So, this weekend was somewhat eventful for the PIPM camp. On Saturday, R was offered a good amount of money to deliver a boat up to the southeastern side of Chicago for his brother-in-law who had sold it on ebay. Since we had no labor day plans, we packed up and headed north with Miss P in tow (lampshade and all). Let me say that I love visiting Chicago, NYC, etc. but I have never actually driven to these places and had to experience the desolate corn-filled areas that you have to drive through to get there!!
We started out going through Arkansas, which is fine because we'd been through Arkansas before. Once we hit Illinois .... man, is that a LONG state! I would be fine if I never had to see another corn field again. Where are the signs for pecan logs or boiled peanuts? Where are the signs for asian spas and Cracker Barrells?!
I think Illinois may have been the most boring drive of my life. And to top it off -- at about 12 am on Saturday night I am frantically searching on my iphone (with slow data and no 3g) for a hotel in one of the few cities outside of Champaign, Il. I call, call, call, ..."no vacancies" .... excuse me?!?! Why in the world would hotels in Mattoon, Illinois be sold out! So finally we drive an extra HOUR to get to Champaign at 1 am only to have to sneak Miss P in my large LL Bean bag because NO HOTELS are pet friendly. Did I mention she was wearing her lampshade (imagine the difficultly here). And have I mentioned before that Miss P HATES being stuffed in bags (this completely crushes my hope for getting her in the LV dog carrier). So imagine her trying with all of her might to get out of the bag while I was literally running up the stairs. By the time we get in our room it is 1:30 am and Miss P thinks she has to bark at everything she hears. Finally we all fall asleep only to wake up at 7 am and keep trucking (I mean, we can't even enjoy the complimentary hot eggs at Drury Inn because of Miss P).
We arrive at the house around 1 pm, drop off the boat, and get the HELL out of there. People are just not as friendly up north. The people that got the boat said maybe two words to us ... max. I don't think we've ever driven so fast to get back to Memphis, which still took forever. People just don't realize how far south Memphis is in Tennessee. We border Mississippi and Arkansas. It took us TEN hours to get home. So finally, we are all back in the south and loving it.
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5 comments:
I completely agree with you about the strangeness of "up North". The people just are strange and unfriendly, the signs are weird...ugh, the list goes on and on.
Needless to say, it's lovely to be in the South :)
Hahaha! You don't really notice those neon "pecan log" signs until they aren't there anymore!
I totally agree with you. We moved to St. Louis last month (my husband is active duty military as was re-assigned to Scott AFB in Illinois). I hate it here. Everyone is so rude and it's impossible for me to find a job because of the military background. Everyone thinks we are going to pack up and leave in four years...which is exactly right if not sooner! I miss the South! :)
OH Miss PIPM, TP totally feels your angst!
When moving back to the Great Midwest from Oregon we had to sneak our giant Schnauzer into hotel rooms. All 100lbs+ of him.
TP furry family member also feels the lampshade pain, as she has to wear it almost everytime we leave the house to keep her from chewing her feet because of her allergies. It is *so* pathetic.
The Princess Consort calls it a satellite dish instead of a lampshade and is always asking her what movies she can tune in. Have you ever seen an english Bulldog in one of those? It's tragic.
Grins,
tp
oh, there's nothing wong with the midwest ladies! just like the south it all depends on where you are! although, us yankees in the north envy your winter weather, while we are all piled up in snow dirnking our pop! ha! ha! i went to boarding school in the south and everyone would always talk about me when i used "pop" and alway referred to me as a "yankee" - too funny!
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