Greetings, friends and stumbled-upon readers! I'm a bit shocked to look through my old posts and realize I haven't used this blog since last September... but then again, my adventures since then (while many) have not involved overseas trips or coast-to-coast trips (which seem to merit such blogging)... until now.
It's amazing to me to realize that it's almost two weeks since I left Oregon. Even more amazing to realize it's been two weeks since I left my job... since I saw most of you... since I handed in the badge, as it were, on everything I'd been used to, and jumped into an (almost) entirely new world. Thankfully (and this really is huge to me), many of you have already been in touch during those two weeks, and I know will continue to faithfully keep up the friendship, so that the next time you happen to be on the East Coast or I happen to come home to the West Coast, we'll pick things up as they left off!
That being the end goal, I thought it was high time I gave you a wee bit of an update as to my adventures thus far and my "new life" (as it were) here in Connecticut... at least to the extent that it has unfolded thus far. And... let's see if this actually works... I'm going to try going about this a different way than in previous blogging attempts. Because it takes a grievous amount of time to upload photos individually here, I'm going to upload them all into a facebook album and include the link here (will be a tad more effort for you, but save me incalculable time). So, here's the link to the photos to accompany this post:
So, first off, I'll recap my dad's and my epic roadtrip for you, wherein we drove practically coast to coast-- from Oregon to Connecticut. (I visited the Oregon coast a week before I left, and I intend to visit the Connecticut coast in another week or two, so then it WILL be coast to coast). We took 8 days to do the trip, adding in quite a bit of extra time (1) to keep ourselves sane and (2) to do some sight-seeing and visit with a handful of friends and relatives. As you'll see if the photo link works, I took fewer than my standard quantity of pictures for a trip this epic. The reasons for that were, firstly, that my newer camera is out of commission due to an unfortunate encounter with sand from the aforementioned Oregon coast, and secondly, that with my older camera and iPhone being available, I still felt a bit of laziness around taking pictures. Odd, yet true. So, the majority of the pictures I took involved milestones: either "Welcome to An Incredibly New State Called _____" signs, or epic mileage milestones. Thus it's a short tour, and I'll make this description short as well.
Day 0: Monday, Aug. 8. Loaded up the car at my parents' house, then checked the manual and discovered the maximum loading weight was far lower than we would have anticipated, then took everything out and weighed each box and bag (and ourselves) item by item. Of course, this resulted in leaving a lot of things at home that I'd intended to bring to UConn with me. Thankfully, there's a Walmart close by here; and thankfully, I have parents who are generous enough to be willing to ship me things as needed. :) Unfortunately, my father and I both slept restlessly that night, thinking about all the things that could go wrong if the car was still too full...
It's probably also important to note that I spent my last evening in Oregon watching "Jeeves & Wooster" with my parents. Yes. Perfection itself.
Day 1: Tuesday, Aug. 9. Took out several more boxes of stuff from the car. My father and I suddenly felt infinitely better about the car's chances of surviving the drive. :) Left home (my parents') around 5:30 a.m., drove to Central Oregon and had breakfast with my brother and the nieceling and friend, drove on to the Idaho border and through to Utah, where we stayed in Ogden (north of Salt Lake City) for the night. Saw eight deer, one rabbit, one fox or similar-looking creature. Max. temperature, 99 degrees. Highlight: arriving in Utah even with a loaded-down car!
Day 2: Wednesday, Aug. 10. Explored Salt Lake City. Drove south(-east) through the mountains to Colorado, where we spent the night by the side of Lake Dillon (a rather unexpected surprise, this), a beautiful "Alpine" lake high up in the Rockies. Saw no wildlife. Max. temperature, 102 degrees. Highlights: driving through a beautiful pass in the Rockies, elevation 10,603... higher than all but one of Oregon's mountains! Also, dinner at a ritzy sky-resort-town restaurant, at which there were shrimp to be had.
Day 3: Thursday, Aug. 11. Headed further south(-east) into Colorado, taking our time to meander through the Rockies (both walking and driving), taking a long walk (and a stop for Ben & Jerry's) in Boulder, and ending up in Denver, where we strolled for a while before meeting up with Emily & Nathan, two marvelous young friends of my dad's. Saw one deer, one squirrel, one unknown duck-like creature, and one snake. (Clearly, our attempt at seeing lots of wildlife pretty epically failed on this trip.) Max. temperature, 97 degrees. Highlights: the various walks/hikes through the day, but more than that, a perfectly lovely dinner with Emily & Nathan at the Cheesecake Factory, Denver. It was my first time eating at Cheesecake Factory, and I must say that it lived up to its fame. And Emily & Nathan proved to be the sorts that leave you feeling all happy and encouraged about life.
Day 4: Friday, Aug. 12. Continuing from the wonderfulness of Thursday evening with Emily & Nathan, Friday morning was a highlight of the trip. We got up early to visit the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs as the sun was still low in the sky, changing the colors of the earth rather meltingly. My dad and I are apparently united in thinking that something beautiful, peaceful, and out-doorsy is the absolute best way to start such a day as this. Afterwards, we visited the Compassion, Intl. headquarters (also in Colorado Springs) and got a tour of their "Global Ministry Center" (i.e. headquarters building). Compassion is a child-sponsorship agency working with families in the poorest of our world's nations. As many of you know, I sponsor a child through Compassion and hope to volunteer over the next few years as a Child Advocate (giving several presentations a year about child sponsorship, representing the agency at concerts, etc.)... we'll see if time ever permits! At any rate-- we left Colorado Springs around 11:30 and headed east, watching the dramatic landscape shift from Rockies to FLAT, and enjoying (ahem) 350 miles of Kansas. Very flat Kansas. We ended in Topeka for the night.
Saw four deer, three squirrels, and one hawk or falcon. Max. temperature, 87 degrees. Highlight: the Compassion tour. It was incredible seeing the building where our letters to our sponsored kids go to get shipped across the world, and meeting the lovely people (incredibly passionate people) who make all of this happen. Also incredibly awesome to be there and really get a sense that these people are doing what they say they're doing.
Day 5: Saturday, Aug. 13. Left Topeka at 5:30 p.m., and drove through 5 states to arrive at my sister-in-law's grandparents' house for the night in Columbus, Ohio, around 8 p.m. Now THAT is epic road-tripping. And, oddly enough, I think it stands as both my dad's and my favorite day of the trip. :) We were surprised to find that Kansas stops being flat (*insert: boring*) toward the eastern border, and that from the eastern edge of Kansas all the way through to Columbus (and beyond, as we discovered later), the scenery is gorgeous-- trees, rolling hills, and fields of waving wheat/corn all the way. Lovely.
Because we arrived in Columbus at a reasonable hour, we enjoyed several hours' wonderful conversation with Rachel's grandparents-- truly lovely people with great stories to share and wonderful listening skills. That was a definite pleasure.
Saw no wildlife. Saw five states. Max. temperature, 94 degrees. Highlights: the whole day, the 6 a.m. Starbucks stop, the impromptu dinner at Cracker Barrel (booyah!), time with Rachel's grandparents, and seeing Columbus again.
Day 6: Sunday, Aug. 14. Left Columbus after breakfast and drove the 4-ish hours to (my twin) Ian's and his lovely bride's new home in New Brighton, PA (north of Pittsburgh). It was great being back in this area again, after my visit to Ian last April. We had a great Sunday afternoon/evening with these two, which included four games of Settlers and some wonderful food. Wildlife: stopped caring. Temperatures: stopped noticing. Highlights: Ian and Rachel.
Day 7: Monday, Aug. 15. Spent the whole day with Ian and Rachel: bliss. Went into Pittsburgh for some great food and a nice walk, enjoyed some rain, played three more games of Settlers, and watched two movies. That is the laziest any of us have been in a long time, I'm pretty sure. Highlights: Ian and Rachel. And yes, you're right, this day sort of replaced the previous Saturday as being the best of the trip. :)
Day 8: Tuesday, Aug. 16. Got up early and drove from far western PA through to my new home in Willimantic, CT. We covered five states this day, as well (going only about 6 miles out of our way to make sure we hit New Jersey ;)). A great, scenic drive. Arrived in Willimantic around 6 o'clock (after a delicious early dinner at T.G.I. Friday's in western CT). Met my new roommate, Chantelle-- with whom I'd only emailed previously! She is great, her two cats are great, the apartment/house is great, and the town is great.
To speak true, whenever I tell people that I live in Willimantic, I get one of two responses. Either people crinkle their noses and say (out loud or with facial expressions) that it's perhaps the armpit of the area, OR they express interest and pleasure and announce with confidence that it's a great little town with some really lovely/fun spots. I happen to think both of these are accurate. It's a bit rough, or rather rougher-- in comparison with the rest of the area around the main University of Connecticut campus (Storrs, CT). But it's also got a ton of character (not the least of which is displayed by the gigantic green-and-gold Frogs adorning the famed Frog Bridge in the center of town... eerie, given that I don't particularly like frogs, yet still somehow endearing). There are some great places to eat and/or get good tea or coffee (or local beer, although that doesn't impact me quite as much, given my beveragular tastes). And from what I can tell, there are some wonderful people. It's a far more mixed (diverse) community than back home. There are three interesting-seeming churches within walking distance. Come eight o'clock every evening, the chirpings and croakings of cicadas and crickets and frogs and who-knows-whats is so loud it's pleasantly hard to hear oneself think. The neighbors two houses down play Scrabble on their patio every evening while their children play and yell and laugh in the backyard. My two (adopted) cats sun-bathe in the windows and attempt to conquer the cardboard boxes I leave out for them. My room begins to look like a real room. I actually begin to feel like this place is not just a temporary stopping place, but a home.
It's 7:00 p.m. and my parking time at my favorite new coffee/wireless place is up, so I'd best wrap this up. More will no doubt come in time. Suffice to say, for now-- it's been a great journey and the journey here in CT has only just begun. But the people are great, the place is great, and it's all starting to feel like home. And, I miss you all. And (because I really didn't let this come through in my short descriptions of the road trip), I need to tell you that my dad is the best person I'll probably ever know, and the most awesome person imagineable to road-trip with.
Lots of love to you all... thanks for reading... keep up the goodness!
Cheers.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
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