Day two. Ione and Carson City

Woke up at 7 ish. There was no coffee maker or microwave in our room so I had to make my instant coffee with hot tap water. This is as terrible as its sounds. My auto correct just changed "hot" to HIV which is much worse.
Went out to the porch over looking the street to smoke. From there you had a perfect view of all the town's exciting goings on. Pretty much nothing. The post office however was a hot bed of activity all night long.
Wrote up my first blog post. Henry finally came out and yelled at me for sitting in the sun. Chuck and Amanda staggered out eventually too after a hard night of playing pool and getting eyeballed by the locals.
We decided to have breakfast.
The coffee shop across the street had a breakfast buffet. I can never pass up breakfast buffet. Everyone was amazed that I liked the jalapeño quiche. Because I hate everything.
Amanda pointed out the faygo display.



I texted this picture to Erin and she said her Henry SMILED when she showed it to him. Everything I do makes her Henry say "Andrea!" Like pee wee says "Francis!!" So this was a highlight of my day.
After breakfast we said our goodbyes to Chuck and Amanda.
Packed up all our crap for the drive to Carson City.
Our intent for the road trip was to maybe get to Roswell. Henry wanted to avoid Arizona because apparently they hate Mexicans there. After staring at Utah on the map for hours, we realized there was no way to make it to Roswell and back home without a few days of hard driving. So that plan was tossed and we decided to take a whatever approach to where we ended up.
Just barely out of Ione, I saw this supermarket in a town called pokerville.



I made Henry stop because surely they would have some sort of weirdness there.
Boringly normal as evidenced but this average amount of mayonnaise display.



Not much to see or do enroute according to my road side attractions app. We did stop at a mini golf that was allegedly designed by the same people who did the one in guerneville. It even had some of the same holes.



I made Henry win me this cow from the claw machine. He was disappointed that he couldn't get the cat.



Made it to Carson City with minimal arguing.
We stayed at the Gold Dust West casino. No smoking room second night in a row. :(. The casino was mostly empty of people,but completely full of penny machines. I hate penny machines. They lull you into this false sense of "hey it's only a penny!" But in reality you're spending $3-$4 per spin at max bet. Boo!
We finally found a bank of 3 25 cent machines hidden in the back. We lost $40.
The hotel also had a bowling alley.
Henry: let's go bowl and fuck up our arms even more!
So add bowling to the list of Things You Can't Do When You Test Pee For A Living.
It's a long list.

Had to wait until 4:00 to eat in the Mexican restaurant there. Our waitress grilled me about how painful my tattoos were and stared for way too long at my id while making a squinty face.
Henry had some kind of fancy Yay America drink.


We both had these jalapeño poppers wrapped in bacon. They were so good, but so painful. I thought I might die. Henry made fun of how white I am (again).



Meanwhile at home, my mom was having a birthday party for Dr. Pickles.



After dinner, we lounged by the pool. Decided to try the casino again and Henry won $220.
Had a few drinks in the room and fell asleep watching Duck Dynasty.
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Day one part two Ione and Jackson

After lunch Henry and I argued over what sno cone flavors to get from the guy in the truck out back. Decided on black cherry and cola. He didn't like which ever one was in his hand at the time so we kept trading.
There was a thrift store that was finally open, so we decided to go there.
Inside it seemed as if every piece of crap knick knack and secretary dress from the 80's had been stuffed with wild abandon. I didn't want to touch anything. Chuck on the other hand got his hair felt up by the white trash mom and daughter combo on their way out the door. This happens a lot. The lady that owned the place insisted Henry should buy his t shirts at "Rosses" instead of the Internet.
Amanda bought a set of dog uggs and threw one away because their dog only has 3 legs.
Afterwards, we walked back to the hotel to see if we could check in. Imagine my delight when Henry and I were given room #13. It was also the giraffe room which only intensified my glee.



I wanted to steal this so badly. It still had a 99 cent sticker on the back.
Our plan was to drive to Jackson to hang out in the casino. We decided to have some drinks on the balcony first. Broke out my birthday Dom which we drank out if styrofoam cups.



Chuck and Amanda got me a ton of cool crap for my birthday including this sweet articulated mole skeleton.



Chuck drove to the casino. He slammed on the breaks and did a u turn so we could visit this sculpture place.


This giant chicken was actually in my road side attractions app so one more thing to check off the list.
We got to the casino and parked. I was already regretting my decision to wear my sweet new wedges. Inside it was packed with degenerate gamblers. Not a single slot machine didn't have an old hag with cigarette dangling posted in front of it. Then we found out you couldn't drink on the casino floor. Also that you couldn't smoke in the bar that was upstairs. Wtf kind of casino is this?!?
I was hungry so I ordered a steak at the restaurant that was too spicy for me to eat. Chuck told the waiter that it was my birthday, but luckily nothing happened.
Amanda wanted to put 10 bucks in a slot machine so we stood around while Henry won $80 and chuck kept saying "cash out" every time she pressed the button.
Finally left.
Back at the room. Henry and I were really missing Dr. Pickles so I kept hounding my mom (who was babysitting) to send us pictures. I passed out at 9 pm because I'm really old.
A pretty successful birthday.
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Day one: Preston Castle

The morning of my birthday started at 3am when Henry woke me up by screaming about something that happened on Deadliest Catch. He got me a bad ass new lap top (my old one runs on Vista) so all was forgiven.

We had plans to leave the house by 6am. Preston castle was almost 4 hours away and we wanted to arrive in time for the 10 am tour.
At 6:10 I waited in the car while Henry made his 3rd trip into the house for something he forgot. I wanted to bring Dr. Pickles with us. I miss her so much already.

Either google maps was wrong, or Henry drove like a demon released from hell. We arrived at the castle in the town of Ione around 9 am.

Not much to do here. Tried checking in early at the lone hotel in town. Even overcame my anxiety enough to ring the bell at the front desk, but no one appeared.

Decided to walk around a bit. We were meeting our friends Chuck and Amanda at the castle, but they had over slept and would be late.

So we walked over to the strip mall in town which consisted of an ace hardware, a grocery store, a subway, and a manicure place. The grocery store smelled weird to me, like Whole Foods weird. That creepy health store smell that's like garlic to a vampire to me. I had a fit when I saw this end cap of mayonnaise.



Seriously, wtf? Chuck later said that the town residents must use it for sun screen.

Went to ace hardware so Henry could use the bathroom. I lingered by the chainsaws trying not to look suspicious.

It was getting closer to ten so we headed back up to the castle. Henry took the "visitors" road instead of the road to the castle, which I needled him about endlessly until I noticed that the gravel road ended at a closed youth authority building. He almost ran over a squirrel and there were 4 vultures posted in the fence like they were waiting for us to die.



You could see the castle from the parking lot.



We headed back up that way and waited for Chuck and Amanda. Mostly I hated everyone that was parking behind us, but Henry hated the car in front of us that belonged to some hipsters that we had seen ogling us in town.

Finally Chuck and Amanda arrived. And we headed in to start the tour.

Preston Castle was a "school of industry" built in the 1890's to house youthful offenders who had previously been kept at San Quentin or Folsom prison.



Our guide was an ancient old man who had actually done some time there in the 50's. I was dismayed to learn that the tiny faced girl in short shorts and her husband that I hated as soon as they parked behind us would be in our tour group. They were amateur ghost hunters and had already seen some show about the castle. I spent most of the time being annoyed at them and their constant photography of anything "creepy"
Which probably included us.

I didn't really notice anything scary or creepy about the place. Except for the potential to fall through the floor at any moment.



Lots of empty rooms with single chairs.




The infirmary was the most interesting. The only room that had been freshly painted. And it had 3 wheelchairs.



According to our guide this was where ghost hunters picked up on ghostly vibes. Me, not so much. I did feel slightly dizzy like the floor was moving in one of the apartments, but it probably really was.
In the kitchen area, a murder of a kitchen worker had taken place in the pantry and a little shrine was set up.



After the tour we walked really far away to smoke like delinquents.













Everyone was hungry so we headed back to town to eat the diner where everyone's food was terrible. Much to my dismay, tiny face and her husband from the tour were already at the restaurant. Henry managed to get a picture of them surreptitiously.



God I hated them so much!!!

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Packing

I'm going to miss Dr.Pickles sooo much!!



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Oh hi!

So what kind of douchebag doesn't write in their blog for 17 months and then just shows up like a hobo on your doorstep expecting you to care?

This douchebag right here.

But in all fairness, I've been busy trying to reassemble my life.

Still testing pee.  Still slaving away over makeup.   Bought a house.  Live there with my boyfriend of a little over a year.   We've been friends for ages.  Oh look, here's a picture of us from my 35 birthday party!  

Henry and I


He was already madly in love with me at that point and plotting out ways to get rid of my husband.
According to me anyway.
Did I mention that he's 13 years younger than me?
So we live in this little house with a big backyard with all my animals and a one eyed cat named Dr.Pickles that's allegedly his.  Things ended up turning out pretty great for me.  I'm one lucky old broad.
We're leaving on a road trip this Saturday.  One of the reasons I wanted to get my blog going again.  The traveling stories were always my favorites even now.
So I'm back for a bit anyway. I missed you tons.
First stop, preston castle.

Moving forward

I can't thank everyone enough for all the kind words and well wishes. It means so much to be cared about so deeply. I really couldn't have survived this ordeal without my family and friends coddling me like a broken baby bird.
So now I can focus on the future...and of course that means a lengthy series of weird online dates...coming soon.
Hugs

Starting Over

I've been trying to write this post for so long. It's hard to put into words the things I have been feeling and going through the past few months.

Those of you that know me on a more personal level know that Paul left me in October. It was a normal night 2 days before Halloween. He hadn't planned on telling me he was leaving. We were getting ready for bed. I imagine had I not brought up the subject as to why he was being so resistant to buying a new house, he would have just packed up all his shit and been gone one day.
He finally told me the same old story. About how unhappy he had been for so long...that he thought he could do better...that he didn't want to even try.

I kind of slipped into another place. I was sobbing, but without tears. I felt strangely calm. I packed a suitcase and left that night. I haven't seen or spoken to him since.
The next week was a downward spiral. It took 5 more before I finally had a morning where I woke up and was glad to not be dead.
I loved him. With everything that I had in me. For 12 years he was my first and last thought every day. He was my best friend.
I always knew that I loved him more than he loved me. I was willing to accept that though. It was a small price to pay. And I could always try harder, be better, be happier, not complain and maybe he would love me more.
He cried during our wedding. I remember thinking " I wonder if he's crying because he's happy, or if he's sad that he's stuck with me now"
I never told anyone and it was a terrible thing to feel that way. But I couldn't love him enough for both of us.
The last year was so lonely for me. Things continued on as the always had. He was gone a lot , but he always was. I blamed my loneliness and heartbreak on everything but him and the new crowd of young kids he started hanging out with. Then there were nights where he was too drunk to drive home. He hated the house, hated my job, hated the fact that he couldn't sleep because someone was always keeping him awake...me, the animals, whatever.
I tip toed around him. I was always so quiet. I tried to be happier. I didn't even tell him about the new anti depressant the dr had put me on the week before.
The only thing I had ever been afraid of was losing him. I was sure I would die. The thought of all the days and years spiraling together into forever without him just paralyzed me. And I did almost die.
One night I was listening to wandering stars by portishead. It had been in my head for weeks. I read the lyrics for the first time..."the time that I will suffer less is when I never have to wake"
I cried for what seemed like hours. But that was the moment that it all became real to me. That I realized I could and had survived the one thing I was sure I couldn't live through. Nothing scared me anymore. Not even starting over.