Road Trip!

This weekend was my cousin Meg's wedding. It was in Carbondale, about 4 1/2 hours from home. So, I geared myself up for a road trip. I enjoy driving and don't mind road trips. But, I'll admit, I prefer to have company. Around hour 3, I got pretty bored. So I cranked up some tunes for a little while before resuming my book on tape. I've found I don't mind a good book on tape for a long trip. Although my mind wanders enough that I tend to grab books that I have read before. This trip, I listened to The Negotiator. A book I've read a good 15 times before. To pass the time, I also took pictures for documentation. Not the ideal, taking pictures while you are driving, but when you're by yourself, who else is going to take them? :)

I have lived in Georgia, Texas, and Illinois. Very different landscapes in these three states. I often say that Illinois is my third choice of the three. But today I was reminded of why I love Illinois. I enjoy visiting mountains and oceans. But I would feel very claustrophobic in the mountains full time and simply wouldn't want to live by the ocean (I don't have a reason, really, but I know it is not something I would want). But the vastness of Texas and Illinois, while different, stir something within me. I love being able to see forever. It just makes me feel peaceful. And balanced. That probably doesn't make sense to anyone else, but it does to me. While I was driving to the wedding, I marvelled at that open country. Some views literally brought tears to my eyes (maybe I was just gearing up for the sentimentality of a wedding) and definitely put a big grin on my face. And made me feel peace. Sorry...I got lost in the thought again. You'll just have to take my word for it.

I love the wind farms.  They are big and bold and stir that peace in me again.  Somehow they always calm me.

It rained for the first part of my trip.  On and off sprinkles.  Nothing major.  But I liked this picture because I knew it was supposed to be sunny at the wedding and I could see the end of the rain in sight toward the horizon.

The above picture starts a new adventure for me.  For the first 2 hours of my trip, I was travelling roads I had already been on.  But this road...new ground for me.  I thought the second half of my trip was going to be all two-lane roads.  And I'll admit, I wasn't looking forward to it.  But, it turns out I was only on this road for 25 miles and then I was on a couple different highways the rest of the way. 

A meadow of rolling green...Okay, so it isn't a meadow, but it was pretty and green.  And again brought that peaceful smile to my face.

The blind faith in a GPS brought me to my destination!  Actually, I also had an atlas (the real deal, folks!)  because I like to see the bigger picture.  So, I pulled it out a couple of times just to see what that GPS was up to.