Road Trip: the move to California, spring 2005

It was time. I had made a decision, flown to California to line up a job, my U-Haul was packed, and it was time to go. I was so excited to be off towards new adventures, but very sad to leave my family. I always thought I would have a job, a family, a life, all very close to my family. As it will turn out, moving out west was not a temporary thing - I fell in love with the mountains, the deserts, the canyons, the vast open spaces, and it is hard to imagine going home. Except for those I miss and love. But at the age of 22, not a lot seemed to matter other than hitting the road. The first few days took me into the Smokey Mountains, down through Arkansas (beautiful and green state), across Texas, and into New Mexico where I met my favorite road trip buddy Holly. We drove the rest of the way tandem to San Diego, CA, where we would be roommate for a whole summer.