Day 1: Goodbye, Charlottesville.

Some of you asked if I'd be blogging about my move/road-trip from Charlottesville to Portland [Oregon]. I had considered it, but the multiple inquiries definitely set this in stone -- I pledge my commitment to consistent blogging (God, I hate that word)! So here we go. Pay attention, 'cause I tend not to be very personal here, but I reckon that's all these next few entries will be.

Let me back up a second by saying this past month has been crazy. SEE-ARE-AY-ZEE-WHY, crazy. And the last few days, in addition to being particularly stressful, have been downright sad to boot. It's all some weird joke that as my Charlottesville life was beginning to be just so -- a wonderful relationship and friends I love -- the thing that I've been trying to do for the past 4 years finally firmed-up. I guess the good news is that what's best about C'ville will always be with me. Not face-to-face, but that's nothing an IM, phone call or plane ticket can't fix.

All that is to say I had that stomach-lurching omg wtf am I doing moment last night. And again this morning. No doubt exacerbated by good-byes to the 2 most important people in my life, but still there. When I step-back, though, I am very excited about what's going on here: I'm completely changing the direction my life is taking! Not to pat myself on the back too much, but I think I'm earning some pretty significant cahones over here.

But let's get on with the details.

I locked-up the apartment and was in my car pointed west at 7:44 this morning. Pretty usual stuff as drives go.

1. 12 hours is long, but not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. I made it to St. Louis! I planned a leisurely trip, so I thought I'd stop near Louisville, Kentucky. It was so smooth-sailing by then it seemed silly to call it a day.

2. Speaking of, Louisville looks like a pretty interesting city. I'm sad I've never been.

3. I barely drove my car in C'ville, and mostly in town, so I had no idea that it gets substantially better highway fuel economy than I had thought: I had already put 51 miles on my tank in-town, resulting in an additional 237 miles on the remaining 9 gallons. When I filled it up again? I got 333 miles out of 9.5 gallons. That's 35mpg, folks! (Yeah, I know: that's a pretty standard difference, but welcomed discovery.)

4. I have almost driven I-64 in its entirety. It begins at the coast and ends in St. Louis, but I hopped off a little early to get on I-70 for the next leg of the trip.

5. Books on tape: verdict is still out. I wish the narrators didn't try to make up a voice for every character. Am I weird?

6. Radiolab is still my favorite radio show/podcast. Jad and Robert: more episodes, please!

7. Holly is a pretty rad car-mate:

8. Heather makes kick-ass chocolate chip muffins and trail mix.

So, I blazed through almost 2 full tanks of gas today driving a healthy 766 miles. I had budgeted 5 days to get to Portland, but if I keep this up, 4 days is definitely doable (It's 2,801 miles from Charlottesville to PDX).

For those of y'all following along, I have more pics, and plan to post them daily here.

I'll call it a night now as I am rather tired. Time to curl up with Holly and the second disc of House, M.D., third season, in this lovely *a'hem* Motel 6.