May 2010

I started my new job on Monday, May 3, 2010 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and spent the remainder of that month trying to figure everything out. Everything here is so completely different and new, but so far I’m outrageously optimistic in spite of some pretty compelling reasons not to be, but I feel confident that this is the right decision for me. I’ve already got several trips planned that will take me to see almost a dozen places on my list this year. Starting the end of June when I head back to Utah to close up my apartment and move all the stuff that wouldn’t fit in the car (finally, furniture!), continuing to the Finger Lakes in July, and Kentucky/Tennessee this fall, not to mention several trips that are day trips from home planned for a Saturday here and there. This is going to be good!

April 2010 – Part Five

I was anxious to get settled and get things taken care of, but LaNae and Mom were here to be tourists so I didn’t get to really enjoy the fun things we did. I was always worried about this or that, getting set up, finding an apartment, etc. We only managed to look at one apartment a day while everyone was in town and that is not the way I like to handle such things. I knew that with one full day dedicated to apartment hunting I could find something appropriate, and if I had to do it over I’d have rearranged my travel schedule to do that up front. Then I could’ve forgotten about it and enjoyed myself a little more. You can read up on the fun things we did that week here.









Instead of going with everyone back downtown and then to the airport on Wednesday, I said goodbye to Mom and LaNae at their hotel (yes, there were tears) and went back to T3’s to get organized and formulate a game plan. I felt great once that was done, appointments were scheduled, calls were made, employment confirmed, etc.

I spent the next day (Thursday, April 29th) visiting many, many apartment complexes and I did, indeed, find a suitable match. I signed the lease the very next day and had a permanent address in Pennsylvania on Friday, April 30, 2010.

April 2010 – Part Four

Wednesday was the longest day of my life and I don’t really want to talk about it. We went from Keokuk, IA to Cleveland, OH on the back-est of the back roads. I swear the GPS was giving us directions akin to: “Turn left in what looks like Farmer Joe’s field, but will turn out to be a cow-path-like intersection in .2 miles”. Honestly, it was one lane roads without striping or anything. I felt pretty lucky that we had a full tank of gas or else we may have experienced first hand that famous mid-west hospitality. Cleveland certainly does rock after 11 ½ hours of driving.

Thursday was our last day of travel and we were planning on arriving in Willow Grove around 6:00. My sister, LaNae was flying in to spend a few days sight-seeing and helping me get settled and she would be getting to T3’s around 6:00. Perfect, right?

I wanted to stop in Pittsburgh to eat lunch at The Original…The O. It had been featured on my favorite documentary of all time, “A Hot Dog Program” and it seemed a shame to pass it by. We made it to Pittsburgh in good time, and the GPS got us right there, however, there was no parking except street parking and good luck finding a space at lunch time near a bazillion hospitals and a university. So, while I drove around trying to find parking, not accidentally turn the wrong way down a one way street, or hit a pedestrian (students, it seems, will universally walk into the street without concern for oncoming traffic) I kind of lost track of where we were in relation to The O. We finally ended up parking in a hospital garage, and before I take my Mom on another road trip she is going to have to learn how to use the GPS. I am not joking, MOM.

We asked about The O and got directions, it wasn’t far we were told and started walking. After walking approximately 17 miles we started thinking the directions were faulty so we asked, and asked, and kept getting either no help or bad directions. Honestly, I was just about to give up on eating there at all when we ran into someone who told us that the street we needed ran PARALLEL to the street we were on, and so, we had to look for “this” cross street. Angel in Pittsburgh is what I call that lady. We finally made it, and it turns out it wasn’t that far from the hospital.

I’m not sure if all the stress of finding parking and being lost and walking about a mile in the wrong direction, but I was not so impressed. I actually had a hot dog…my first in many years, and it was okay, but not great. The fries were as ginormous as advertised and they were good dipped in the accompanying gravy, but the service was poor and unfriendly and the food was really just okay especially for the price. (My milkshake was excellent, but I would have rather tried Stella’s.) Anyhow, the detour for The O cost the schedule big time and now the GPS was telling us we wouldn’t be getting to Philly until 7:30.

Shortly after leaving Pittsburgh, we were approaching the on ramp for the eastbound Penna Turnpike. The GPS was telling us to keep going straight, but I knew that T3 lived just off the Turnpike and that it was the fastest route there. And that is when it hit me. Our adventure across Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio…It was because I’d disabled toll roads when I was in PA in January. When I was here before, I had no cash and didn’t want to get caught at a toll booth with no way to pay, so I disabled that feature. When I went back to Utah it didn’t matter as Utah doesn’t have toll roads. Suddenly the trip through Farmer Joe’s fields made sense. Head. Slap.

A couple of hours away from T3’s the lack of sleep (I may have had an angry bear sharing my hotel rooms, at least that is what it sounded like) started to catch up to me, so I finally pulled over and asked my Mom to drive while I slept for a little while, and to please not squander the time I’d made up by driving on the Turnpike. When I woke up, we were still on the Turnpike, going 45 mph with a semi barreling past us. And that is why I did most of the driving. Mom wanted to check into her hotel before meeting up with T3 and LaNae for dinner, so we hurriedly did that and finally, finally we were there.

KiLee made chicken alfredo with home made breadsticks for dinner (my favorite), and it was nice to sit, relax and chat with everyone. At last, LaNae and Mom headed back to their hotel, Nate inflated the air mattress (I was crashing at their house to save money), and I went to bed, a Pennsylvania resident.

April 2010 – Part Three

Tuesday (although I will be honest and tell you at this point, I wasn’t sure what day of the week it was) we left Des Moines for a quick trip to Nauvoo, IL. This was my big concession to “vacation” on this drive. Even though I wasn’t starting work for 2 weeks, I was fairly anxious to get there and get things taken care of. Looking back at how it worked out I would’ve taken more time to drive out there. I wish we had stopped to see the American Gothic house. Bygones.

We booked it to get to Nauvoo by noon so we could go on the Wagon Ride around the town, and we barely made it. We pulled in about 2 minutes to twelve, and luckily the wagon hadn’t left yet. After the wagon tour we drove around town and embarked on our day long journey to re-find Heber C. Kimball’s home. We stopped at the Printer, John Taylor’s home, the bakery (I was getting a gingerbread cookie!), and generally just looked around. The fantastic missionaries had also suggested that we come back for Rendezvous that night so now we had after dinner plans, as well.









After looking around a bit, we headed to Carthage to see Carthage Jail, and I will not lie, I pretty much cried the entire time. It was such an amazing experience, and an amazing place to be…Both Nauvoo and Carthage. We grabbed dinner at a Dairy Queen (choices were extremely limited), marveled at the farmland of the mid-west and drove back to Nauvoo.









Rendezvous: it takes a brave person to commit to putting on a song and dance show every night when they have no training and (sometimes) no skill. Willingly because they have to. But it was a lot of fun to watch and participate. Afterward, we drove over to the Smith family cemetery. The sun had just gone down and it was dark and quiet and so peaceful; the spirit there was amazing. I could’ve sat by the river all night.

Nauvoo is an incredible place, with an especially incredible spirit and I’m sure I would’ve been emotional any time I visited, but on the particular trip I was struck with the parallels to my own circumstances. The whole spirit of Nauvoo is exodus. We were repeatedly reminded how the early Saints had built a beautiful city and a wonderful life and they left it all behind. Packed whatever they could fit in their wagons and headed west, to an uncertain life and an uncertain future. I was in the process of my own exodus. Leaving everything I had built for myself, my family and friends, and heading east to a new job, a new life and an uncertain future - my car loaded with the possessions it would fit, and hoping that I had everything necessary to start over. And so, after visiting the grave of Joseph and Hyrum Smith and watching the Mississippi roll by, I got back in my car and drove up the trail of hope moving east instead of west to my new life.

April 2010 – Part Two

The last week I was in Salt Lake was incredibly hectic, there were a lot of good bye dinners, lunches, and cocktail hours. Oh yes, and an abscess with a raging infection that forced an emergency root canal and cap 2 days before I left. You heard correctly, emergency oral surgery 2 days before I left. Super fun!

My sister threw me a big goodbye party the Friday before I left, and my sweet and crafty (not in the devious way, but in the, “Hey, I can make super cool stuff out of thin air” way) made me the cutest little picture book of all the “Nubbins”. Thanks, Stacy! I love it, and yes, it made me cry. A lot.

On Sunday, my folks came up early helped me load the car (Mom was driving cross country with me) and we were off. We drove to Cheyenne, Wyoming and spent the night. We ate dinner at Chiles, and it was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had. Service was extremely slow, the food was all cold, and the server(s) were indifferent to our existence. Blech!

Monday morning we were off again, and almost immediately were in Nebraska. Nebraska looks pretty much like you think it will; also, cows smell really, really bad. No, I mean really, really bad. And the only exciting thing to see is the Great Platte Archway that spans I-80. No exit, but a huge arch.

We made it all the way through Nebraska and to Des Moines on Monday. You may assume that Des Moines is not a happening place (and it’s probably not), but before we left I’d looked up some Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives places and found Stella’s Blue Sky Diner. We went there for dinner and it was quite the experience. First of all, it’s located in end cap of a strip mall so you are completely unprepared when you step through the doors…and into the 50s. The whole place is done in pink and blue with kitschy memorabilia including TVs, juke boxes, toys and disco balls. I tried to order the loose meat sandwich, but they were out of loose meat, so I settled on the crispy grilled cheese. It’s coated in cornmeal and fried(?...maybe, I’m not sure how they get it like that). It was really good, tasting sort of like a scone and sort of like a grilled cheese, and their fries were delicious. We talked about ordering shakes, and we really should have. You can have it served by placing the cup on your head, your server climbs up on the divider between booths (or you lay on the floor and they stand on a chair), and pours it from the mixer into your cup. They have great aim! The only time they missed was when the poor kid’s dad started poking him in the ribs so they kid squirmed away. There were also 2-3 birthdays in the restaurant. The counter-guys take a megaphone, announce the birthday, and have the entire restaurant sing while the birthday boy or girl rides a stick pony around the place. So, if you’re ever in Des Moines, I give Stella’s 2 thumbs up!