MI to CHI

I got back to Michigan about 3 AM, Wednesday the 24th. I drove straight through, which may not have been the best idea, as I was on the 3 hours of sleep I got on the first plane ride. But I really just wanted to be done driving and get 'home'. But it is funny - I don't have a home. I'm living out of the bags in my car with no idea even of where I will set up temporarily to start looking for a job. I guess this is one piece of clarity that I didn't find on the trail. :)

I really have no idea of what I'm going to do, or what I want to do. My grandparents are taking a roadtrip across the country and I wanted to do that with them, but that isn't for another two months. Do I find something temporary until then? I found a few opportunities to go to other countries and teach English that seem like a good deal for a one year contract. I'm putting my paperwork in for a passport now, a requirement to apply for that - but who knows, that might be something I have to wait a while for too. I could start looking for 'the real job' now and start getting settled too. So, here I am tossing ideas around and hoping that I figure something out in the next week.

Which brings me to the current! In Michigan, I visited with some friends that I didn't really have the opportunity to see last month when I stopped in for a few days. But again, I was eager to get going on my road trip and only stayed a few days. I called my sister for her to ask my mother if it would be okay for NoThai to stay at the house and try to finalize if we would in fact be able to go to South Dakota or if something shorter was the only option. She had said earlier that we would talk about the details when I came, but I needed to know so I could let NoThai know. That is when the bomb was dropped! Oh, my sister actually starts summer school on July 1st and can't do any vacation until the end of July. I don't know if there was some sort of massive communication issue, but needless to say...I'm a bit more than disappointed about this. I could have stayed in the south to keep hiking along the trail, but I cut it short to come back up north early. I found this all out while I was in Michigan, so I don't really feel like driving the 13 hours back south. Honestly, I would have just canceled the whole trip to Chicago, I was so upset, except the whole family is coming to my mom's house Sunday for a BBQ since I was in town. I also already talked to my Grandma and Grandpa in Wisconsin about us all coming up for a visit along the way to SD. I was looking forward to that too.

So, here I am at my friend Chris' house visiting him and his girlfriend, going to my mom's house tomorrow and driving by myself to Wisconsin to visit. Not quite the way I thought things would go, but maybe with the alone time I'll figure out what I want to do.