***I will give you 6 posts....2 for each leg of the journey. What happened, and then what really happened :), this is Leg 1****

Leg 1: Oh what a day. Out the door and in the car long before the sun had risen. 725 miles lay ahead. Gas tank full, caffeine assortment assembled. Car packed tight, and in the twilight (those vampire books have ruined that word), I filled my photographic memory with the last sights of the monuments, the memorials, the Capitol, the streets, the homes. Almost on autopilot as I left my home of 5 1/2 years. 395 to Gw then 495 to 270 to 76 to I-80 and then a few minutes in the rat maze of Chicago before parking for the night, devouring the best italian food I have ever had, and drifting off into a snoring, drooling, exhausted slumber. Leg 1 of 3 was done. 

Leg 1 WRH (what really happened): I didn't like leg one. Well I did, roadtrips and laughter with my mom are always amazing, but...I was leaving my life of almost 6 years. The night before I was expecting a proper send off from the people who's 3 children I had raised. A lovely Christmas gift, maybe a thank you bonus, a teary goodbye. That didn't happen. I need to stop watching rom-coms :) So I left my life in the nations Capitol with a lack luster goodbye, I drove through the city where I most recently fell in love and subsequently had my heart hurt badly {and by a doctor, aren't they suppose to heal people? It just seems ironic}, I found out my first house was ruined because my ex was as irresponsible with the property as he was us, and I finished it all off by spending the night being blinded by my new aunt's bling {that wasn't actually bad, I really liked that part} and hearing the details of their love and the proposal  {I love, love! and it really was a wonderful story, and she really is his Juliet....only they will live happily ever after}.

We laughed till we cried, we let our cruel streak flow freely.