Well my friends, it's been awhile since I posted a message on my blog. I have been traveling and settling in to my new home in Seattle, Washington. Two nights before I left, I met Meg at Johnny Mango for some good beer and delicious quesadilla's. Then the night before I left I had dinner with Staci at a swanky restaurant in the Tremont/Ohio City area of Cleveland. It was yummy. The next morning, I packed up and headed out.
I left Cleveland on a gray day, January 24th to be specific. My first stop was in Toledo, Ohio to spend some time with my friends Cathy and Maggie who are actually from Michigan, but were traveling in Ohio that day. We stayed in Toledo for a few nights and just hung out. It was great fun. Maddie got to play with their two dogs, Shadow and Lucy. It was so nice just to hang out with my good peeps.
Saturday morning, the 26th, I left Toledo and drove to Chicago to spend some time with my Uncle Geoff and my cousins Laura, Julie and Geoff as well as their families. It was nice to have dinner with them and to watch some of the playoff games surrounded by my family. I don't get to see them too often, so I really enjoyed having an extended amount of time with them and meeting all of their small children.
The following Monday I headed out onto I-80 in the bitter cold. It was minus 8 degrees and that wasn't even with the wind chill taken into account. Maddie and I were a bit cold. But once we got the iPod plugged in and I started singing some Michael Jackson, we both warmed up nicely. We drove through Illinois, Iowa and then into Nebraska. Our first stop was Lincoln, Nebraska. I actually liked Lincoln. I saw the University of Nebraska and the huge Cornhuskers stadium (nothing like our O H I O horseshoe). Go Bucks!
Tuesday was another day of driving. My next stop was Cheyenne, Wyoming. I have to admit, the weather was a bit challenging on this part of the drive, but nevertheless, this Cleveland native made it through unharmed. Maddie and I landed in Cheyenne with the help of Kanye West early enough in the day that I was able to take her for a nice little hike and play some fetch with her favorite...sticks! I didn't really care for Cheyenne too much. But then again, I wasn't there long enough to form an opinion, I suppose.
The next morning we took off for Salt Lake City, Utah...one of my favorite cities. Once we entered Utah, the vista changed dramatically and we were "in the mountains." It was tremendous. I was reminded quickly of why I love the west and how being in the mountains makes me feel so small. Everything was coated in white snow sort of like fresh lemon meringue. Anyway, I was meeting my friends Cathy and Heather in Salt Lake City to hang out and do some skiing. They were there for a trade show called Outdoor Retailer. It's a really cool show for the entire outdoor industry. Heather got Maddie and me a pass to walk through the show and Maddie got a ton of lovin' from everyone inside. I partied with a bunch of my friends from the running industry, especially my peeps at Brooks.
Friday, Cathy had to head home to Michigan so Heather, John and I went skiing at Alta in Utah. I took a beginners lesson since this was my first time on ski's. Its was quite entertaining and I lost track of how many times I fell. Overall, I have to say that I had a great time and really enjoy being in the snow with my friends. After skiing, Heather and I decided that we should depart for our long drive home to Seattle. Instead of flying back to Seattle, Heather drove with me (totally awesome, don't you think?).
Friday evening we made it to Idaho and then Saturday morning we were determined to make it to Seattle. We hit a couple of problems on our trip. The weather was horrible in Idaho because there was a very, very bad ice storm. We saw a tractor-trailor completely flipped over on the other side of the road. And there were several accidents along the way. As we crossed through Oregon and in to Washington, the ice turned to more ice and snow. We saw another accident and stopped to help. Further up the highway as we approached Snowqualmie Pass we were stopped in our tracks because the pass was closed due to avalanche control. Anyway, what should have taken us 9 hours, took us about 12 hours. We were tired and weary but glad to finally be home.
So for now, Maddie and I are living in Seattle and enjoying everything that the Pacific Northwest has to offer. She has three labrador brothers that she gets to play with. I am working on getting a job and still applying to medical school. All is good for now. Thanks for reading.
