I think I killed a thing

Darn - I was hoping to make it through this whole roadtrip without running anything down, but tonight on the way through South Dakota a crazy bird flew out into the road and couldn't get out of my way fast enough. It hit the windshield like a rock (no damage, at least..) and then went who-knows-where. I feel kind of bad, but I tried to swerve around it (as much as I could at the last minute going 80mph) but it really just flew right out in front of me to get something in the road and then couldn't manage to get out of the way in time. Dear bird: SORRY! :(

Anyway, at the beginning of this trip, I was really freaked out by all the birds dive-bombing the highway. I'd try to avoid them by hitting the brakes or turning a little bit, but they always ended up flying off at the last minute, so I just got used to ignoring them and going on my merry way. Apparently this bird was a little bit retarded, or something. Am I a bad person for thinking that the highway birdy gene pool collectively just got a little smarter? I'm no bird, but I look both ways for traffic when retrieving a tasty morsel from the middle of the highway.

Also, speaking of crazy wildlife, did I mention that South Dakota has turtles crossing the highway ALL OVER THE PLACE? Holy cow, they're cute. But some of them are also tragically squished. I saw a great one this evening going as fast as he could (quite slow) with his neck out, trying to get across the left lane. Go, little turtle, go!

I'm actually surprised that we made it through Wisconsin without hitting anything - we got a little off-track after deciding to ignore the GPS, and ended up driving along county road HH and 1D and K and some others. Basically 55 mph back roads, which are FUN but also had deer and racoons around every bend. I had to slam on the brakes for 2 separate racoons (they apparently freeze and stare straight at your headlights when you're about to hit them. Then they wait a good 5 minutes and scamper off into the underbrush - delayed reaction will clearly be the death of them.) and there were lots of deer wandering around on the side of the roads as well.

There was lots of flooding in souther Wisconsin as well - people's houses and cars were completely surrounded by water, but at least they built the houses on a somewhat raised bit of ground. Otherwise the whole thing would be under water.

Hitting the road on June 21st

We'll be heading to Cleveland on Saturday by way of Niagara Falls. That should be quite a sight! It will be a long day and we'll be rolling into Cleveland around midnight, but it will make the rest of the trip seem like a breeze! It will be nice to stop at Niagara Falls as well - I've never been!

Today we went on a mini roadtrip with my sister, to see the Edward Gorey House in Yarmouth Port, MA. It was pretty cool! Well worth the 3-hour drive (each way...)

At the beach

Woo! We're here! Today's drive was quite short, but filled with crazy drivers from Massachusetts going 95 mph. Once we got to Maine, everyone chilled out.

We're staying in a nice house near the beach - as soon as we got here, I could smell the ocean and the pine trees, which totally reminds me of my childhood. (I grew up here and spent a lot of time at the beach as a kid.)

We brought my filthy car to a car wash this afternoon and got some groceries so we can make breakfast tomorrow. I resorted to one of those automatic car washes even though I detest them - I'm a microfiber mitt and bucket of very soapy water kind of gal usually, but I didn't bring my car cleaning stuff with me and I figure going through an automatic car wash once in a while won't destine me for swirlmark city... hopefully.

Old Orchard Beach is C-R-A-Z-Y in the summer; on the way to Shop N Save we were stopped at a 4-way intersection as about 50 Corvettes with a police escort drove by. I haven't seen any MINIs around here, though. LOTS of tourists speaking a lot of French, though. The highway signs are all in miles and km, and all the machines around here (ATM's, etc.) have English, French, and Spanish options. On the west coast it's pretty much just English/Spanish.

Now we're going to chill out and have dinner with my parents! Yum... I vote for clams or lobsters.