This was actually happening, the moment I had been working so hard for.
I was actually moving out of Ohio, heading west, for good.
It’s a funny feeling; packing up your life and saying goodbye.
I spent the first 30 minutes of the drive listening to sad songs and crying.
The mood and playlist immediately changed as we were headed across and out of the cornfields of the Midwest.
Eight hours in we took a break at the Great Arch of St Louis.
We did some scrambling and a friend of Katie’s lived in the area, crisis averted.
The moment we dreaded was upon us; we entered Kansas with the last glimpse of sunlight behind us.
There were 40 mph wind gusts for the majority of my 3am shift.
The driving shifts were getting shorter as we were trying not to fall asleep while driving.
We finally reached the Colorado boarder at 5am.
It was cold, windy, dark, and depressing.
Apparently Katie’s friend wasn’t home.
Hygiene won this round and we proceeded to sleep until the late afternoon.
I swear to you, that is the name written on the street sign.
Breck was a weird place.
Our trip away from the mile high city involved a beer run and plenty of altitude sickness cures.
We pulled in under the cover of darkness and dug out our ski luggage.
We just so happened to be in Summit County on April 1st aka Gaper Day.
We donned our tightest spandex and old school jackets and headed to the beach aka A-Basin.
Being the gaper I was, I completely ate shit in the parking lot on a patch of ice.
Skis and poles went flying.
The terrain up there was incredible; I dropped a small cliff right off the bat, no problem.
Decided to charge down a pretty steep mogul field, problem.
I lost control, tomahawked about 7 times until I ended up in a full on slide.
Everything was dark, I felt like I was in a washing machine, it was terrifying.
I lost my skis, poles, hat, and mittens.
I fell so hard my mittens fell off.
I made it down to the base, pretty shaken up, but grateful I was okay.
We get to the car, wait, where are the keys?
Or so we thought, entering Arches National Park it started snowing.
Walking around the arches in the bitter cold was definitely an eye opening experience.
Katie had never been, so we loaded her up with burgers and fries, animal style of course.
After a homemade breakfast we repacked the car and headed towards the Tetons.
Imagine taking a pee stop with two bald eagles circling above, magical stuff there.
The most beautiful bathroom.
A few weeks before I left I had made a thread namedJackson Hole Couchlooking for a place to stay.
About 10 miles out of the town it seemed like the elk came out of nowhere.
The drive was definitely worth it because the view did not disappoint.
The Tetons are truly a magical place.
I could call this place home.
We ended up at the local watering hole, Pinky G’s, indulging in some Rainier and pizza.
He was even able to hook us up with half off lift tickets to Jackson Hole.
Skiing Jackson was definitely an experience.
“the Mecca”
Snow flurries in Jackson.
Yet again we repacked the car and were on our way.
We had a solid 12 hours of driving ahead of us, but we were getting to Oregon!
This is also where Katie shattered her phone in the bathroom.
The beauty of Idaho was quickly fading away.
I nonchalantly said just drive through.
I turned the GPS off to conserve some data.
Words of advice: DON’T EVER TURN THE GPS OFF.
I turned it back on somewhere around Baker City and realized we had taken a wrong turn somewhere.
It would add about an hour onto the trip, no big deal right?
We had no cell service, no radio stations, no bathrooms and no stops.
Where the hell are we?
We finally made it to Bend and showed up to our friends house in the middle of a party.
Good way to end a 14-hour drive.
Once the party winded down we snagged a couch and rested up for a solid day of day drinking.
We grabbed breakfast in downtown Bend and then headed to the Deschutes Brewery.
Reality was setting in that after that day I was on my own.
We arrived at Portland International Airport around noon.
I helped Katie with her bags and we said our goodbyes.
That really was the trip of a lifetime, something to remember when we’re old.
A new place to call home.
