Early two Fridays ago we bid a few friends and family farewell and started the long drive from Minnesota to Ohio. It should have taken 10.5-11 hours to get there, but ended up taking over 13…
The Route
We plugged our new address into the GPS and hit the road. It’s just over 700 miles and most of the drive is on freeways. We were stocked with water, coffee, snacks and lots of change for all the tolls.
Leaving Minnesota
My failed attempt at catching the “Thanks for Visiting Minnesota” sign as we crossed over into Wisconsin. Maybe it was because we didn’t have a huge moving truck or trailer with us, but it felt like we were just going on vacation.
Wisconsin
Other than seeing cops every 10 miles, our drive through Wisconsin was pretty uneventful. When we stopped I was tempted to buy some cheese curds but thought better. I dialed into a work call and Sophie snoozed in the backseat.
Illinois & Chicago
We didn’t even get into Chicago and we hit a dead stop. It was too late to take another route, so while I was on another work call Nolan was whispering some choice words. We looked on the Waze traffic app and saw what was causing the slow down; there was construction AND a broke down semi (not ours) ahead. It took us about an hour to go 1.5 miles.
Indiana
After getting past Chicago and through the rest of Illinois, we were happy to get into Indiana. No offense to any Hoosiers, but I see why it’s a fly-over state.
Sophie
Throughout the entire ride from Minnesota to Ohio, Sophie was a champ! She loves car rides and after short breaks she’d always happily hop right back into the car.
Nolan and I were in a haze when we finally rolled into our driveway, but Sophie was wide awake and ready to explore her new house.
Our stuff was being delivered the next day, so we slept in the master bedroom closet. It’s the only place, not including the basement, that has carpet. After over 13 hours on the road we all slept like babies/puppies. Next time we make the drive home we might take the slightly longer route around Chicago…
