After 3 days of travel, we arrived in Colorado Springs last night. It's a bit strange, moving into a house you've never seen before in a city you've never visited, knowing it's going to be your home for two years. I'm sure within a few days I'll start feeling more comfortable here, but right now it mostly feels like I'm on vacation in an unfamiliar place.
It was good to feed my wanderlust on a 1,574-mile road trip. Our trip was fueled by music, trivia questions, snacks, conversation, reading, and TED Radio Hour podcasts, and that was more than enough to keep me happy. Also, west strikes me as by far the most romantic direction to be going -- maybe it's just a bit of lingering westward expansion mentality, but there was something about following all the westward-bound signs through seven states that felt extra adventurous.
Leaving Harrisonburg for the last time was the hardest part. I already miss having my family and closest friends just a few minutes away, but I still feel confident in being here.
The first day, we hauled ourselves and our tiny car packed full of belongings over the mountains of West Virginia and Kentucky. This was the longest travel day, taking us to Mount Vernon, Illinois. The second day we drove just a bit further to Saint Louis, Missouri, where I'd never been before. (I still don't feel like I've seen all that much of it, but we spent a fair bit of time walking around the downtown area.) After lunch and part of the afternoon, we headed for Topeka, Kansas for the second night.
The third day, we drove across most of Kansas and into Colorado.
I expected driving across Kansas to be boring, but it actually might have been my favorite leg of the trip. Without the extra traffic from any major cities, we were free to enjoy the landscape: a huge expanse of sky swirled with clouds, vast farmlands stretching to both sides, gentle hills dotted with silos and wind turbines.
Entering Colorado was a glorious feeling. It didn't really look any different from Kansas, but after months of anticipation, it was good to finally be in our new state.
Just before we entered Colorado Springs, massive storm clouds took over the sky. When the torrential rains started, we eventually stopped to wait it out, which ended up being a good idea when the hail started. This is what we saw through our windshield while we were waiting.
It was a LOT of water.
Eventually we made it to the Springs, and to the Rockies.
Next up: Settling into our new home, exploring our neighborhood and beyond, and meeting the other Service Adventure leaders at our orientation beginning tonight.
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