Days 26 and 27: The Home Stretch

My original plan after visiting Buffalo was to spend a night in Pittsburgh. Because I somehow managed to unintentionally book a non-refundable hotel room there, it was my destination after Charleston. I solicited some great recommendations from a college roommate who grew up there.

I abandoned my first plan to have lunch downtown due to an utter lack of available parking, and instead headed to the Duquesne Incline, a local favorite. A slow ride up the funicular was rewarded by spectacular views of the city.

I do have to admit, however, that my fear of heights kicked in more than it has in a very long time.

Safely back on solid ground, I checked in to my hotel for the night. I chose to stay in Pittsburgh's South Side neighborhood, which is centered around a main street of businesses that is about 10 blocks long. I walked to the far end and grabbed lunch at Primanti Brother's, a city favorite that specializes in amazing sandwiches.

Satisfied by my late lunch, I spent the rest of the evening wandering in and out of the shops and bars of the South Side, soaking in my last day on the road. I stopped back at my hotel to rest and debate whether I wanted to go out for dinner. It seems that I was completely exhausted, because I woke up a couple hours later, still in my winter jacket, and promptly changed into my pajamas and slept the rest of the night.

I knew snow was possible, so I left Pittsburgh fairly early in the morning. I was not remotely prepared for what I was about to drive through. There were light flurries as I left town, but then it just kept snowing harder and harder. Eventually they declared a state of emergency on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Good times.

Not really having a choice, I pushed on. I was due at my parents' house in Virginia that afternoon. More importantly, my rental car had to be returned that night.

The drive seemed to take forever, but I kept going. After passing through West Virginia for the third time on this trip, I finally crossed into Virginia.

After what felt like a day later, I pulled into my parents' driveway, turned off the car, and just sat for a minute. It was hard to believe my trip was over. I had seen so much, yet it felt like I'd just left. No matter how long vacations are, they somehow just never seem long enough.

Eventually I unloaded and cleaned out my car and took it back to the rental place, ready for the confusion as to why I was returning in a different car than I left in. Not surprisingly, I was of course charged for not filling up my broken car with gas before swapping it out -- oh, Tiffany from the Lexington airport, I'll never forget you. Thankfully they removed the fee because they had common sense, but I still had to spend about half an hour getting reimbursed for my unexpected oil change in Wyoming.

In the end, I drove a total of 7,709.5 miles through 22 states in 27 days.

This road trip was one of the best things I've ever done in my life. It's easy to forget just how beautiful our country is. Even with everything I saw in my month on the road, I barely even scratched the surface.

I can wholeheartedly say that a cross-country road trip is something that everyone should experience at least once in a lifetime.

Days 24 and 25: The Reroute

My initial plan after leaving South Bend was to cut through Michigan and Canada and spend a couple days in Buffalo, where I was born. It seems that Mother Nature was not down with that plan. Thanks to a small blizzard in Buffalo, I was forced to reroute on the fly.

My impromptu new path took me south through Indiana, with the goal of stopping in Louisville, Kentucky for the night. The drive was awful. It was raining the whole time -- not normal rain, but the kind of rain that makes it nearly impossible to see out the windshield even when your wipers are in frantic mode. I took a break to grab a gas station sandwich and snap a shot of a lovely Indiana corn field, and then I pushed on.

After a giant iced coffee and what felt like an eternity, I finally crossed into Kentucky and pulled in to my hotel for the night. I promptly took a nap after the exhausting day of driving.

Feeling somewhat rested, I ventured out into the evening and strolled through Louisville's pedestrian Fourth Street Live! area. It was still lightly raining so I didn't stay outside for long, but did stop to take in the early Christmas decorations.

Afterward I treated myself to a delicious barbecue dinner and a good night's sleep.

Having grown up watching my brother play baseball, I couldn't leave Louisville without visiting the famous Louisville Slugger factory. While I'm not usually a big fan of guided tours, I have to say it was great. Our guide was completely charming and there were only three of us in the group, so it felt very hands-on. I highly recommend a visit if you're ever in Louisville, with or without kids.

With my souvenir miniature bat in tow, I forged a path to West Virginia. After a few hours of winding roads and traffic backups, I made it to my perfectly lovely hotel in Charleston. The fresh cookies in the lobby were an unexpected bonus.

After dropping off my bags, I set out on foot to explore. It was a bit of a hike, but I made it all the way to the beautiful capitol building.

On my walk back, I stopped at Sullivan's Records, which just might be my favorite record shop on this trip. I found a number of treasures and that, combined with a tasty dinner, left me content for the evening.

In the end, I have to say that my unexpected (and, frankly, unwelcomed) detour turned out to be pretty darn enjoyable.

Days 21-24: Into the Midwest

After wrenching myself from the surprising beauty of western South Dakota, I headed east to start my trek thought the Midwest. The contrast between western and eastern South Dakota could not be more harsh. I've already gushed enough about the western side. The eastern side, on the other hand, can best be described as...flat. There's nothing bad about it, but it's not particularly exciting. And word to the wise - don't bother going out of your way to visit the world-famous Corn Palace. That was one detour that I definitely could have skipped.

After spending an uneventful night in Sioux Falls at an odd hotel that was weirdly attached to a hospital, I decided to swing south and have lunch in Omaha, largely to be able to cross Nebraska off my list. For reasons I'll discuss in a minute, I have no pictures to show of Omaha. It was, however, quite lovely. The historic Old Market district is a cute area of cobblestone streets and local businesses. If the timing had worked better, I would have much rather stayed there than in Sioux Falls. But, alas.

After a highly satisfying lunch, I headed east. I got really excited when I crossed the Missouri River, because I mistakenly had it in my head that I was finally crossing the Mississippi.

Either way, it was beautiful. Iowa was largely what I expected -- a long expanse of farmland. And lots and lots of windmills (of the industrial farming variety). Although I did also find one of the more traditional variety, in an unexpected dutch town in the middle of nowhere.

Before stopping in Des Moines for the night, I was on a mission to finally visit an Apple Store and replace my shattered phone. Should be simple enough, right? Wrong. Oh, so very wrong. Mind you, I had the choice between going to an Apple Store in Omaha or in Des Moines. I chose the Des Moines one because it was less out of the way. I chose very poorly.

The level of incompetence was staggering. I won't get into all the tortured details, but suffice it to say that they did not fix my phone, managed to entirely wipe it, including all of my pictures (hence no Omaha pictures), and then not have a replacement phone to give me. They tried to send me on my way to Chicago without a working phone at all. That was not going to happen. Finally they got my shattered phone to be minimally operational again and I left nearly in tears. Follow that with Citibank mistakenly freezing my accounts and I was more than ready to stop for the night.

Thankfully karma rewarded me with an amazing hotel room. Really it was an entire suite, complete with a kitchen, couches, fireplace, and fluffy robes. So, all in all, the wonderful Des Lux Hotel was the only good part of my visit to Des Moines.

I hightailed it out of there in the morning and headed to Chicago to meet up with some of my closest college friends for the weekend. This time I crossed back to my regular side of the Mississippi for real.

Most of Illinois was shockingly rural, and it seemed like my GPS lady took me on a country back roads route. Either way, I made it to Chicago and finally got a new phone, complete with perfectly competent customer service. I then put the whole incident behind me and enjoyed a much-needed night of laughter and wine with old friends.

The next morning we headed back to where it all began for the Notre Dame vs. Louisville game. While the outcome of the game was crappy, the day was great. We tailgated and roamed campus, reliving memories of what seems like forever ago.

The rainy weather couldn't even ruin it. Even in the rain, Notre Dame's campus is a beautiful place. Sometimes a great time with old friends is just what the soul needs.