Perhaps that’s because I spent several hours in the middle of it, struggling with a terrible wireless signal and time sensitive need to book a flight. My sweetie is flying out to meet me and help with the rest of the drive. How cool is that?
View Larger Map
The last-minute logistics have been horrible, but so far, with much persistence and lateral thinking, things are shaking out. Finding a safe place for his dog for a week was probably the most worrisome, but an online search turned up Canine Energetics.
I spoke with the owner, Sean, who struck me as extremely decent, sensible and accommodating. The facilities sounds like dog heaven. I have every faith in her ability to play well with others, and she’ll probably have as good a time as she can away from her human. 
I pushed on for an hour past dark, and realized that somehow I’m almost (not quite) a whole day ahead of myself. This means I have time to pull the car apart, make it easier to manage getting what I need, and clear the entire front seat (including the foot well) for another person. Not a trivial task!
I also have a ton of paperwork to catch up on: finding a suitable ISP, nailing down the design for the website, and filing the paperwork for registering “CRPS: Art & Spirit” as a tax-exempt nonprofit. I’ve gotten much-needed logistical help, so at this point, the next tasks are approachable. I’m grateful for all the help I get, and the help I get for this project is more important still. We’re going to have a “gratitude” page, where we can publicly thank those who will let us, for the help they give 🙂
Now, all I need is a web geek who’s reasonably up-to-date on the technology and knows how to design an accessible page. Suggestions…?
Southern Illinois was exquisite. It’s so pretty and so shapely that I can’t wait until Hollywood discovers it as a shooting spot. I knew I couldn’t do justice to the shape of the land, so I cheated: 
Somehow, at least along Interstate 70, Missouri isn’t quite as nice, and neither was Indiana. There’s definitely a difference.
Y’know, I feel a lot safer, noodling around by myself, than I did in the coastal Northeast or pretty much anywhere in California. I still keep my word to my sweetie, though: locking all the locks, no hitch-hikers, and — it still cracks me up, but I do it — be careful who I talk to. There’s so much more to human nature than what’s on the surface.
Off for Epsom bath. Incidentally, these are not a “Calgon, take me away!” kind of bath. But I think I’ll talk about that another time.