I have been promising pictures and stories for awhile now, and here they are! I hope you'll forgive how late they are, as I've been worried about silly things like getting an apartment and a job, and starting a brand new school (stories about that to follow). There is good news on both those fronts now, and I have a little time to share my moving adventure with everyone. I'll try to go as chronologically as I can. Here we go!
DAY ONE (and feeling very “manifest destiny”)
Robert and I left Coldwater on Wednesday July 17, in a 16 foot Budget moving truck, towing my car behind us. I waved and called out goodbye to the whole town, did you hear it? We went through Bronson and caught the 80, a road that we would stay on until we were almost to Colorado.
Along the 80 we saw many interesting sights, such as a town that might have been named by Fozzie Bear:
The Mississippi River:
A Very Boring Town:
and lots of very beautiful countryside. Indiana and Illinois were nothing new to my eyes, and probably not to yours either. But as the sun began to set in Iowa on our first day on the road, we got some pretty nice pictures.
We stopped that night and stayed in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It's almost on the border of Nebraska.
620 miles down, 1500 to go.
DAY TWO (here comes corn)
We passed through Omaha almost as soon as we were on the road, and saw that we had 454 miles of Nebraska to get through.
This was Robert's least favorite day, having been told by a fellow Californian that “Nebraska will test your patience for boredom...there is literally nothing there”. Now, it wasn't the most exciting drive ever, but I thought the scenery was just fine. There were fields, horses, and gently rolling hills to watch as we slowly climbed the plains and got ready for the mountains.
Sometime in the mid afternoon, we entered Colorado, and the landscape started to change. It didn't look like Michigan anymore at all. The trees pretty much disappeared, and were replaced with rockier looking hills, lots of cows and horses on farms, and the scrubby, scraggly looking vegetation associated with the high plains.
We got to Denver and decided to call it a day, having driven 545 miles. We didn't really do much in Denver, being a bit worn out from two days of doing nothing but driving. This was the last time we were bored until Nevada.
DAY THREE (I do not heart Colorado)
I woke up nervous as all get out. Having lived in a relatively flat area all my life, I did not want to spend my first day in the Rockies towing my car, driving a moving truck, and contending with traffic. Worse, we couldn't seem to get an accurate estimate of how long it would take us to get through The Mountains. We had heard the following:
“It's a 90 mile stretch. Should take a couple hours.”
“It'll take you the whole day.”
“Well, that depends on a lot of things. Just don't overheat the truck or run outta gas.”
“You're driving that thing up there?”
So I got ready and went out to the truck, anticipating a 2 to 10 hour drive of winding turns, steep grades, traffic, and elevation issues. Robert was out there checking the truck. I looked at him and said “ready when you are.” He gave me a look and said “Yeah, I don't think so.”
I have no idea how we drove on that tire, when that giant hole had happened, or how we managed to get to the repair shop without it blowing out on us. But we did, thankfully. While it was getting fixed, a nice guy who was also waiting for a repair told us he was from California but had recently been to the midwest. He was headed to Sturgis for some business or another, and he and I spent a moment “nerding out” about Michigan together.
An hour later, we were on the road.
For lunch, we stopped in a little mountain town called Idaho Springs, where we ate a picnic lunch by the river, and watched white water rafters float by.
The mountains are very beautiful, and very nerve-wracking to drive through if you aren't in a car, truck, or van. So I will just put the pictures up, and you can view them without my commentary of how nervous I was that day.
Oh yeah, and this is the Colorado River.
We finally got to Utah!
We drove to a town called Moab, which is 30 miles off the main freeway. We went this far off the beaten path because the next day w
e were going to get up early and see Arches National Park.
DAY FOUR (and getting sick of driving)
The park is gorgeous! We did a little driving through the park, and a little hiking. We saw some wildlife, cacti, and lots and lots of red rocks. We were definitely not in the midwest anymore.
After we left Arches, we filled up the gas tank. It was good that we did, because five miles afterward we saw a sign that said “No services next 100 miles.” 100 miles in Michigan terms = 1.5 hours, right? Oh, I wish.
Here's the thing about Utah. It snuck up on us. We were all worried about Colorado, and never even thought about Utah. Utah sat there, quietly and unassuming, and didn't make a big show about what it has. And then we got there, and found mountains upon mountains, deserts that stretch forever, and we started to think two things: 1. how in the world did people live out here before electricity and cars, and 2. Are we going to make it out of here? The pictures are neat. But if you stop and think “how did they get up there?” it gives you an idea of what that 100 mile stretch was like.
Somehow we got out of Utah, ducked through the top left corner of Arizona...
Into Nevada...
and made it to Vegas. We booked a hotel outside of town a bit, ate dinner, and then I won exactly 20 cents in a slot machine. What can I say, I take the big risks ;)
DAY FIVE (are we there yet???)
After four more hours of desert, we finally rounded our last mountain in the early afternoon and entered the Inland Empire. I don't have any pictures because it's not that exciting. It's basically suburbia on steroids.
We drove through suburbia for about 45 minutes, just to give you an idea of how big it is. Finally, we went through Pasadena, and popped into Echo Park at about 3:00 in the afternoon. The sun was shining, the traffic was light, and the graffiti was everywhere. Here are some shots of a few of my favorite murals, all done by the same artist:
That night we celebrated our trip's end by going to a restaurant on Hollywood Blvd. called Palms Thai, a place with Thai food and a Thai Elvis Impersonator who serenades the crowd every night at 7:30. Afterward, I celebrated more by starting a very long process of unpacking.
Ok, that's the end of the tour. I miss you all and would love to hear from anyone and everyone (even Doug). I think my LMS account will be up for some time, and if you write me I'll send you all my contact info. If you send me your address, I'll send you a postcard :)
Also, I'm going to update this occasionally if something really wierd or cool happens, so you can check back.
If anyone is going to be out in LA, you'd better call or write so we can hang out! I plan to be home at Christmas time to remind myself what snow is.
Hope you are all having a terrific school year so far!
