Background: Adam got a co-op job at Quartus in San Diego, California. He is on the opposite section of co-op than me, meaning I am in school when he works and vice versa. Rather than fly, Adam needed to drive all the way to San Diego so he could have his car to get to work. I really wanted to come with him so we could get some quality time together. We were careful to book separate rooms every night in order to be responsible after our ten weeks apart. I was a little stressed about spending money on gas, hotels, and food but Adam's company gave us a $0.50 stipend for every mile we drove so things worked out nicely. It was a great spring break!
April 17th: Adam and I left New York City for Cleveland bright and early to avoid the St. Patrick's Day traffic. We stopped at a cute diner in the Middle of Nowhere, New Jersey where I got poached eggs because it was my favorite brunch item in NYC. It took us about eight hours to get home but I was having so much fun being in a car for the first time in three months that I hardly noticed. We swapped my completely packed Focus for his completely packed Focus at my dad's house.
in a car at last!
April 18th: I felt bad leaving my family so soon but we had to skip out the door really early on Sunday in order to get to Des Moines before nightfall. This time the trip was eleven hours and we drove through all the states that look the same (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa). Nothing to write home about. We planned to go out to a fancy dinner but the weather was bad and I was pooped so we ordered Olive Garden ToGo and watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on cable. Okay by me!
from Ohio to Iowa
April 19th: From Des Moines we drove to Denver. This time, the ten hour drive was peaceful and relaxing because Colorado is BEAUTIFUL. I was obsessed with how the yellows, greens, and blues mixed together on the bluffs. We actually stayed in a hostel in Denver to save money. It was old and a little questionable so it became kind of a joke for the rest of the trip but there was nothing truly terrible about our stay there. There were bunks for six girls in my room but since I only had two roommates, things were really quiet. After an actual fancy dinner at the Embers Grill in downtown Denver, we hung out in the hostel lounge reading Catching Fire and playing TinyTower. We got really competitive about who had a taller tower during the trip but I haven't played it since.
Iowa to Colorado
April 20th: It only took six hours to get from Colorado to our next destination in Moab, Utah. Why go to Moab, you ask? Apparently, it is a travel hot spot if you love the great outdoors. Adam had been a few times before so he really wanted to show me what it was like. Utah is also beautiful, but in a desolate and abandoned way...I actually find it really hard to describe its alien beauty. I got to experience most of it through hiking, rather than driving, which was a welcome change of pace. Adam took me to a natural spring to fill our water bottles before our hike through Arches National Park. I was a little worried that I was going to get sick from drinking water from a random spring but Adam assured me it was safe. And I didn't die. The hike to the famed Delicate Arch was really long but we arrived in time to join the crowd waiting for the sunset. We got some good pizza and then drove out to a campsite to view the stars. It was way colder than I expected so we only gazed at the sky a short while. My dad and grandpa are astronomers so the night sky has a special place in my heart. We could see an arm of the Milky Way as well as billions of stars. There were so many that it was difficult ot point out the Big and Little Dippers to Adam. After freezing, it was great to crash at the nicest Super 8 I have ever seen. I mean, I had two king beds to myself.
Delicate Arch / posin' / green and orange stripes in the rocks
April 21st: It seemed to take a year but we dragged ourselves the final twelve hours to California. We ducked through Arizona for a little bit which was a crazier adventure than I was expecting. Our route took us through an incredibly steep ten-mile pass that cut through the sandstone cliffs. I was driving Adam's manual Focus while he read/slept. Good thing I had a summer of practice with his car before this trip or we would have been exploring the depths of the canyon next to the highway right now. We made a stop in Las Vegas to
from Utah to California / In N' Out love
April 22nd: Adam treated me to brunch at Opera. I started to miss NYC a little bit when we had to order at the counter and then sat ourselves, but my crepes made up for it. We did a lot of unpacking, shopping, and organizing. Adam's birthday was the day before so we celebrated a day late at George's at the Cove in La Jolla Beach, a really nice shopping/restaurant area on the water. At the restaurant we really were seated on an open terrace overlooking the Pacific. It was only 50 out so they provided over-head heaters and and color-coordinated blankets. After dinner we strolled the beach and watched hundreds of seals curl up to sleep on the rocks below. The top off the night, we attended the midnight premiere of The Hunger Games with hundreds of eager fans. Since college I've always loved seeing greatly anticipated movies at midnight. Adam and I have started going together and It just makes the experience more exciting and memorable.
strawberry chocolate crepes / terrace view / sleeping seals
April 23rd: We intended to go to the beach and explore downtown thoroughly but the weather wasn't ideal. We poked around San Diego a little and got lunch at an Asian place that had really good Thai tea and coffee. Then I packed, and was a little bummed because I had to leave first thing in the morning.
April 24th-25th: Flew to Houston then Cleveland, drove to Cincinnati and attempted to unpack from all my travels. Life got started and I hit the ground running. Not quite sure if I beat the travel bug though...
aww my room in Cincinnati missed me
I'm glad I'm back in Cincinnati! If we haven't hung out yet we should soon :)
Kendrasity
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