just ignored us. Stupid, stuck-up Nebraska horses. We’ll get our revenge soon enough...

Anyways, the moment we crossed over into Colorado, the landscape changed instantly. The endless views of flat plains and farmland seemed to be over. No more flat, boring corn fields. Suddenly, things were hilly. Mountains could be seen in the background. Colors other than green and brown could be seen. Variety! Thank God for variety!


So excited were we with the new change in scenery, we visited Barr Lake State Park to get out and stretch our limbs. But then we saw them: More horses. We were still a little upset over what happened with the horses in Nebraska, but Rhianwen was determined to make friends with a horse before the day was out. And since we're talking about Rhianwen here, it didn't take long before she had talked her way onto the back of one of them.


After that, we took a walk around beautiful Barr Lake, where a million birds make millions of crazy noises. It was nice to see some interesting nature before heading back into an urban metropolis.






The drive into Denver after Barr Lake was a short and pleasant one. I'd always heard that Denver was like one big suburb, and it kind of is. We were on our way to staey with our good friend Alec, who's house is on a street full of yards and driveways and it feels nothing like an urban landscape. We were all starved, so we went to dinner. I drank one of my favorite beers, Fat Tire, which I've never been able to find on the East Coast, so I was happy. The food was good, and then Rhianwen made us take a photo in the bar, which was kind of embarrassing.


After that, Rhi went to visit her cousin Margaret, who recently moved to Denver and doesn't live too far from Alec. Alec and I went back to his house and watched "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." It's almost funny how bad/insane that movie is, but I still enjoyed it thoroughly nonetheless. Rhianwen came home just in time to catch the dramatic coal mining cart race at the end, and then we went to bed.

Today, we're going to go for a hike with Margaret while Alec does some work for grad school. Updates on today, tomorrow.

Road Trip Day 4 Stats
Leaving From: Lincoln, NE
Going To: Denver, CO
Google Maps Distance: 485 miles, 6 hours and 41 minutes
Actual Distance: TBD (forgot to check the mileage again), 7 hours, 45 minutes
Total Distance Driven So Far: TBD (again with the mileage)
States Visited: Nebraska, Colorado
Lessons Learned: Nebraska horses are jerks; Colorado horses are nice; Denver is a cool city.

Road Trip: Day 3

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I'm not a professional baseball player, so I don't really know what I'm talking about. But I imagine before the season starts and the season schedule is posted, even the most enthusiastic of players look at certain road stretches with complete and utter disdain. I bet nothing sends a chill down a professional athlete's spine more than the prospect of a three day stretch with a doubleheader in Kansas City. Who wants to go to Kansas City?

In the weeks leading up to our road trip, that's kind of how I felt about today's leg from Chicago to Nebraska. I knew it was going to be long, boring, grueling and I just didn't want to do it. Leaving the excitement of Chicago for rural Illinois/Iowa/Nebraska wasn't exactly appealing, which is probably why we took our sweet time leaving town.

And boy did we take a long time leaving, even though we had a nine hour drive ahead of us. And had we left in time, we might still have a high opinion of Chicagoans. Yesterday, everyone we met in Chicago was as pleasant as can be. Some guy gave us uber-detailed directions, other drivers let us in ahead of them, people let me pet their dogs... it was great.

Then, this morning, we went to Whole Foods, where apparently all the snobby, rude Chicagoans shop. A guy in an Expedition was taking up two spots, the second of which was the only spot left in the lot (which we crammed our Versa into). Some rude lady almost ran Rhi over with her shopping cart. People were just all snooty, so now we hate Chicago. Or at least just that Whole Foods.

So then we left town, and this is the view leaving the city:


Chicago is a strange place: You try to leave town, and it looks like your heading right into it. But man, what a skyline. I don't think there's any city in the country where you can get a foreboding view of the city's buildings like that.

So on we went, back into rural America. And I gotta say, I am growing more and more intrigued with the place. As Rhi slept in the passenger seat, I drove in silence taking in some of the naturally beautiful phenomenon: rows of cloud blocking out the sun in streaks and how the wind blowing tall grass looks like water. And then there's the endless man-made structures.


Buildings like these are all over the Midwest. I don't know why they're there or what they're used for. All I know is that they look like set pieces from a Fritz Lang movie, and they're kind of awesome. But eventually, seeing metal building after metal building grew tiresome, and we were in need of something new. Something exciting. Something... big.


Oh my God, does that say "World's Largest Truckstop"?!? OHMIGOD WE'RE SO EXCITED!


OHMIGOD! Iowa 80! They have everything a trucker needs, all in one stop!


If someone ever asks you what you do for a living, there probably isn't a better answer than, "I'm a truckstop dentist." But what you see on this list isn't all they have to offer. Do they have trucks you can sit in?


Why yes, they do. But what about miniature statues of howling wolves? Truckers need those all the time.


Life-size Grover replicas?


Absolutely. On the second floor, actual truckers convene to smoke cigarettes, tell dirty jokes and watch old western flicks while they wait for their laundry to dry. It was kind of strange, and I think I speak for Rhi as well when I say I felt like we absolutely did not belong there. But it was fun in a weird, I'll-never-experience-anything-like-this-again kind of way.

Re-energized from the pure good vibes that comes only from the World's Largest Truckstop, we got back on the road. We popped in an audio book of Bill Bryson's "In a Sunburned Country" and learned about Australia for a few hours straight. Later, it began raining for the first time since we left, which made driving interesting.

We hit Omaha and, well, I didn't really even notice because it was wet, dark and we were tired. We rolled into Lincoln around 10pm, and now we're at a Best Western watching TLC and eating pizza for the second night in a row. Yuck. We never want to see pizza again.

Today was a long, tiring day, but not as boring as I had previously predicted. I bet even professional baseball players are sometimes surprised at how great Kansas City is. Tomorrow we head to Denver, with a stop for a hike at Barr Lake State Park. Should be fun. Full details tomorrow night.

Road Trip: Day 3 Stats
Leaving From: Chicago, IL
Going To: Lincoln, NE
Google Maps Distance: 522 miles, 8 hours and 3 minutes
Actual Distance: TBD (forgot to check the mileage), 10 hours and 9 minutes with multiple stops
Total Distance Driven So Far: TBD (again with the mileage)
States Visited: Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska
Lessons Learned: Whole Foods is where the snooty Chicagoans hang out; Australia has a messed up history; Rhi hates pizza; Benner still loves pizza, but wouldn't mind a break from it; Truckers have their own special dentists; Grover is 3-feet tall.