From Wednesday at 9 a.m. CDT to last night at 10 p.m. PDT, I drove from Minneapolis to Oakland (via Valley, Madison, Hartford, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and with the help of Nick, who drove roughly half the trip). The drive was enlightening—I feel like I know a little bit more about the country I live in—but exhausting. The highlights included Denver and the Rocky Mountain National Park; the lowlight was the entire state of Utah.

Today I’ll allow myself to take the day off, but tomorrow I have to get to work.