From Beehive to Nutmeg State!

Jake and I finally made it to Connecticut!!! But the journey was... well, not quite what we were expecting. Here's a little recap:

Monday July 14th: Jami's 19th Bday! We packed all morning, then got an email from Pratt reminding us that our drug test was due, we had to stop in the middle of our mess and hurry to take our test before they closed (luckily Jake checked his email!) We spent time with both of our families and had a real meal (our only meal that day)

Tuesday July 15th: We left in the morning... it was sad to say goodbye to Utah. We made great time cruisin on I-80 East, we switched drivers at every gas stop (about 200 miles). We had a fun time reading articles, playing 20 ?s and singing to the radio. A storm his and blew us around a bit while Jake was driving. Then when I sat behind the wheel (I'm sure it looked funny to have polly pocket driving a 16' truck) we drove right into a quite frightening lightening storm! When the rain started pouring the driver side wiper motor quit and left me without good visibility! Jake had to coach me through the storm until we could stop. We drove 900 miles that day.

Wednesday July 16th: We woke up in our cheap hotel room to discover mold mushrooms growing in window frame! I couldn't sleep cause my stomach hurt so dang bad! We got on the road and Jake started feeling sick too! We took turns driving through our misery.. while I was driving Jake even threw up!!! We pulled over and left a present for the lawn mowers! eww! We stopped at a rest area and fell asleep on a picnic table for an hour, it was then we decided there was no point in killing ourselves to get to CT, so we stopped at a brand new Hampton Inn and slept for 16 hours!!! (thanks Benadryl) We only went 400 miles that day.

Thursday July 17th: In the morning I felt tons better so I drove most of the day while Jake slept. We got a late start, and by the time we decided to pull over for the night we were in the middle of no where Pennsylvania! We stayed at another junky hotel (even after swearing them off two nights ago). Our "non smoking" room was thick with tobacco smoke - just great for two little allergy freaks! We talked to my family, turns out they all have the flu too! We drove a total of 600 miles.

Friday July 18th: The tobacco smoke room was a little too much for my little body - I was so dang sick today! I took more Benadryl just to keep from hurling everywhere. Jake drove the rest of the 400 miles into the Hartford area. We were able to get a room at eh Residence Inn (thanks Marriott!) and got a brand new 2008 Ford Focus rental car. We went to the Olive Garden for our first real meal since Monday night! We were full before our entrees even came! We are relaxing tonight before we head our tomorrow searching for a place to live, a car, cell phones, a new bank.... etc! We're not stressed about finding a place ASAP - but it will be difficult to dig our birth certificates out of the truck without unloading it before work Monday morning!

Even though it sounds terrible, there were some blessings along the way:
- I saw fire flies for the first time
- We were usually sick at opposite times so we could continue driving
- We arrived safely with no harm or accident
- It didn't after our wipers died
- Even though the gas cap was busted and rusted off, the inside part still worked (so we didn't leak gas everywhere)
- My skin is so soft out here! And I can't believe how silky my hair feels!
- We've never seen so many gorgeous trees naturally growing before
- Our food was delicious at the Olive Garden