The Ullrichs drive to VA.

We're finally here! We left Manteno, IL at about 10am on Friday with the Echo (aka the marshmallow) completely crammed with some of the most important things we think we might need for the next two months in my case, and four in AJ's. We drove across Indiana and Ohio for about a bazillion hours. Not much to report there. I tried really hard to keep AJ company for awhile, but then my stiffness and sleepiness won over my guilt so I fell asleep for a little while. We listened to The Heavenly Man on AJ's iPod, which I'm really enjoying. It's perfect for a road trip. I usually keep asking to listen to it, and then AJ tells me not to listen to it all so quickly. We're different.


The drive really started to get interesting when we got to West Virginia. It truly is wild and wonderful, as it says on all their license plates. The mountains are gorgeous and there's hardly any towns there from what we could see, which made me really want to just take a random exit and see what tiny towns we could find. The drive got even prettier when the sun started to set and the mist came down among the mountains. So beautiful. I loved it and wish I could remember that forever. We stopped at a cheap hotel in Beckley at 9:30pm, which is good because we were getting a little delirious.

The drive to Virginia was just as pretty. We even stopped at a scenic overlook just because, and I'm glad we did. AJ was hard at work buying a car for me pretty much the entire time. I was okay that, but all that negotiating started to drive me crazy. Again, that's how we're different. Still proud of my husband for working so hard to make sure he was getting me the best car he could. He went in to sign the paperwork as soon as we got to our hotel in Hopewell. We don't waste any time.

So we've been in Hopewell, VA (right outside Fort Lee) since late this afternoon. We had dinner at a weird sushi place that wasn't our favorite, but not bad either. AJ thought historic downtown Petersburg was really sketchy, and after having driven around looking for a Target and Best Buy tonight, I agree. We are in a pretty sketchy area it seems, which makes me really thankful that we're getting me a GPS. The area is kind of run down and poor, and we've counted 3 adult video stores in our immediate vicinity. And apparently it's not conceal and carry here, just carry, from what I saw in Best Buy. But there's a Korean restaurant with karaoke! ;) Like everyone's been telling me for months now, it's an adventure. This is where the Army lives, and so now it's our home for awhile. Now we're kicking back with some Mike's hard lemonade and tv. AJ doesn't need to report till around three tomorrow, so we're grateful for the time to relax.