The Exodus - Day One

I started my 900 mile journey to Lincoln, Nebraska at 6 am local time today.  I did ok emotionally saying goodbye to my lover and his demons, but then lost it when I dropped into this little valley I love right before Swan Valley.  I bawled again when a cheesy song by the Indigo Girls came on my Pandora playlist, but have been dry ever since.  The most memorable part of my journey occurred at a rest stop right before the Nebraska border.  It was there that Harper Lee left her water bottle in the stall I was using, so I handed it back under the door while my bladder purged its contents into the Loo I was perched over.  I'm sure everyone will try to remind me she died recently, but I saw her with my own two peepers.  I didn't confront her because I know she values her privacy, and I am always respectful to others.

My crazy RI friend Alyssa passed her beloved bear suit to me last night so that I could do something amazing with it on my journey.  Here we are yesterday:

The three of us have a long history together, which mostly consists of one of us in the suit bothering as many people as we can.  Given that I spend most of my time sitting in outhouses in the suit, waiting for someone to open the door so I can growl, I took this pic in some random Flying J somewhere in Nebraska:

I say "somewhere" because I literally never know where I am.  My dad purchased me a fancy Garmin for my trip because he was so worried about my ability to get lost.  He called me like four times today and asked me each time where I was.  Since I had no idea, I would instead tell him how many miles I was from Lincoln, and he would tell me where he thought I was.  Within about five minutes of him telling me his estimate, the road sign telling me the location he guessed would pass.  Yes.  I truly am that bad.

Despite the fact that I ate out of my cooler and only stopped about 5 times total for gas and peeing, I didn't want Alyssa to think I wasn't giving the bear suit a good vacation.  Therefore, I did this:

And this:

And because I thought it looked even funnier from the opposite angle, I did this:

It's now getting to be close to midnight local time so it's time for bed so I can be halfway refreshed before my next leg to Erie, PA.  Since I've been on call nearly constantly for over a year, I'm going to treat myself to a sleep aid.  And in case you're wondering if I have access to the big guns since I can prescribe, the answer is yes.  What did I prescribe myself?  BENADRYL!  Nighty night!