It was no big deal to leave at 5:30pm Monday instead of that morning, or earlier that afternoon -- gave Christa more time to tie up the loose ends of moving from Ann Arbor after 5 years there and gave me more time to play 3D Tetris with the trunk and back seat of the car. (I'm still disappointed she wouldn't let me build to the ceiling of the car's interior -- I promised a tunnel for both the rear view mirror and the blind spot on the driver's side!)

The only negative was that we hit a freezing-rain-blizzard situation that provided more than a few moments of white-out in western Michigan. We got as far as Chicago and stayed in the inimitable Hynes-Berry household of Hyde Park. And it was there, un-racking both of Christa's bikes that we saw the ice that shellacked them, literally freezing their wheels in place.


Tuesday we drove as far as Lexington Nebraska, a city I'll ask Christa to guest-blog about tomorrow. What stands out in my memory from the drive is our dinner stop in Omaha, where this remarkable hall of mirrors leads to the basement bathrooms, complete with a Garden of Eden cutout mural you can examine by clicking on this photo for greater detail.


Christa is stylish, to be sure, but on her own terms. And occasionally her practicality trumps any other potential concerns. Witness this shot taken at highway speed (or, since Christa was driving, 5-7 mph below highway speed) of her with my sunglasses atop her own spectacles. (Among the potential concerns trumped by her practicality is apparently the ocular well-being of her wingman.)


We've had a lovely time so far, are reading What Is The What by Dave Eggers, and will try to post again tomorrow.