As Andrea reached the middle of Iowa, she began to grow a bit bored with the monotony of corn fields and all that. The last time she had made this journey, it had been by plane, so she hadn't had to worry about what the similarity of the terrain would do to her brain. "Oh, if only you were here to talk to, Sharon," she muttered as she looked down at her GPS system to see that she had to make it another hundred miles before she could stop for a break. That seemed like such a long time, and she let out a deep sigh as she began to look for the next rest area, deciding that if she wouldn't be taking a long break, she could still have a way to stretch her legs before continuing onwards. She wanted to reach Concord quickly, since she would only have a week to unpack and get settled in before her new job started, and that would only happen if she kept pace with her driving.
Soon enough, though, she saw the sign for a rest area, and Andrea pulled off into it, finding an open spot beneath a shady tree and getting out of the car, heading to an open picnic table and sitting heavily. It was so easy to breath in the delicious crisp air, and she already could feel the difference in temperature between Los Angeles and Iowa, though she knew that an even larger difference would come once she reached Vermont. She sighed a little as she leaned her head back and looked up into the bright blue sky, feeling like she would start crying at any moment. "You would love this sky, Sharon. I wish that I could share this with you, and I hope that you're watching over me from your heaven."
Blinking rapidly, she tried to call back the tears, not wanting to get on another crying jag before she had to start driving again. Still, she had to capture this moment, so she pulled out her phone and took a few pictures before choosing the best one and sending it on to Andy and Provenza, knowing that they were most likely unable to determine where she was from that snapshot, as she hadn't included any identifying markers. With that over, she got up from the table and went into the visitor center, heading to the bathroom and taking care of her needs before purchasing a soda to keep her energy up as she pressed onwards to her destination for that evening.
Once she had arrived at the hotel and checked in, Andrea collapsed on the bed, suddenly not having the energy to head down to the restaurant to grab supper, instead paying the exorbitant fee for room service. Though, she had to admit to herself, it was a good deal cheaper for room service here in Iowa than it had been in Los Angeles. "I've arrived for the night, Sharon, and it looks like I'll have three more days of driving ahead of me before I arrive at my new home. The keys are burning a hole in my purse, and I cannot wait to see the house for real, as the pictures can only do so much for it."
The loud rapping on her hotel door caught her attention, and she dug out some money from her purse to tip the person, hoping that it was enough. There was almost too much food on the plate that he delivered, and she remembered that the portion sizes were different in the Midwest as she tucked into the meal. Still, she was ravenous, having not stopped for a true lunch that afternoon in her desire to get closer to her destination, and managed to wolf down almost the entire plate before she stood and stretched. Going over to the window, she looked down at her car and made certain that everything was okay with it before pulling closed the curtains and then stripping off her clothes before padding into the bathroom and stepping into the shower, allowing the water to rain down on her tired body as she washed the grime from that day's drive off her skin.
As soon as she was completely clean, Andrea turned the water off and allowed the cool air from the air conditioning wick away some of the excess water before she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her body. Stepping back into the bedroom, Andrea rummaged through her overnight bag to find her comb, running it through her hair before hurriedly plaiting it and then dropping the towel and tugging on her pyjamas.
After crawling into bed, she picked up her tablet, fully intending to get some emails read and responses written before digging more into the book that she was reading. That fleeting goal lasted ten minutes before she was yawning too much to concentrate on the screen in front of her. Setting the tablet aside, she set the alarm clock for eight in the morning before turning on the television and flipping through the channels until she found a mindless comedy movie to occupy her thoughts as she snuggled down in the bed and watched it until she fell asleep.
The alarm clock was much too loud the next morning, and Andrea reached out to smack it with her palm, groaning a little as she sat up and stretched. After dressing, she stepped into a comfortable pair of flats before heading down to the breakfast room and loading up on a large, filling, breakfast, not wanting to stop for a lunch break as she drove towards her destination. When she had eaten her fill, Andrea snagged two bananas and two blueberry muffins before heading back up to her room and packing away the few things that she had pulled out of her bag before changing into more substantial shoes to drive in. The checkout process didn't take too long, and then she was heading back to her car and climbing behind the wheel, intent that her first stop on the road would be a coffee shop, and then a gas station to fill her tank.
"This is going to be a good driving day, Sharon," she murmured after taking a sip of the delicious drink that she had received, having asked the barista to make her something that he loved. He hadn't disappointed her, and she hoped that she could find a similar drink after moving into her new place in Vermont. Something told her, though, that there was no true way to replicate the flavor, since she hadn't asked him to write down how he had made it. "I wish that you could see how clear the sky is today, with those puffy white clouds that always made you smile to see. In fact, I think I see one that looks like a cat, though I know that you'd laugh at me for that observation."
Feeling her eyes sting with tears, Andrea broke off her one sided conversation and turned up the music on her radio, trying not to skip over the songs that she had put on the playlist but wasn't in the right mood to hear, knowing that she would never truly find the perfect song if she kept doing that. Still, it was good to sing along to the songs that she knew and loved as she drove down the highway, coming ever closer to her final destination of her new home.