I feel like my head is still spinning from the last week. I traversed seven states in 35 hours by car and then flew 1800 miles back to Portland just 4 days later, arriving late last night.

Getting out of Oregon was slightly more chaotic than I would have liked.. My rental car fell through last minute and I found myself in tears on the phone with another company, only to be told that all of their cars were booked that day. This left me with no other option than to pack up my Toyota Corolla that originally got me out to Portland 5 years ago. I found myself feeling extremely grateful that I have a step-father that taught me basic car knowledge; checking tire pressure, oil, and other fluids since my last tune up was a few months ago. Carol (my car) was in good enough shape to hit the road so I got to work loading her up on a lovely 97 degree day here in Portland.

To add to the stress, I was still being hounded by Craigslisters and others that wanted to purchase furniture that I had listed earlier that week. So here I am lugging a 75lb desk out my door into a woman’s car, just minutes before I was ready to hit the road. I earned a mere $20 that would help pay for one of the several tanks of gas needed for the trip ahead. After a tearful goodbye with my roommate and loading Punk up into the car, I was finally able to get on the road 3 hours past my original leave time.

I drove through two thirds of Oregon, seeing areas that I had yet to explore, then Washington, watched the sunset just as I was entering Montana and watched it rise again as I was leaving Hardin, MT, marking the halfway point of my trip. I power napped for about 40 minutes in my car in a McDonald’s parking lot (the only thing that place is good for!), and continued to push through to Wyoming and South Dakota – where a minor car issue was quickly resolved thanks to my Chuck Taylor shoelace, before finally arriving in Iowa at about 1:30am Saturday.

Let me tell you.. nothing tests your mental and physical endurance better than hauling ass across the country with no sleep in a car lacking control.

On Sunday I saw my house for the first time and signed the lease. It’s.. PERFECT. Everything I’ve been wanting for the past few years and then some.

Tucked back on 2 acres of land that includes a large fenced in garden area, another fenced in area perfect for goats or little piggies, a chicken coop, a private pond complete with a sweet and friendly duck, and a small vineyard. You guys.. a freaking vineyard! The house itself is an old barn that a gentleman revamped into a rather interesting space. I can’t even really begin to describe it so I’ll be doing a house tour that I’ll share on the blog very soon.

Some quality time with friends and my parents, a few thunderstorms, and country sunsets quickly reminded me of what I miss and how beautiful Iowa can be.. when you’re not angry all the time! 😉 I’m looking forward to exploring it with a fresh perspective and renewed sense of self.

So what do you guys think? Can you picture me as a gardening, chicken raising, shot gun toting country girl? Haha it’s definitely going to be a wild ride and I can’t wait to share every bit of it with you!