The Trip East

6-16-13 – Broadview Heights, OH, USA

Yes, the “OH” above stands for Ohio.  For the enlightenment of the friends we have met on the West coast and in Mexico: Ohio is a smaller state in the Mid-West (actually Mid-East, not really sure why they call it the Mid-West) of the country.  It is a place where rivers are actually rivers, think a mile wide, not creeks like most of the “rivers” in the West are, where there is an overabundance of green grass, so much so that you can’t kill it and most people don’t need to water their lawns because…..it rains all the time.  

Ohio river in Evansville.

I will say my risk of sunburn has been reduced significantly since being in Ohio.  There are churches here in place of the bars in Reno.  The sweeping vistas of Mexico and the Western US are replaced by rainforest like foliage and corn fields as far as the eye can see.  It’s hard to explain how small the cultivated areas of the West seem when driving thru Nebraska and the other states here.  Oh yea, here in Ohio there is also all of my family with Elizabeth’s family just to the southwest in Indiana.  So now we are in Ohio.  Like so many things in our lives right now, getting here has been an adventure and now that all the top secret BS of changing jobs has been completed, I am happy to say I am looking forward to living here.

1st sighting of snow this year!

While it’s all a blur of driving, gas stations and really bad fast food; I’ll give you the recap on the trip East.  The plan was to drive East, get a job, settle down and then retrieve all of our stuff, now scattered around the country.  That had the potential to take some time so everything needed for the next few months had to fit into the little Volvo.  Not an easy task, but after living on the boat for a year we figured it out.  After leaving Reno we still didn’t have a destination or a job back East, so we took our time and drove US50 out to Great Basin National Park.  It’s one of those places we always wanted to visit, but had never made it.  There I saw my first and only snow of the 2012/13 ski season at 10,000 feet.  That stuff is cold, I think I remember why people spend winter in Mexico now.  

Camping outside of Ely, NV.
Everyone has an inverter and air pump in their car, right?

We camped at the KOA outside of Ely, NV (yes the tent and sleeping bags made the cut as essential gear).  Just like in Mexico I was trying to taste the local foods so I had a chicken fried something or other at a little local dinner.  From there we took I70 thru Utah, Colorado and Kansas.  The views from I70 in Eastern Utah are amazing and absolutely worth detouring down to I70 for the Utah crossing.  Two days later we had made our way to Chicago to visit family and scope out a potential job opportunity.  That city is chaos, even the suburbs are crazy, especially for two people from Reno, NV who just spent a year at the speed of boat in Mexico.  It was a little overwhelming.  It was then on to Cleveland Ohio, but just for a couple of days.  First a fight to Chicago again to interview, then a 4 day road trip to Baltimore, MD for another interview.  The people in Baltimore played to my weaknesses and put me up in the Four Seasons, overlooking the inner harbor and a branch of the Chesapeake Bay. 

Baltimore inner harbor

It was hard to think that a week earlier I had said goodbye to AW in San Diego on the Pacific Ocean, and here I was overlooking the Atlantic.  Meanwhile back in Ohio I was offered an opportunity that sounded great so I took it.  I think back to that day in Punta Mita at the coffee shop writing my resume, sitting outside in my flip flops struggling to make it sound professional, then refining it after a review (thanks Rob) thinking maybe I should just stay in Mexico and not get a job.  The effort was worth it, even if I had to miss a few Pacificos on the beach. Job in hand we took a little 8 hour road trip to Evansville, IN to visit with Elizabeth’s family.  Evansville is a good place to remember what a real river looks like, with tugs pushing barges hundreds of feel long up and down the river.  Back in Cleveland I bought a car so I could go to work.  Hard to believe but after being unemployed for a year and technically still being unemployed, not having a permanent address, having a Nevada drivers license with a Indiana address and registering the car to an Ohio address…..they still gave me a loan!  And you wonder how people get in trouble with credit?  Now like all good grown up adults, I am living with mom.  I guess that’s why you come to a place you know people.

Sunset over Lake Erie.  Not too bad.

Having not worn much except flip flops and shorts for the last year and only having 2 bags of select clothes in the car I had to break down and buy clothes to go to work in yesterday.  I hope hey are ok with me wearing the same two pairs of pants and 4 shirts for a while.  While the moving across the country part of our adventure is still far from complete, I officially start work tomorrow and for the first time in over a year will have to pretend to be responsible.  Which seems funny, since I guess we sailed up and down the coast of Mexico and the US for a year, drove across the country at least twice and never got in trouble, so I guess that shows some level of responsibility, or does it?  I can say that this phase of the adventure is just starting.

Thankfully the air mattress made the cut.  Where
will we be sleeping next?