We’ve been on the road since Saturday evening when my father-in-law, former Pastor Juan Quiroz packed our bags, kissed/hugged our wife’s & kids goodbye, made one last prayer and departed The Dalles, Oregon. After trekking through eastern Oregon and Idaho we finally stopped for some shuteye in Utah. It was early in the morning so we passed on the fancy hotel and rested for a few hours next to some CATs and gas station. The snow capped mountains that lined the interstate were beautiful and the air was crisp. The next morning we hauled through mountainous Wyoming. The roads seemed to turn to fog at times due to the fast blowing snow along the edge of the road. Aside from the hundreds of deers eating along the side of the road and along the landscape was the hundreds of oil drill pumps–as well as in eastern Nebraska. My suegro called them snowbreakers (rompe nieves) to prevent accumalation of snow on the interstate, the wooden gates dotted the side of the Wyoming and eastern Nebraska roads. We made a few stops in Wyoming thanks to Foursquare, but the one stop that caught me off guard was a “Do Not Drink the Water” sign in one of the bathrooms. Not that I would drink from their faucet, but interesting enough.

Our first real night was in Lexington, Nebraska at a Holiday Express. Really nice rooms, blazing fast internet and awesome continental bfast. I set up our iMac and MacBook, and workshifted on BilingualHire payroll and the next morning w/ a client. When not driving I’d check Foursquare, Twitter, and Facebook for the curated news of the day. I made the mistake of not checking Foursquare in Wyoming I would have saw an IHOP w/ free wi-fi instead we bfast at Village Inn that didn’t have it but were working on it. Nebraska seemed a long drive, but what was impressive was the amount of farmland that landscaped for hundreds of miles. Iowa was as well, but differed in the hundreds of state of the art windturbines that took advantage of the incoming wind gust. I could’t make out if they were made in America but left me curious anyhow. While we wanted to stop for a nice Omaha steak in Nebraska we settled for King Kongs in Lincoln. Their gyros were to die for. Not certain how they prepare their steaks but they were the most tender, non-greasiest and friendliest to chow. My suegro thought the same.

We passed through Des Moines, Iowa, and just south of Chicago, Illinois but mostly amazed at the countryland. While I drove, my suegro chatted w/ church leaders in the area–who tried to convince him to drive up to Minnesota and even Oklahoma. Apparently our friends church roof in Oklahoma caved in due to heavy snow and they invited us down there. Evangelical church leader aside, they knew my suegro is a carpenter and builder which is a huge asset in these situations. His plan, schedule dependent, is to fly down there after Maryland/Delaware.

The first time in a long time of actually picking up an actual newspaper came after our second night, this time at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Crawfordsville, Indiana. The USA Today’s front story: General: Taliban ‘beaten’ by surge. The night before when we were checking in the gentlemen asked for my zipcode. “19901” I told him. “Dover.. In the military?” he responded. He knew the area well having grown up and worked in sales all along the east coast. He thanked me for my service and told us he’d put a prayer in, and wished us a continuing safe trip.

The moment we pulled into Ohio, I called the JPED First Sergeant. He’s an Ohio country boy as he used to tell us. He also tells us its roughly 11+ hours to Aberdeen Proving Ground from Columbus, Ohio, give or take. He tells me the commander is looking forward to our arrival.

My suegro tells me he too is going to write about this trip for Encende La Antorcha, a Morelos-based publication for his church members. I’ll guest post it here when ready.

Cheers from Ohio, and sending a big kiss & hug to my loves, Edith, Maya, Paloma & Citlalli.

Update: 9:48 PM Eastern: Safely arrived at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

Originally posted on Posterous