The Big Move

Boyd and I are finally settling into our new rooms, setting up our office and letting the cats run around their new yard in Santa Cruz California. Tonight it's raining, one of my favorite parts of CA weather that I missed in MN. Right after my graduation we packed up all our worldly belongings into a "ReloCube", packed the cats into the back of our Ford and headed West, just as so many before us have done throughout the centuries.

We left behind lots of great friends - friends who helped welcome us to Minnesota, spent cold nights eating good food together, warm evenings outside around the BBQ, traveled around the state camping, carpooled to school, etc. etc. etc....in other words - friends we love and will miss dearly.

After the party was over we finished the last bit of packing and slept in our empty room. The next morning we rode out - with tears in our eyes - remembering the wonderful part of our lives that we got to spend in Minnesota. The cats only whined for the first 1/2 hour or so and then the settled down and fell asleep in their dog crate. To keep us sane we switched drivers every 2 hours, which also meant I had the opportunity to go to the bathroom and stretch our legs. It also woke up the cats...

I love seeing the countryside and whenever we drive across parts of the country I am always blown away by how beautiful it all is - whether in snow or summer. Anytime it is particularly stunning Boyd or I call out a "natural beauty alert" and we take a moment to appreciate the view. I know people often think of Nebraska as a terrible flat place but actually it is a lot more hilly than I always picture it. I loved the hay buns covered in snow...

It was a long drive (33 hours in all) and so obviously we needed coffee breaks along the way to perk us up again. Nebraska apparently didn't believe in Starbucks so we had to get McDonald's coffee (ick). After that disaster I decided to put my fancy toy (ie Blackberry) to some good use to find us some good coffee. My first attempt to use the "Local Search" feature (which basically does an internet search to find businesses, hotels, bars, etc. in the area) led us to a nonexistent Starbucks. However, the second attempt helped us discover cute Huckleberry's Espresso, Inc. - a surprisingly cute and good coffee shop/deli in the middle of Rawlins, a mining town in the middle of Wyoming. I loved being able to find a local coffee shop and seeing the small downtown. Boyd was happy to get a good Americano.

We both we pleasantly reminded how amazingly gorgeous the Rockies are, especially as Highway 80 drops down into Salt Lake City. SLC is a city meant to be seen in the snow and the mountains were just stunning. We even saw some real live cowboys riding along side the freeway and gathering their cows!

After a night in SLC with some of my parent's friends we left early Monday morning setting out for California. The first 3 hours were all in darkness, with tons of fog on the salt flats, and with the cats going nuts in the back of the car. Ahh!! They finally settled down as it started to get lighter...maybe they stopped whining enough to enjoy the amazing sunrise as we crossed from Utah into Nevada. Can you believe this view!?

We do live in a beautiful country! (Althought Nevada along Hwy 80 has got to be one of the

most boring stretches of road out there - even worse than all of Nebraska in my opinion.) We had perfect weather the whole drive until we got to Truckee, California in the Sierra, and even then it was only a bit of snow BUT a whole lot of crazy CA drivers who maybe aren't used to driving in the snow... we got home to Santa Cruz just in time for my parent's annual Christmas party and while Boyd partied I crashed almost immediately after such a long haul. All in all it was a very enjoyable drive - lots of time hanging out with my perfect traveling partner, seeing lots of tiny towns, showing the kitties the country outside of the Twin Cities, and listening to Dan Brown's "Lost Symbol" on CD (oh WAIT - that was only enjoyable for the first 10 hours...then he just kept repeating himself!). I only hope that next time we take a long drive across the country that we have time to stop at all the national parks, monuments and sites along the way and enjoy the history as well as the view.