Last Day of Freedom

Well, it is Friday. This is the last day of my life before my medical school commitments, be they official or unofficial, begin. It is a bit surreal.

I figured I should start this blog now to keep track of my various thoughts, feelings, and experiences during the grueling journey that is ahead. I also am hoping that it will allow me to better keep in contact with many of you we have left (and miss terribly!) on the east coast. I have always been terrible with emails, and I strongly dislike the phone, so hopefully this blog will let you all know that I haven't forgotten about you. Remember, there is a second bedroom available for those who come out and visit!

Well, I figure I should try to briefly sum up the past three weeks for those who haven't heard. So...here it goes.

The Drive
Well, first of all, the dog was fine. He was quiet and well-behaved sitting in his carrier in the car. He only cried when we went too slow...or when Courtney was driving! He was not too happy with our hotel choices. No one liked the room we picked on the first night. Basically, never stay in a Super 8 Motel unless you are drunk or high out of your mind. We stopped in one in Indiana and it ruined the state for us. We never want to go back to that state, or Super 8, ever again.

We took I-80 out, and the first day and a half were uneventful and a bit boring. The only pretty place we saw was Wheeling, WV. We were unimpressed with the PA Turnpike (perhaps we were both a bit de-sensitized to it) and Ohio was equally uninteresting on this route. Indiana was just more of the same.

The real good stuff started when we crossed the Mississippi River. In Iowa, we encountered the most beautiful rest stops (what do you want, this wasn't a tourist excursion!) They also had the "World's Largest Truck Stop", which we stopped at. It was like a huge gift shop and a giant truck store rolled into one. You could buy as much chrome as your heart desired.

Nebraska was next. Most of Iowa and Nebraska felt the same. Lots of corn fields. We stayed over in Nebraska and it was our best night. We had a small, private cabin by a manmade lake. This was some sort of wild west resort town and I think you could do cowboy training here if you are a "city slicker." Drac found a frog on our morning walk and didn't know what to do with it. The room itself was really nice (flat screen tv, private refrigerator, all new everything) but the people in the neighboring cabins looked very odd. Courtney was afraid they were going to break into the cabin in the middle of the night and kill us. Well, I guess you can't have everything perfect.

Now, two-thirds into Nebraska, things got interesting. Here is where it really started to look like the wild west and I believe we encountered our first, small mountains. The cross winds also started to pick up, which made driving with our rooftop box (with a speed limit of 75 mph!) quite a challenge. This part of Nebraska transitioned nicely into Wyoming, which is the real wild west.

Wyoming is the least populated state in the country. There are more cattle than people, by far. The ground is dry. There are huge ranches, tumbleweed, mountains, cowboys (they drive pick-up trucks now, apparently) and wind farms. We had to make our only repair in Wyoming. The rooftop box started to come open a bit, so I had to duct tape the seam and also tie the top down to make sure it didn't fly open and send our belongings all over the Interstate. You will be glad to know that this was a success and we did not send toilet paper and hangers all over I-80.

Utah was next, and the prettiest. We were only there for about an hour. Of course, the digital camera ran out of charge here, so we only have a few photos of the rockies as we passed through. They were just gorgeous! Courtney has now decided that Utah is at the top of the list for potential residency spots. I guess we should be learning how to ski. We also stopped to grab a bite to eat here, and the people were unbelievably nice! We got some chicken sandwiches at a Carls' Jr. and the staff held the door open for me. This would never happen at a McDonald's on the east coast. It is amazing how nice people are out here.

At the end of the day was Idaho. This was a major downer after Utah. We actually couldn't get a hotel room until Boise, because the places 45 minutes outside Boise were all full. It was dark, we were tired, and the roads, really sucked. In the morning we got some breakfast in Boise and the people seemed very odd to us. We were happy to leave.

Finally, on the fourth morning, we made it to Oregon! Surprisingly, Oregon is not all evergreen trees. Our trip actually started with some low lying mountains in a desert! Not at all what we expected, but very beautiful. Also, Oregon outlawed billboards in many locations. As a result, the drive was extra beautiful because there were no ads in the way. After the desert, we went to the top of a mountain covered in evergreens and then proceeded down into a valley where we saw our first wildfire. It was really interesting to see. We then proceeded through the Columbia gorge, which is like a mini-grand canyon. Courtney took a million photos. Occasionally, we would catch a glimpse of Mt. Hood, the dormant volcano about an hour from Portland. What a change of scenery from Philadelphia! Yes, Mt. Hood is a bit more impressive than the liberty bell.

Finally we made it to our home. 12 of the boxes we shipped out were waiting for us at our new apartment and it was already time to get settled in.

Next Two Weeks (Summary)
The next two weeks, which we are at an end at, were somewhat mundane. We spent the time getting used to the area (the food is just amazing!) and getting settled into the apartment (old apartment was much nicer, but this neighborhood is like living on the main line, we do have a deck though.) We eventually got our licenses (Courtney got a much higher score on the driver's test than me :) ) Courtney actually got offered a job today and a really great studio just outside of Portland. She is really excited about it and I am excited for her. We bought a ton of furniture from the Goodwill, Yard Sales and Craigslist.

Well, that is really all I have for now. I'll add more as the school events start. We miss you all and hope you are well!