It wound't be a trip if we didn't have to hurdle a few obstacles along the way to Baltimore, Maryland. Everything was going smoothly until we got to Illinois. We noticed one of our back tires on our Prius was wearing down. So what do I do, I google the closest Walmart. Turns out, we took the wrong turn to that particular Dixon, IL Walmart. We ended up going to a town called Princeton, IL. They had BEATIFUL houses there in Princeton. It made it so worth the detour. Every farm that I saw was perfectly clean cut. It was pretty amazing to see. Found a Walmart luckily in Princeton. However, they were just closing up. The kind gentlemen then aired up our tire enough to get us to Chicago. It was in Chicago it all went down hill.
Our goal that Tuesday evening was to make it to Cleveland, Ohio. We have family living there and was going to stay with them. There was unfortunately a horrible semi accident which caused a HUGE hold up in Chicago's traffic. We ended up going 6 mph at the most for at least an hour!!! It was horrible and long evening. We ended up finding a place to stay right on the edge of Indiana. We were getting a little iffy on how long the tire was going to last us. Needless to say, we got up Wednesday morning to load back up the car and the left back tire was flat flat. Like really bad flat. :/ Luckily, my Dad had a compressor in the car and was able to air it up enough to get us to a Walmart. We made it to a Walmart and they recommended we change all 4 tires. This then was going to take them up to an hour and half. However, there was a HUGE (no joke) Cabelas next to the Walmart. It was the nicest Cabelas I have ever stepped foot into. It was very fun to look around at all of the different stuff. I ended up buying myself a blow up pillow and it will roll up in a little bag and it is the size of my hand. SO COOL!
The car was then fixed and running like a champ. Oh yes and all of this time we were driving and messing around it had been raining non stop!! We ended up taking a detour again unexpected. This one was a little more intense then the one to find a Walmart. We ended up going north towards Detroit, Michigan. My Dad's exact words were, "Where are we?" I ask my phone where we were and it says a little town in Michigan. We were like greeaat we are trying to go to Cleveland, Ohio. So we got back on track and were then heading towards Ohio. I ended up taking the wheel for a while to give my Dad a break from driving. Still raining non stop! I did notice though that the trees were so incredibly tall. I needed to take a quick pit stop and I have found that over here they have all these plazas for pit stops to make along the interstate. This was the perfect one to stop at because I was able to go to Starbucks and get me a Cinnamon Dolce Latte. Yum! Day was then made!! Now we were then enjoying some time in Cleveland, Ohio. Thank goodness for Lilly (my Mom's phone's GPS) and Lu Lu (my phone's GPS) Yes I know we name our GPS's. It makes it that much easier to yell at them. We also have found a total of 30 states in the license state game. Lastly, I was the champion of the letter game in the car. Oh yes and we have probably spent close to $25.00 on all the tolls we have had to pay. I hate those dumb things. They take up time and cost a lot. Glad we don't have those in Nebraska.
So many people have asked me if I have named my bike yet annnnd I finally agreed to a name. Vivace!! It is an Italian music term meaning "lively" and "fast." I mostly like it because it is pretty fun to say. Finally arrived to Baltimore, Maryland around 6:00 on Thursday. Tomorrow we have a breakfast with my Portland team and families. Then following we have day one of Training Day.
Stay tune for more of me and Vivace's journey across the United States. This has all been before the biking even begins.
That's all for now folks.
Blog #3 .. Peace!!
~Halle Stephens
Our goal that Tuesday evening was to make it to Cleveland, Ohio. We have family living there and was going to stay with them. There was unfortunately a horrible semi accident which caused a HUGE hold up in Chicago's traffic. We ended up going 6 mph at the most for at least an hour!!! It was horrible and long evening. We ended up finding a place to stay right on the edge of Indiana. We were getting a little iffy on how long the tire was going to last us. Needless to say, we got up Wednesday morning to load back up the car and the left back tire was flat flat. Like really bad flat. :/ Luckily, my Dad had a compressor in the car and was able to air it up enough to get us to a Walmart. We made it to a Walmart and they recommended we change all 4 tires. This then was going to take them up to an hour and half. However, there was a HUGE (no joke) Cabelas next to the Walmart. It was the nicest Cabelas I have ever stepped foot into. It was very fun to look around at all of the different stuff. I ended up buying myself a blow up pillow and it will roll up in a little bag and it is the size of my hand. SO COOL!
The car was then fixed and running like a champ. Oh yes and all of this time we were driving and messing around it had been raining non stop!! We ended up taking a detour again unexpected. This one was a little more intense then the one to find a Walmart. We ended up going north towards Detroit, Michigan. My Dad's exact words were, "Where are we?" I ask my phone where we were and it says a little town in Michigan. We were like greeaat we are trying to go to Cleveland, Ohio. So we got back on track and were then heading towards Ohio. I ended up taking the wheel for a while to give my Dad a break from driving. Still raining non stop! I did notice though that the trees were so incredibly tall. I needed to take a quick pit stop and I have found that over here they have all these plazas for pit stops to make along the interstate. This was the perfect one to stop at because I was able to go to Starbucks and get me a Cinnamon Dolce Latte. Yum! Day was then made!! Now we were then enjoying some time in Cleveland, Ohio. Thank goodness for Lilly (my Mom's phone's GPS) and Lu Lu (my phone's GPS) Yes I know we name our GPS's. It makes it that much easier to yell at them. We also have found a total of 30 states in the license state game. Lastly, I was the champion of the letter game in the car. Oh yes and we have probably spent close to $25.00 on all the tolls we have had to pay. I hate those dumb things. They take up time and cost a lot. Glad we don't have those in Nebraska.
So many people have asked me if I have named my bike yet annnnd I finally agreed to a name. Vivace!! It is an Italian music term meaning "lively" and "fast." I mostly like it because it is pretty fun to say. Finally arrived to Baltimore, Maryland around 6:00 on Thursday. Tomorrow we have a breakfast with my Portland team and families. Then following we have day one of Training Day.
Stay tune for more of me and Vivace's journey across the United States. This has all been before the biking even begins.
That's all for now folks.
Blog #3 .. Peace!!
~Halle Stephens