3500 miles...

At last, the long overdue blog entry which I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for, no doubt wondering with bated breath how I made it all the way across the country. Now that my room is clean and I have figured out how to drive to the grocery store and the fabric store, I have recovered enough psychic energy to write something.

Monday Jan 19, Philip and I left Ukiah in my poor little car, packed more tightly than I would have thought possible. Before we left, my mom had offered us a box of Kleenex to take along in case we needed it, but the only room left to store anything was Philip’s lap. Needless to say, we left the box of Kleenex behind.

Considering that it is the middle of winter, the safest route was to be a southern one. Therefore we made our way through LA, stopping by my brother’s house and a friend’s for brief visits which of course were thoroughly enjoyable. Sadly, my new little niece Gracie decided NOT to poke her head into the world while I was there, dooming me now to see her only in pictures. However, we did visit both the LA and San Fernando missions. The LA mission appears to still be an active parish. Although, the San Fernando mission is set up as a museum, I found it to be a place that still exuded peace, prayer, and the presence of God. When I found the church, I was not surprised to find Our Lord still present in the tabernacle.

The next leg of the trip consisted of driving through the desert and the great plains of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. As we navigated through vast expanses of dead grass, a landscape this mountain girl finds particularly boring, the CD player and the book which Philip read aloud for hours at a time became my anchors in sanity. I found it very ironic that while going through the high desert where precipitation of any kind hardly ever occurs, it rained on us. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but the straps from my roof carrier came inside the doors, bringing the rain with them. Fortunately I had kept my towels out to protect my books and computer from just such a possibility. Later on in the trip, these same holes and many others besides, leaked a frigid wind which the barely working heater did little to dispel. Too bad hot chocolate doesn’t warm toes. However, other than frozen digits and an atlas that kept falling onto my head, we suffered no real mishap. My worst fears, of being creamed by one of the semis which over-populated the highway or getting a flat tire, never materialized. (Now, mind you, it wasn’t the flat tire I was worried about, but digging the spare out from underneath the heavily packed trunk!) “Ahhh…” I thought on Saturday, beginning to compose this blog entry as we neared St Louis at seventy-plus miles an hour, “smooth sailing for 3500 miles.” But I thought too soon. Indeed there was much more to come.

Sunday in St Louis, it began to snow and there were predictions of a storm coming. And come it did. On Monday sleet, snow, and freezing rain began to fall causing me to almost get into an accident just coming home from the store (thank God for guardian angels!). It continued for the next almost 36 hours, delaying my departure by the same. Fortunately we were in St Louis where we were cozily ensconced in a warm apartment with good friends, food, games, and mugs of hot chocolate. We were again fortunate that St Louis was not hit the worst by this cross country storm, which the weather-man dubbed “the worst of the season.” In fact, what we had just driven through seemed to be hit the worst. Still, there was more than enough snow and ice in Missouri to suit my taste.
The weather had cleared by Wednesday morning, Jan 28. We still had almost 800 miles to go, through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland, so it became imperative to leave if we were to make it in time for our commitments early Friday. So late morning we set off. Getting out of the city, in fact just getting out of the driveway, was quite a job. Philip had to dig my car out of the snow with a dustpan, and yes, I did say dustpan. The roads, barely plowed, were difficult to navigate, but with much spinning of tires we did finally make it to the highway.

Once we were out of the city, the highways were fairly clear although frequent patches of ice and snow required constant vigilance. The mud and ice thrown onto my windshield by passing semis made this task somewhat more difficult, but we were spared the fate of the many overturned vehicles which we passed on the side of the road. Exits however, were treacherous. Unsalted and barely plowed, they turned a quick on and off for gas and de-icing into a laborious process. One such ordeal early on in the day is particularly notable. After getting gas, I attempted to stop for a Starbucks but misjudged the depth of the snow in the driveway. To make a long story short, I got very, very stuck. Philip couldn’t dig me out with his combat boots. Had it not been for a kind stranger who pushed me out of the snow with his truck, I would have had to call a tow truck. Unfortunately, in the process my tail lights got crunched and my tires were ruined from spinning in the snow. But I got my Starbuck’s!

After that, Wednesday was a horrible day. Driving was far more dangerous with slick tires, especially as the sun began to sink and slush turned to ice. Even though we hadn’t made it far that day, we eventually had to call it quits and deal with the rest of the trip the following day. Thursday morning we managed to find a Walmart to get new tires and a dustpan. Driving was much better with new tires, and as we moved east the snow and ice diminished. We made it in one piece to my new home in Maryland that evening… just in time for dinner! Although the day and a half I had originally planned for sightseeing was eaten by the storm, Philip made his plane on Friday and I made it to the hospital for several hours of paperwork and whatnot.

So the moral of the story is:
Don’t move cross country in the middle of winter
The Lord cares for His own, even foolish ones who do foolish things for His sake.
Next time I’m getting a bigger car. With snow tires. And four-wheel drive. And a heater.

Now I am happily settling into my new home in Maryland. The more I am in this house, the more I love it. It is plenty spacious with enough room even for a sewing table downstairs! I already have plans for making kitchen curtains and come spring, planting a few vegetables and herbs in the spacious backyard. I have found kindred spirits in my roommates. Someone is always singing or playing something, and deep conversations are frequent. I am surrounded by music and deep thoughts which satisfies my artistic and intellectual needs right now. This particular neighborhood is very quiet and full of trees making my country heart very happy. Outside this neighborhood, the traffic is crazy and it will take some getting used to. Although I know that I can’t settle here because the city (DC) and the traffic will eventually drive me crazy, for now God has truly blessed me and provided everything He knows I need. I begin my internship at the hospital on the 17th. In the meantime I am continuing to get to settle in, decorate my room, get to know the area and meet people. Now I only await news from the school (I just turned in my application again since the first got lost in the mail).

Thank you to all of you who kept us in your prayers as we traveled! The Lord indeed protected us! Don’t forget to pray for me as I begin my new life here, and may God bless you all.