WHEW

There are many instances in life where a deep sigh is necessary, whether it is a sigh of relief, of weariness, or even one to provide a second of respite before tackling yet another task. At the moment, I would classify my sigh as one embodying all of the aforementioned types. A sigh of relief that the long yet spectacular adventure of driving across the country ('visiting' 14 states. . .including Michigan for about 10 minutes by accident) has concluded. A sigh of weariness of being constantly on the go for the last two-plus weeks and adjusting to the various time zone changes along the way. And a sigh providing a brief interlude before getting back to the grindstone to get myself situated here. It's a lot of stuff all at once, exciting and fun, yet also requiring that moment to let myself slow down and take a deep breath and say 'whew.' Once my brain catches up to me again I'll give more detailed descriptions about my going-ons but as for now I'll leave you all with some highlights from these last couple of weeks:

~ my good friend's gorgeous wedding that I got to be a part of

~ being able to see some interesting/landmark sights amidst the wide-open nothing-ness of Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota (not to mention, getting a lovely spattering of bugs across my windshield and entire front portion of my car . . .yuck)


~ seeing Amish people (or so Jane and I think)

~ seeing the Mississippi River for the first time

~ meeting up with my mom, my aunt, and my grandma for dinner in La Crosse, WI (they were there visiting the area where my ancestors came from)

~ sight-seeing in Chicago, by foot and by being a typical tourist and riding a red double-decker tour bus
~ changing time zones in Indiana and not realizing it until we were checking in at our hotel at 9:40 pm. . .but really 10:40 pm, and then trying to find a place that was still serving food so that we could have dinner

~ visiting the campus of the University of Notre Dame . . .and then getting lost trying to get back on the freeway from there, thus leading to our brief stint in Michigan that caught us by surprise

~ driving from Indiana, into Michigan for a couple minutes, through Ohio, through Pennsylvania, and into Maryland all in one day and luckily enough be staying in our nicest hotel of the whole trip:

Wall, South Dakota

v.s.

Hagerstown, Maryland

~ playing the license plate game across the country and seeing all but 3 of the states

~ checking out my new digs. . .it's a great location with nice amenities, I think it'll be perfect

~ sight-seeing in and around Virginia Beach including: hanging out on the beach, strolling on the boardwalk and then riding in a four-person bike with Jane, my mom, my aunt, and my grandma (who were now visiting this area by that time. . .imagine that), visiting Cape Henry (where the first landing of the settlers who established Jamestown took place and where the first U.S. lighthouse was erected, and still stands), driving across the 17.6 mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to Virginia's Eastern Shore and then proceeding to have dinner overlooking the Chesapeake Bay, catching the tail-end of the first day of the East Coast Surfing Championships and later attending an event put on for the surfers at a local bar and grill

~ attending my orientation for grad. school . . .and meeting a girl starting law school here who grew up in the Tri-Cities and graduated from UW, small world!

And. . . that's it for now, whew! I start classes on Thursday and in the meantime am going to attempt to set-up camp around here and also try and drink in this stage of my life that's going on in the midst of this whirlwind. I'll let you know how both of those go. ; )

GO EAST YOUNG WOMAN

I still have a few days yet, but I thought that I'd get around to doing this now before it gets even more hectic with all of the prepping (both physically and mentally) I'll be doing in the days to come. Regardless of it not being the actual day that I'm leaving, the fact of the matter is that after months of anticipation, the time has come for me to pack up my things, bid my loved ones farewell, and make my trek across the country to start yet another chapter of my life. It's bittersweet really. So, after a summer of driving this sweet ride around day in and day out:
I'm trading in those wheels to drive this beauty 3,000 miles across the country starting Friday: I've got quite the journey ahead of me, both literally and figuratively. And while I know that I'm going to miss having my friends and family in close proximity, and vice versa (right?), I also consider myself very blessed to have such a great support network which encourages me to chase down my dreams, even if it takes me away from them. Thank you to everyone for being a part of this journey with me! That's it from me here in Gig Harbor, stay tuned for another installment from some other location. . .