How'd I get to Missouri?!

I woke up in New Mexico and left the crappy Travelodge in Albuquerque at 8 am MST; I arrived at the (much, MUCH nicer) La Quinta Inn in Joplin, MO around 7 pm EST. I transcended an entire time zone and passed through 4 states in what, approximately 10 hours? WOAH DUDE! New Mexico to Texas, Texas to Oklahoma, Oklahoma to Missouri. My route has changed twice in the last 24 hours due to unforeseeable circumstances involving a familial crisis that warranted the attention and presence of my designated PIC/co-pilot, Alicia, back to Sacramento. We woke up to the sunrise in Arizona in a heavenly place commonly referred to as the Grand Canyon and by 2 pm yesterday we were bidding each other adieu at the Albuquerque airport :(, hence my detour and stay in Albuquerque last night. Yesterday was hectic, sad, and basically bad from every angle but at least we were able to enjoy the majesty of the Grand Canyon together! I woke up this morning with the intent of staying optimistic and energetic when in reality I felt lonely and disoriented. Our original route was to take us to Austin and then New Orleans and back on up toward DC (the road waaaay less traveled). I decided that because a) I am now alone and b) I left my camera in Vegas (it is now on its way back to me, YAY!) that I would just drive to DC as quickly as possible. If I had embarked on this trip alone originally I would not have opted for the southerly route but I would have gone through CO, Utah and up through Illinois etc, presuming it is safer and also because I would know more people along the way not to mention it is more direct. The most direct route to DC from New Mexico was to take me through the aforementioned states (Texas, et al.) and then Arkansas, Tennessee, etc. Sometime between phone call numbers 3 and 10 Dad#2 called me voicing his concerns about me driving this distance alone and shared a new route with me. After 20 minutes of talking logistics I was sold on the new plan. Thanks RandMcNally.com ! Thanks Dad! So THAT is how I arrived in Missouri. Tomorrow I'm headed to Indiana-Indianapolis to be exact and then on Monday I shall be DC bound.