a dog's life

A typical morning is like this:

Dave wakes up at 6:30a.m. And, reluctantly, so do I.

He gets up, dresses for work, walks Margot. I lounge in bed and read.

When he leaves at 7:00, I get up, make coffee, and start my work day (from home). Margot follows me.

This morning, after a few hours of power-editing, I noticed that Margot was not sunsoaking in her usual  spot below the living room window. Nor was she lounging on the couch.

No, no. She was still in bed. Fast asleep. On Dave's pillow.

Oh, my sweet little lazy girl.

 ^^^ busted! ^^^

ninja dog

Margot is never where you expect her to be.

One minute she is curled up in the corner, the next she is sprawled out on the other side of the room. We never actually witness the migration, either; you just look up and - out of nowhere - there she is. Or isn't.

Yesterday, Dave and I were busy hanging photos when I canvased the room and dog was nowhere to be found. Naturally, I panicked. How does a lazy greyhound escape from a 16th floor apartment, exactly? They don't. But, you know, I feared the (completely illogical) worst.

We checked every room in the apartment (all four of them) and nothing. No Margot. What the heck?

And then, on the couch, buried under a pile of blankets, I noticed an adorable long brown nose poking out.

No idea how she ended up there. What a goof.

P.S. This always cracks me up.  

margot

Margot is settling into her new home quite nicely. She especially loves the carpet -- she can comfortably plop her pointy little butt anywhere she likes.

It took her a few weeks, but she has finally figured out that we are here to stay.

And now I shall bombard you with photos of my dog...

I love this dog, but man, she is a dopey dope (a term I learned from my favorite high school math teacher). A few croissants short of a continental breakfast, if you know what I mean. Every afternoon, she settles in for a long nap in the sun only to wake up an hour later huffing and puffing. She begrudgingly lifts her head and looks at me like, "hey, what happened?" but she never actually moves. This dog simply does not understand that it's the sun that makes her hot. She's so clueless, we actually have to lure her away from the window with a toy or treat so she can cool off for a bit. And time after time, once she's cooled down, we find her back in the sun, napping away...

Oh, Margot.

*If you are concerned about the wellbeing of this dog, please don't fret. All greyhounds are lazy bums who sleep all day long. In fact, Margot is considered spunky for a greyhound. It's true.

nevada

nevada nothingness

Nevada, specifically Reno, was not my favorite part of this journey; I found it extremely depressing. In Reno, every other building is abandoned and boarded up. People aimlessly wander through the streets in wheelchairs and drunkenly stumble into casinos at all hours of the night. They all appear to have lost everything, and seem certain they will win it all back. Very sad.

Granted, I formed this opinion of Reno after being there for less than 24 hours. This impression is also coming from a girl who is overly-sensitive to the plight of others (I tend to assume the worst in all situations) and who hates deserts, casinos, and gambling in general. So, no offense if you love Reno; it's just not the place for me.

The good thing about Reno? We got a hotel room on the 12th floor. I cannot say that we had a stellar view (unless you deeply appreciate parking lots), but after days of small town U.S.A., it was nice to feel like we were in a city again. Even if it was the "Biggest Little City in the World." Whatever that means.

taking in the city view // reno

It also happened to be our last night before arriving in California. And thank goodness for that.

Honestly, I'm not sure how many more days of travelling we could have tolerated. Had this been a leisurely cross-country road trip (sans dog), it would have been an entirely different experience. A vacation, even. That's not to say we had a terrible time; we just wanted to do more.

For example, there were countless times I wanted to pull over to snap a photo, but there were just too many miles to cover and not enough hours in the day. Had we stopped to photograph each and every random thing I saw, we'd probably still be in Wyoming.

I did try to take photos from the car but never really mastered that skill. Since I would usually forget to roll down the window, most of my car photos, while very sharp and well-composed, have smeared bug guts in the foreground. Oops!

Also limiting us was Margot, who is prone to separation anxiety and could not be left unattended in a hotel room (and we would never leave her alone in the car). Drive-thrus are fun for about a day but at a certain point you want to just sit down in a restaurant and eat off of a non-disposable plate. That being said, I never ever want to eat fast food again for the rest of my life ever.

Same problem with Yellowstone. For very good reasons -- bears and cliffs, for example -- doggies are not allowed in most areas of the park. Because one of us always had to stay with the dog, we didn't get to see anything together and some things we didn't get to see at all. Not a big deal, we'll just have to go back :)

Sure, at times we were annoyed we couldn't leave her, but overall Margot did a great job. On day two, she concluded that we live in a car now, and the backseat was her new home. And what is her favorite thing to do at home? Nap. Oh, and nap she did.

margot napping in her backseat suite

In a lot of ways, Nevada marked the end of the road trip. It was the last state, the last hotel, the last night before we were in our new apartment, in our new city.

We loved the romance, the adventure, and the unknown of the open road. But we were both just ready to be home.

on the road

Peace out, Nevada. Hello California....

wisconsin + minnesota

Here we are about to leave my parents' house, and all things familiar, to officially begin the long drive to California:

After a lovely, and very early, breakfast at the Original Pancake House (one of my favorite Madison spots), we were off! 

Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos during the drive through Wisconsin or Minnesota. We were so busy plotting out our whole new life (and ok, getting lost) that I completely forgot about my camera until we pulled into our hotel in South Dakota. Oops! Blogger fail :(

But I can assure you, Wisconsin is a magnificently beautiful state. In fact -- and I am not biased in any way -- it is my favorite state :)

To be fair, this favoritism is a somewhat recent development. Only in the last five years or so have I come to appreciate all Wisconsin has to offer. The charm was definitely lost on me as a kid. Cows and farms, yeah, whatever. All I wanted was the city; skyscrapers and subways for this girl.

My momma, on the other hand, grew up in west Philadelphia and moved to Wisconsin in her thirties. After all these years, the quaint red barns, rolling hills, and spotted cows of the Wisconsin countryside still astound her. Whenever my mom and I would drive down a scenic country road (which, in Wisco, is rather often), she'd frantically tap my arm, point, and exclaim with such a childlike enthusiasm, 'Look, a COW!!!' Every. Single. Time.

As Dave and I drove north (or 'up nord' as the locals say) toward Minnesota, I found myself doing the exact same thing. 'Ooh, Davey, look at that cute little farm! I see a little baby cow! Aw, and there's a whole family of cows! Weeee, a hill!!'

Ultimately, I'm really glad we opted for the Wisconsin detour. It was wonderful to be home, if ever briefly. My only regret is that we did not stop for a cheese curd break or pick up a case of New Glarus Beer to enjoy upon arrival in California. Oh well, it's not like we'll never be back...

Oh yeah, and Minnesota was nice too. Crossing the Mississippi River was definitely a highlight -- the rock formations that jut out of the earth were really awesome, and such a stark contrast against the otherwise forested landscape. We were just a few weeks too early, but in the fall, I could see this little nook of the country being absolutely breathtaking.

P.S. I think it goes without saying that leaving my parents was really emotional too. I cried. A lot.
P.P.S. Thanks for lending us the GPS, guys. We probably would have ended up in Mexico without it!

logistics

... And now things get real.

How does one move cross-country, anyway? With a greyhound (Margot) and a girl who does not know how to drive (me)?

Oh yes, and then there is the apartment issue. Subleasing our place in Chicago and finding a (decent, safe, reasonably-priced one bedroom with enough room for a dog crate -- did I mention the 60lb greyhound?) apartment in San Francisco proper? Might be impossible on our timeline.

How do people DO this?

Well, thank goodness for craigslist, google maps, and wikipedia. That I can say for sure.

24 days and counting!!!