Still Traveling

Sorry that the font changes sizes in this blog. For some reason blogger won't let me fix it!

Nebraska- Sight seeing (more fun than I expected)
Nebraska was a remarkably fun state for me. I bought a pass to the state parks for cheap and went to two state parks while I was there. One was The Buffalo Bill Ranch and the other wasFort Kearny. Buffalo Bill's ranch was his house and ranch that he went to in between shows and Fort Kearny is an old trading post for travelers. I especially liked the Ranch. When I reached the other side of Nebraska I stopped in Omaha and had dinner with a friend. I told him I wanted something that was authentic Nebraskan so he took me to this fast food restraunt called Runza where they serve Runza. What is a Runza you ask? I asked that too. Its almost like a homemade- uh well I don't know if homemade is the right word, but maybe restraunt made- hot pocket. It is the pocket of crust filled with...something...not really sure what. Probably I don't what to know what it is filled with, but then on top of the "classic" runza you can get other more familiar toppings. We tried the mushroom and swiss (which was both of our favorites), BBQ, BLT, and classic. Not bad, I had a lot of fun. It was so good to stop and talk to someone. Harry Potter did me good, but real human interaction is also a bonus.

Left:cannon at Ft. Kearny Right: Barn at Buffalo Bill's Bottom:Buffalo Bill's home

Iowa July 28-30- yeah for friends!
I drove into West Des Moines, Iowa on Monday night. I pretty much said hello to my friends and then crashed for the night. I was exhausted from traveling all day. The next day was great fun though! We went to the Science Center in downtown Des Moines. It was such a blast. I think we stayed for about 4 hours and we only saw maybe half of it. We had a blast! Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures at the moment. My camera's batteries died and I haven't gotten pictures from the other members of our party yet. If they are especially good, I might post them later when I get them. That night we played games (I learned to play Ticket to Ride- fun game, I'd recommend it) and then the next day we drove to a historic Dutch village- Pella, IA. Unfortunately for me, I didn't really have to stay time and take the tour, but we walked around the gardens of a mansion, sat in the park, and I picked up some delicious food at a Dutch bakery before I left town.

Left: Marc's sister Alicia and I Right: Becca

Left: Marc Right: Lucy, Marc & Becca's daughter

Missouri July30-August 4
Missouri was fun because I got to spend so much time with my sister Tania and her family. I took the kids to Burger King one afternoon and let them run their energy out, that is where I took these pictures. Most of what we did in Missouri was low key, watched movies, went shopping, a library trip- stuff like that. I had so much fun with the fam and it was really hard to leave them all, but leave I had to. By the time I left I was ready to go home, but I wasn't sure how I felt about "home" being VA, not UT. Actually, I would have preferred to just turn around and go back to my cute apartment in Provo, but I trekked onward. In Missouri I made one more stop at this random store. It's called "Nostalgiaville" and is found in some little town about 15 miles outside of Columbia. It was a really cute store with all kinds of older things to buy. They had Elvis, I love Lucy, Betty Boop, John Wayne, and other famous paraphernalia. It was really fun. I bought a John Deere magnet because I had driven through so many corn fields and see so many John Deere stores, museums, and tractors that I felt like it was fitting.

Left: Benjamin and Camilla Right: Samuel and Bottom: Nostalgiaville

Illinois- Corn- August 4
Illinois wasn't too exciting. I wanted to stop at Lincoln's cabin, but I missed the exit. I saw a sign for a "historic downtown" and museum and wanted a break so I stopped. It turned out that I stopped in Arcola, which is the town where the creator of Ragady Ann and Andy was born. There is a whole museum. I was SO excited to go, but alas. I was driving on Monday and it is closed on Monday. I was so disappointed. I took a picture of the outside of the museum, but didn't get to go inside. I wandered around some local antique shops to get a break and then pressed forward. Illinois wasn't my favorite state, but oh wait, I did get to stop at a Steak 'n Shake which was really great. I love their shakes!


Indiana- And more corn- August 4-5
Did you know that Indiana has a ton of corn fields? I saw hardly anything else in the whole state! I drove into West Lafeyette which is where Purdue is. My friend Katy is starting a PhD program there next fall and left Provo just two days before I did to drive out the her new place. I got to spend the evening with her which was a blast. We just sat and talked about life and our new adventures and ate "beany vegetable dip" which she kindly made for us. It was so much fun. I stayed overnight with Katy and headed out early the next morning. I stopped once more in Indiana, but I slept and then bought junk food to eat while I drove so I could stay awake. It also was raining a ton when I left. I had been really lucky to have good weather (hot and muggy, but easy to drive in) up until this point, but there was a downpour of rain in Indiana when I left. No fun. Still, I was so glad I stopped seeing Katy was so good (thanks for letting me stay Katy!).


Ohio-If only I had more time! August 5
It seemed like there were a lot of fun things to do in Ohio, but I didn't really have time to stop. I drove all the way from West Lafetette to Virginia in a day which is kind of a long drive, so I didn't want to spend too much time playing. The one thing I did stop and see in Ohio was the Motocycle Hall of Fame Museum. Random, I know, but it was interesting. I have no desire to stop again, but it was worth it for that day.



West Virginia- Still driving, too bad August 5
By the time I got to West Virginia, I was so ready to be done with my trip. Oh so ready. I took a break and stopped in Wheeling. There was a cute toy and train museum that I stopped at, but it was kind of expensive for a 20 minute stop, so I just walked around outside and looked at the train that they had out there. It was a fast stop and would have been more fun if I was closer to my final destination!



Pennsylvania- Desperation, August 5
I thought that Pennsylvania would never end! I stopped because I needed gas and I was going to eat at a good looking drive-inn or something fun and unique, but there was a whole bunch of construction on the stop that I made, so I pulled over at a McDonald's, it considerably easier to get into and out of and I just wanted it to be easy! I drove over the "mountains" in Pennsylvania which was really beautiful and quite a bit different than the Rockies...they are more like the foothills in Colorado Springs than the mountains, but hey- to each their own. I was ready to pull over and quit by the time I left Pennsylvania, I just thought I might not make it the last few hours.



Virginia- The finish line!
I finally made it into Virginia and to Trista's house. I was so exhausted, I can't even say how much. I went to Trista's house before mine because getting to her house is easier so she was going to drive in front of me into Fairfax county and show me the way. First we went to Uno's pizza and had a treat! When I found out that I got accepted to GW in January, she took me to Uno's to celebrate, so we thought that it was only fitting to celebrate my arrival in the same place. Then we headed for my place. I had to drive on the Beltway with my car packed full. That was kind of exciting because I could barely see out of my car, but I made it safely. The townhome I moved into is AMAZING! It is huge. My room was built to be a sitting room so it has a fireplace which makes me very happy. There is so much space in that room that I don't even know what I will do with it! That's ok with me though.


How I felt when I drove in .......... But still excited

It was such a long trip, but so good. It was interesting to see so much of the country and see how diverse our nation is. I never drove so far alone before and I was really excited to see and do so much. All in all I was glad to make it. I've already had some adventures here in DC, but I will save those for another post, so come back in a few days!

I can't believe I'm here and sometimes I wonder what I was thinking coming this far away, but here I am. My roommates seem to be wonderful, and we are all new to the area together, so we are all learning all kinds of new things! It should be fun, but will undoubtedly be full of many...adventures.