A Grand U.S. Road Trip

Fourteen days and 3,890 miles.  In two legs, Michelle and I drove from Tacoma, WA to Lorain, OH and then to Springfield, LA.  There are a few highlights of the drive that we want to expound.  First, it felt so good to see family.  Michelle and I got to spend five days in Ohio visiting my family.  One of the cornerstones of the visit was Stephanie’s graduation.  After years of hard work, Stephanie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.  It was so cool to see her walk.  Congratulations, big sis!  Michelle and I also enjoyed eating a traditional Polish meal, complete with paczkis, and trying to polka at the Polish dinner as part of Lorain’s International Festival.

Another highlight of Ohio was simply spending time with my parents, siblings, relatives and a few friends (shout out to Dave Vale, Kathy Petras, Doug Kirk, Adam, Holly, and li’l Tate Trifiro, and Dr. Melampy and Nance).  Michelle and I didn’t have to worry about being anywhere in particular nor set an alarm.  It felt nice just talking, laughing, and being.  Thank you for that!

Along the way, we got to see Erin Vandenburgh get hitched to her boo, Brandon, in Idaho; grab cinnamon roll French toast at Silver Grill Café in Fort Collins, CO with good friends (shout out to Shelby, Tyler, Stephen, Cassidy and li’l Channing, Kate, Cynthia, Emily, Steve, and Amanda); visit with the Dalton’s and stay for breakfast in Omaha, NE; laugh a lot and enjoy scrumptious Chicago-style pizza at Giordano’s with Joe Levy, Brittany, Rhonda, and Ade; spend the night with Michelle’s sister, Anne, and her partner, Justin, in Cincinnati, OH; eat at the delicious Loveless Café and get a driving tour of Nashville, TN with Kari George; have a quick stop in Huntsville, AL to see Michelle’s cousin, Danica, before capping off our drive in Springfield, LA.  In LA, we’re going to spend our last days in the U.S. with Michelle’s family (future post to come).

Driving from Washington to Ohio and then to Louisiana showed us that we live in a very beautiful country.  Several mountains ranges give way to canyons flowing with white water and eventually mellow out to fields of green as far as the eye can see.  America, the Beautiful.  It’s cliché, but true.  Michelle and I were fortunate to get in some cragging in Vantage, WA and touring the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky on our second wedding anniversary, but there were many more places that would have shown to be cool adventures.  New climbs, hikes, white water rafting, and others that we look forward to doing when we get back.  We’ll be looking for others to join us. ;)

We’re growing more excited about our upcoming adventure with the Peace Corps and we’re elated to be going to South Africa because we’ve read and heard wonderful things about it.  In the mean time, we’re grateful to see have seen so many people and we’re honored and humbled to have been able to see so much of the U.S.  By the time we get on the plane for South Africa, we’ll have driven through 17 states.