Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Dear Ellie,

I left a little under a day ago and I miss you and Chico.

It scares me that I'm already forgetting little things like the taste of Burger Hut milkshakes (chocolate and Heath Bar!), how the wind smells there, the feeling of plastic chairs in my classes and riding my bike with no hands.

Now I'm passing road signs - Los Angeles, 299 miles.

Let me just say that this drive is in no way similar to a road trip, though. We're rushing down California on the I-5 with a mattress, box spring and bike strapped precariously into the bed of the Avalanche. The tailgate's down because the mattress is too long and it's a rule of mine not to trust things hanging out the back of trucks.

We can't see through the windshield behind us because my entire life is piled from the floor to the roof of the cab, and opening the back doors is out of the question if you don't want to be cleaning up broken dishes, suitcases of clothes or heaps of haphazardly piled apartment decor.

O'Malley hasn't stopped meowing and he just now settled into my mom's lap. There's cat hair EVERYWHERE. Imagine that.

Oh, and my mom's driving "so I can sleep." I'm so stressed out by the whole situation that that's a little difficult to do. I cringe with every bump in the uneven highway we hit.

Well, it's five more hours of rolling golden hills from here. Then two weeks in LA and a plane flight to Japan. Summer has officially begun.

Love,
Lauren