The Move

After 3 days, 2479 miles using 55 gallons of gas on my trusty Prius, Ivy and I made it back to California! Last Friday the United Van Lines movers came and cleaned out my apartment, except a few things, within 2 hours! They were pretty professional and packed every thing good. The only things left were my 2 bikes, computer, camera equipments, and clothes for the next 3 days. I decided to stay a night at a local Best Western since I didn't think I could last a night on the floor. So Friday night I packed every thing into my car and headed out to the hotel.

I started the trip from Columbus last Saturday morning. Ivy was supposed to start the trip with me from Columbus, but her original flight on Friday night was delayed due to an incompetent airline (US Airways). It was not a weather, mechanical, or air traffic related delay. US Airways was just slow in getting their planes to their destinations on time. As a result, Ivy took the flight to Indianapolis on Saturday morning so I could pick her up on the way.

Our first day of drive was the shortest, about 712 miles. It was a 3-hour drive from Columbus to Indianapolis airport. We stopped at St. Louis and visited the Gateway Arch for a bit. It was my second visit there and Ivy's third. We didn't go up the arch as both of us had done it before and didn't find it interesting. It was near 100 degrees and humid at St. Louis and we could barely make it to the arch from the parking lot without soaking in sweat. We then drove to Kansas City (Missouri side) for our stay at Sheraton near their airport.

Our second day of drive was about 873 miles. Kansas pretty much had nothing going on. The eastern half of Colorado was plain too. Even though the plains were as flat as Ohio, Indiana, or Illinois, at least those states had a lot of huge trees. Missouri actually has a lot of rolling hills and some cliffs. We didn't stop at Denver since we want to see the Rocky Mountains before sunset and get to our hotel at Grand Junction on time. The Rockies were quite a climb. It was my 5th trip up the Rockies on I-70 freeway. There were a lot of tunnels and the snow was still there. The Eisenhower Tunnel was interesting. This tunnel is the highest point on I-70 at 11,158 feet elevation. Ivy brought some sealed snacks and one of the snacks actually burst! We later passed by the ski resourt town of Veil and coursed along with the Colorado River down to Grand Junction.

Our third day of drive was 894 miles. It was not supposed to be our longest drive, but I had to take Ivy all the way to LAX at the end to pick up her car. The day started with us in Utah most of the time. It was very hot in the desert, at 115 degrees! There were a lot of scenic view points, but all of them looked similar to me. We made a stop at St. George near the Arizona border. We drove through the Las Vegas strip, but didn't stop. My parents wanted to see if we could make it home to have dinner with them, so after a fuel-up at the California border, we drove 200 miles non-stop to Walnut! After dinner I took Ivy to LAX to pick up her car.

So that's our 3 day vacation, mostly driving. I spent the last few days unpacking and putting all the stuff in the right places. I have a truck load coming next week with the rest of my stuff. I am going to prepare and plan to study for the boards and continue to exercise on my bike. So far the hills at Walnut are killers and could take some time to get used to.