#9 - Move to a New State

Moving to a new state is mostly an extension of finishing my Ph.D. and getting a new job.  Since those stories are told in other posts, I'll focus on the journey to and arrival in Massachusetts.

Anderson all packed up and ready to go.

My last week in San Diego was tough.  I had so many people I wanted to see but so many things I had to do to prepare for my cross-country move.  I had to get packing materials, pack up 4 years of my life, my cats, my car, sell things I wasn't bringing with me, arrange the travel (which my parents certainly helped with a lot), figure out how I was going to move my bike and surfboard, and I was still working because after 4 years of being a doctoral student, I couldn't afford not to.  I managed to squeeze in a little extra time with some extra special people.  It was really hard to say no to anyone, but if I wanted to also sleep, I had to.

(Extra thanks to Connor, Grace, Julie, and Mariko for bringing me moving supplies!  Thanks to Theresa & Tony for taking some of our stuff!)

I packed up most of my car on Saturday night and then got up at 6:00am to pack up the rest on Sunday morning.  I had to leave by 8:00am because my dad was landing in Phoenix at 1:00pm, and it's a 5-hour drive from San Diego.  I loaded up the cats, strapped my bike, surfboard, and skateboard to the car, said goodbye to the best roommate ever, and set off for a week of not having a home.

Eastern California is a strange place.  It's where most of our food comes from but it's all desert.  There are quirky statues and abandoned towns that made me wonder why there had ever been a town in the middle of nowhere.  It's also incredibly beautiful: rolling hills, cacti, and sometimes even sand dunes.

I made it to Phoenix around 1:50pm, and my dad seemed impressed I made it that early.  I am not a morning person, and I'm grateful that he knew what he was getting into.  He also bought me Jimmy John's for lunch that day.  What a great dad!

Fastest visit to a cliff dwelling ever

We made the goal for ourselves to make it all the way without GPS.  We told each other facts about how GPS makes you stupider and you don't appreciate your location.  We made it for the most part.

Arizona was hot.  So hot that with cats in the car, we couldn't really stop.  So we didn't.  Well, we kind of stopped for a few minutes when we passed a sign for national monument.  I ran into the visitor's center, asked how far we'd have to walk to see Montezuma's Castle, parked in the shade, and ran the 50 yards, snapped a couple pictures, and ran back.

We drove to Flagstaff, dropped the cats off at the hotel, and found a place to eat.  I found a highly rated, reasonably priced place called Tinderbox Annex through Yelp.  It was perfect after a long day driving: a great outdoor space, relaxed people, decent beer and wine, and great food.  Seriously, ask my dad about their french fries.  I dare you.  He'll never, ever stop talking about how good their were and how forgetable french fries usually are.  He'll probably also mention the watermelon salad and how he doesn't even really like watermelon and then he'll list the ingredients and tell you how to make it yourself.  After that delightful dinner, we went back to the hotel, I watched the Game of Thrones finale, and we got a good night's sleep so we could get up early the next day for our trip to the Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon

Considering it was tourist season, we timed our Grand Canyon trip perfectly.  We got up at 7:00am (which is 6:00am Pacific, mind you), and my dad drove while I slept.  We went to the Desert View, wandered and wondered for a bit, had breakfast, stopped at another viewpoint, and then headed back to the hotel, impressed with our decision to go that way as the line of cars going the opposite way was overwhelming.

Then we packed up and headed to Albuquerque.  That took slightly longer than anticipated as both cats had hidden.  Kyle was just between the comforter and the solid bed frame.  Mox was no where to be found.  In a small hotel room.  Eventually I pulled out a second collar I had kept just in case it was helpful.  It was.  Mox loves collars.  Loves them.  Like, if his falls off, I can call him, and he'll come and sit excitedly as I put it back on.  So I pulled it out, shook the bell, and he emerged from behind the microwave, eager to find the collar.

Painted Desert

Since that stretch was only four hours, we took a detour in the Painted Desert in Petrified Forest National Park.  That day, it was too hot and there was no shade, so we left the car running and took turns viewing the desert.  It was incredible how the colors and landscape shifted every second as the clouds moved, rolling the light over the desert.  The pictures don't do it justice.  It was really beautiful.

In Albuquerque, we got some pizza, walked around the area we had dinner, stopped and had a drink, and then headed home to rest for yet another long day of driving.

Mox had yet another successful hiding attempt upon leaving Albuquerque.  I looked and looked and every now and then heard the tag on his collar scrape against something, sounding like he was in the bathroom.  But there was no where to hide in the bathroom.  The collar trick didn't work this time.  I was about to open a can of tuna (that's right, I came prepared) when I decided to look under the sink.  He had found a ledge under the sink, above some shelves.  Impressive.

Somewhere in Indiana

I slept most of the way through New Mexico.  I'm sad about it because in between naps I caught glimpses of beautiful hills with patches of green.  But dang, I was just so tired.  This year has been exhausting.  January-March were intensely dedicated to finishing my dissertation.  February-May were intensely dedicated to finding a job.  June was intensely dedicated to moving across the country.  Then, the first day of the trip I was up at 6am.  The second day of the trip I was up at 7am... Mountain Time, so still 6am.  The third day of the trip I was up at 8am... Central Time, so still 6am.  I am not a morning person and I was exhausted.  So I slept.  And slept.  Until the eastern part of Arizona, and in Oklahoma I perked up enough to drive.

I drove us through Tulsa, which is apparently, affectionately known as T-town.  I drove us through... lots of Oklahoma and Missouri.  It doesn't sound like an exciting part of the drive, but I was blown away by the green.  After 4 years of living in the desert and mostly visiting the Midwest in the winter, my eyes were starved for thick foliage, and that section of the plains / Midwest was all trees, grass, shrubs...  It was really beautiful.

My mom gets me.

We got to Springfield pretty late.  We bought a bottle of wine in the lobby, watching some TV, and crashed.

The last day of driving was by far the longest.  We drove from Springfield, Missouri all the way to Ann Arbor, Michigan, with a bit of an unintentional detour along the way.  Somewhere after St. Louis, I missed the highway we were supposed to take to Ft. Wayne.  Instead of turning around, my dad decided we should use paper maps to get us through the middle of nowhere Illinois countryside to another highway.  It probably wasn't the quickest way but, again, it was beautiful, just rolling Midwest farmland and very small towns.  Then we detoured into Ohio (gross) to pick up a pass so I wouldn't have to stop for tolls on my way to Massachusetts.  By the time we got to Ann Arbor, everyone was beat, including my mom who had stayed up to greet and feed us.

Had to

I stayed in Ann Arbor for three restful nights.  I slept a lot and hung with the cats since they were staying with my parents for the summer.  Chris & Casey stopped by for breakfast on our first morning back since they were headed up north for the holiday.  I managed to visit with Evelyn and her family, which is always great.  Then I was off again, on my own this time.

I drove to Syracuse with just one major stop when I was out of gas and out of patience with the radio.  I found an exit with a Target and went to buy Rihanna's ANTI album because I'm obsessed.  I couldn't believe the weird organization of Target's CD collection, a place I hadn't checked out in awhile.  So then I went and found a Best Buy, and again, very confusing but I finally found it.  (Hey, places that still sell CD's, just alphabetize them.  I don't know what genre you consider things.  Nor do I know that there's also a separate "new music" section.  Stupid.)  Then I was off to Syracuse cruising to "Desperado."

I got to my hotel, dropped off my stuff, and headed to the Imboden's place.  Peggy, of my second/camp family, had reached out to me via the facebook to see if I was passing through town, so I did, and she promised me dinner and entertainment.  She followed through on both.  Momma Imboden made me dinner (or rather warmed up the dinner everyone else had already had because I was later than expected) and tried to chat with Mom, Peggy, Joe, Teddy, and Corey while Peggy's five hilarious children jumped in and out the room with hilarious comments.  Ruth was particularly on point after a five-hour nap.

I stayed up for a bit in the hotel, savoring one night alone before moving in with a roommate I didn't know in my Airbnb.  I went to bed around 2am, allowing myself to set the alarm for 9:30am, just before the breakfast buffet would close, and still enough time for a nap before checkout if I wanted.  There was no rush to get to Boston.  I'd be living there.

BA BA BA BA BA BA BA

At 7:00am, the fire alarm in the hotel went off.  So much for one interrupted night of sleep.  I went to the parking lot with everyone else.  One staff member circled around, cheerfully apologizing, explaining that someone had burnt toast, and that it happens all the time.

What.

Happens all the time?

FIX IT!

Sunset my first night in town

I was not pleased with her cheerful, dismissive attitude and her comments that "at least we're all awake now!"  No.  I did not plan to be awake now.  I planned to be asleep now.  In a hotel.  That I'm paying for.  (Well, my mom paid for because she didn't want me driving all the way to Boston in one day.)  I was not happy.

Eventually I got up, much more sluggish than I had planned and headed to Boston.

I had forgotten how beautiful upstate New York is.  I had driven through parts of NY on the way to Camp Michigan East many times, but it's been awhile, and I fell in love all over again with the rolling green hills.  Massachusetts was equally beautiful... and it meant I was almost there.

I temporarily live on the western part of the city, so I didn't have to drive far in to find my Airbnb.  There was even a spot right out friend and a key right where they'd promised.  I unloaded my car, went for a walk, and smiled that my journey had taken me here.