I'm proud to say that my apartment looks pretty good and settled. Granted, I did notice that I left some of the stickers on the pots I bought from Target that I used to cook last night (not to mention that I have like 5 plates, 4 bowls, and still need a bookshelf...but hey, it's me. I mean, I have all the things I need and I'll add things as they come.
I promise to take pictures of the place for you all to see- I just haven't fully figured out the camera yet. That is to say I've not been to a store to get the piece necessary for connecting the camera to my computer. But they'll be coming soon.
Last week I was waking up in Bozeman, MT after my first full day of driving. Today I am returning the Uhaul here in Knoxville. Holy poop. Here are a few of the little highlights/hilarities/classic Ike moments from the trip:
1. Monday, August, 10th 8:35 am in Moscow, Idaho: Left nearly an hour later than I had planned (classic) and realized at the gas station that I had forgotten my sunglasses in Atlanta with Phil and Ali. Attempted to buy cheapos at the Conoco with no success (complete dearth of large head options). Decided to drive Hwy12 to Missoula as it is such a beautiful stretch of road and such went towards Lewiston. Stopped at Flying J (which brought back all kinds of memories) took a pee and bought some sweet large-headed aviators. Started down the ole familiar Hwy 12 to the ole familiar smell of pulp mill- mmmmmm.
Drove past Orofino and stopped in at the city park to take another pee. Seriously- I have a squirrel's bladder (plus I had a lot of coffee). Said a little prayer of gratitude to Orofino for having been such a great place to grow up. Then I got the hell out of there.
My plan was to have lunch with Easton in Missoula around 12:30pm. It was 10 o'clock as I was rolling out of Orofino. I thought- "it'll be closer to 1pm- but I can just shoot her a text." Well I forgot three important things. One- Missoula is an hour ahead. Two- Highway 12 doesn't have cell reception...the whole way from Kamiah to 8 miles outside of Missoula. Three- Hwy 12 is slow and it's even slower when there's construction. Those three things added up to equal me showing up on the other side of the mountains, finally in cell range, after a circa 4 hour trip, eight miles outside of Missoula...at around 2:30pm Mountain Time. Shit. Easton sent me a very appropriately curt and confused text...something to the effect of- "I hope that you are still alive-wherever you are. I can't stand wasting such a beautiful day waiting around inside- so I'm heading out. Gimmee a ring to let me know that you are alive." Shit.
So I let her know I was alive and that I was clearly the same ole forgetful shitball (I'm hoping to do some good work on this habit during grad school). Then, I realized that, though I'd hoped for a nice relaxing time in Missoula (going for a walk down by the river and catching some lunch with a friend), because of the current time situation, I needed to pick up something quick and hit the road. I had planned to be having dinner with friends in Bozeman. Shit.
I hit up the "Break"- where almost two years ago to the day, I serendipitously met Josh Olson and more or less got my job at Three Rivers Montana. Scored a strong cup of coffee and bagel sandwich, and, of course, took a pee. Back on the road.
I pulled into Bozeman, somehow, exactly per my estimate- 6:30pm. Sometimes I'm on time. Pulled into the Heeb's parking lot and picked op a bottle of wine for dinner with my hosts. Justin, Kari, and their two hilarious and handsome kids- Marley (3 1/2) and Freia (2) were gracious and fun. We got caught up on all the good stuff and Justin and I even got to have a couple of great games of ping pong out in the garage.
Went to the Nova Cafe with my ole Three Rivers crew- Colter and Hannah. Was good to see the two of them. Colter brought his girlfriend Erika whom I'd gotten to know pretty well during my stay in Bozeman as well, and we had a nice time drinking coffee and catching up. I walked with Hannah back to her new apartment (just across the street from my old place) and poked my head over at my old neighbor's Marty and Dana. Their littlest (now much bigger than the last time I saw him), Kai, was naked (no different than last time I saw him) and wandering around outside the house with no one in sight (also no different than usual). I asked Kai if he remembered me, to which he responded with a clear but confused smile, "yes"- though clearly he didn't. Cute. Anyhow- turned out Dana was downstairs wrestling with Bryce in the tub- and Kai led me inside to find them. Dana and I had a great time hanging on the back porch reminiscing and getting caught up.
Took a nice run up on Pete's hill. Took a great shower at Justin and Kari's. Had some lunch with the host fam and hit the road. Bozeman was sunny and beautiful as always. Nice to remember how powerful and important that place was for me during this last chapter of my life. This was the place that I found myself again. I said a little prayer of thanks to the people and places who helped me with that process (Jens, Tina, Three Rivers, the Mountains).
2. Billings:
I pulled into Billings around 5:3o pm. Miraculously, I found my way right to my good friends' Adam and Sarah's place without directions. I'd been there before and sort of used a blend of intuition and dead reckoning based off of landmarks. Sweet.
I snuck in a delicious nap before Adam showed up to take me to the barbeque his in-laws were putting together. We got caught up on the drive over and marveled at how much can happen in such a short time. When last we saw each other- his oldest, Nora, was barely walking around. Now, she is running, and she has a brother. We had a ton of fun at Granny and Grampy's place- I got to play with Nora and little Erik. I got to catch up with Sarah, her sister Mary (who also went to PLU), and get caught up. We headed home early for the little ones which was OK with me. I had to hit the road early.
3. Moorhead:
I had planned to drive all the way to Minneapolis to visit Bradley. When I pulled into Bismarck at 6pm and realized I had about 5 more hours and I was starting to hallucinate from sleep deprivation- I threw in the towel to the road gods, drank a stiff cup, and did my best to get to Moorhead. Got a cheap Super 8 motel and had a great night's sleep.
4. Waupun:
Pulled in here and was greeted so sweetly by my great aunt Ardell. Had dinner with her and her ailing husband Milon (he's hooked up to oxygen- was a cigarette smoker for a long time). Had a great sleep, delicious brunch with all of Granny's siblings (save Byron) at Ruth Ann's (she put up a serious spread), and had a classic tour of Brandon and Fairwater with Grandpa Gordy's childhood buddy Ralph Dammerau. Milon drove us around which was its own adventure as he is pretty frail and I don't think should be driving. I had a great time cruising through these sleepy little towns and seeing where Grandpa's church, house (used to be), and favorite play places (the mill pond) were.
5. Super 8:
I left Wisconsin after a nice lunch of pizza with Ardell's beautiful great granddaughters. The two youngest (Abby and Amaya) were curious in my van and they came outside while I was rearranging my packing- they were sooooo cute. It felt so nice to have seen and experienced the small town Wisconsin life that I've heard so many stories about from Granny and Grandpa. Anyhow- I hit the road around 1pm and made it to Indianapolis around 10pm (one final time zone passing). I staid in a Super 8 in Moorhead as well- and I must say that for the price- it's just right. I will also say that I was so excited to finally be here in Knoxville that I didn't sleep real well that night. But the free HBO special on Segregation in Southern Football Programs was very interesting.
6. Knoxville, TN:
I didn't leave my beloved bed at Super 8 until around 10 am. So I hit the road about 10:30 am and drove the beautiful miles through Kentucky and on into Tennessee from the north on I-75. Coming into Tennessee, it was quite remarkable just how lush and verdant the Smokies looked. I found the local bluegrass station and enjoyed taking in this new scenery with the appropriate music. I pulled into my new place about 5:30 pm. Home at last. Felt so good to finally be here, not worried about driving long days, and to start things up. I called one of the third year students who I'd been assigned as my mentor student and asked if he had time and energy to help me with a quick unpack- Aaron obliged me.
Took us about 45 minutes to introduce ourselves. Took about 30 minutes to unpack. Aaron is a great guy. I could tell right away we'd have a good time together. I offered to by dinner as per his services- and he knew a great mexican place within walking distance from my place. We had some decent Mexican food, good beer, and fun conversation. It was a great way to be welcomed into town.
I am writing this on Thursday. I have now been here for 5 full days and am still figuring out this game they call grad school. I continue to be impressed with just how encouraging, kind, and supportive the environment is in my program. I've already got a few connections with folks that I can tell will be amazing classmates and fun friends too. I can already tell that these blogs will be becoming much shorter and more sporadic in nature very soon-there's a lot to get done with all this school stuff. I will tell you all right now that I will be purchasing a Blackberry. How about that? But I'll be doing my best to keep ya'll updated as best I can.
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