Coast to Coast, Seattle to Philly

As I have said time and time again, the best part of traveling and living in different places is the people and relationships you make. On the flipside of that, you meet awesome people, spend some time with them and then have to leave them. This part sucks. But back to the good. When you know awesome people all over, and you are traveling all over, you often know people where you are going. My return to the States has brought me back in contact with so many ridiculously sweet folks that every new city feels like a family reunion or walking into a candy shop where the candy is your best mates- terrible analogy, but let’s go with it.

From Perth I flew through Sydney, eventually landing in San Francisco. It was a little “back to the future trick,” as I left Sydney on Sunday May 15th at 2 somethin’ pm and arrived in SF Sunday May 15th at 11 somethin’ am. Strange, but pretty sweet to get some livin’ time back. Tyler picked me up and without a doubt, we stopped at In n’ Out. A Double Double Animal Style, fries, and a Coke later and I was at Tyler’s Mom’ in Davis showering up. Next was my hardest but best visit of the trip. I spent a few hours with the Heinig’s at their house. The hardest visit of my life without a doubt. I must have pet one of their dogs 5,000 times in the few hours I was there talking with them. It felt good to see so many loved ones and try to start getting some closure. Being away during the memorial was terrible, but I was comforted in the many people who told me that of course I was there. After my hard but good meeting with the Heinig’s, I left Davis with Tyler for Sacramento. I spent the night with Marcus, Daniel (Jesus he is getting big), and Reza. We were joined by Mario for a bit. It was nice to just chill out with old friends and catch up.

The next morning, Erika came over for breakfast before work, which of course was a great way to start the day. Reza and I then drove to Davis for lunch to meet up with Marcus, Logan at none other than GJ, for a lifers meeting. Jake attended in spirit, our usual waitress asked how Daniel was doing, and we all ordered the usual. The Tea was good, the food was awesome, but one thing had changed… none of us could finish. So ended my perfect batting average as a JG lifer. I guess all good things must come to an end. After JG, it was off to the bowling alley where Logan and I narrowly edged Tyler and Reza, earning a free pitcher of beer from the defeated. We were aided in our victory by several well timed gutter-balls hurled by Reza-two hands around my neck-Moddy. After taking Reza back to Sac, Tyler and I headed to SF where we met up with Drobny for some beers and a good catch-up sess. Post Drob visit, we head to Tyler’s pad in The Haight where we watched TV until we crashed.

I flew out of SF the next morning, landing in Seattle where the best sister in the world picked me up and took me back to Toby and Kirsten’s house. Rhiannon and I took a walk to lake Washington, before going to the grocery store and buying a feast to make for lunch. Rhiannon made us a great lunch and we hung out the rest of the day. When Toby and Kirsten got home, we went out to eat at a Vegetarian restaurant. The food was bomb, the company better. It was AMAZING seeing family again!

The following day, Rhiannon headed back to Sitka, Toby, Kirsten, and I went out to breakfast before they went to work. So nice to be close to family again! After a brief respite for my stomach, I went into Seattle to catch up with old friend Amanda Smith for lunch. It was great to see her and we chowed down on Mexican food by the water, while swapping travel stories from abroad. I am always trying to gauge whether I think someone would be fun to travel with, and Smith definitely passes that litmus test. I returned to Columbia city to meet Toby, who took work off early. We headed towards Safeco Field to catch the M’s and Angels square off, but first stopped at an asian food court and grabbed some of Saigon (in Seattle’s) finest cuisine. When we got to the park, we headed straight for our seats, about 6 rows behind the Angels dugout on the 3rd base side. No better way to spend your (or in this case Toby’s (the generous older brother he is)) money. Being that close to such high level baseball never ceases to amaze me, and my mind was racing with things that players did, managerial decisions, and the like. The end result was a success, a 3-0 M’s win, and a good ballgame.

The next morning, we said our so-longs, Toby and Kirsten headed off to work and my insane trip across country started. I picked up Geoff, my road companion and we set off in the direction of Minnesota. We left at 11am, and didn’t stop (except for gas and nibbles) until 2pm the next day when we pulled in front of Doug’s house in Minneapolis. Throughout the course of 25 hours, we covered 1680 miles, for an average speed of 67.2 mph, including our 5 or so stops for gas, and about 500-600 miles of torrential downpour in Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota. We saw plenty of roadkill, one animal, about the size of a medium dog, that crept up on us in the dark, rainy night and which we ran over. The silver bullet handled the adversity like a small speedbump and after checking for car damage, our journey resumed. Montana’s big sky was amazing and Geoff was great company. I was in the zone for a looooong time, and drove the first 22 hours before handing the game over to the big lefty closer, who took us down the home stretch for the victory.

We were joined at Doug’s place by Joy and Black Ice, and after wheelin’ and dealin’ and making some calls, Showtime was roped into the mix. We went off to Pancho Villa’s for some good Mexican food, where we met Russell and CCG. Great meal… All-Star dinner crew. After dinner, we hit MLPS bars, meeting a couple Carl lady basketballers, Megan and Annie, and Kane, Colbenson, and some of their friends. We started at 4 C C, mixed it up at the VFW (oh yeah), and finished at Cowboy Slims before Geoff, Showtime, Doug and myself walked back to Dougs to crash. Much needed sleep. The next morning, Doug made us all a breakfast that the tavern would be proud of, before The King and I hit the road, Nasty Norf bound. We made it to Carleton late morning, where the Eugster boys, Heify, DavidAmes, and Grant with leeches B-ryce and The “raodhawk” Klein, Cam and Beth, made us a pancake breakfast with Margaritas. Spring Concert festivities were under way. The sky cleared for the outdoor event, and a beautiful day ensued. I saw everyone who I wanted while spending the day listening to music, playing bags, shooting the shit, and having a good time. The day was capped off with a 10 minute firework show, and trip to the Reub where a group of about 15 alums and worthy upperclassmen joined in the fun. Damn it was good to be back.

My last day in Minnie included a Perkins breakfast with Russ and Caitlin, who completed her MCAT before joining the SC festivities. I also returned to the cities to see Doug again (although he was there last night) and Joy, and Cam and Beth, and Davidames and Black Ice and Megan Lynn. We had dinner at the Tin Fish, which is absolutely amazing. Mahi Mahi fish tacos to die for. The plan had originally been for me to spend the night at Russ and CCG’s and leave the next morning, but much like I knew Geoff and I wouldn’t be stopping for the night en route to MN, I knew I was going to leave that night. As we were hanging out, my angst grew and then before I knew it, I was on the road to PA. The 21 hours it took to get there went by pretty slow. With no Geoff to keep me company, and my hatred for driving through Indiana and Ohio, and paying their stupid and expensive tolls, I figured it was best to breeze through. I took a 2 hour nap a few hours outside of Chi-Town but other than that it was open road. I arrived, completing my coast to coast journey in 46 hours of driving time and going some 2,940 miles. To say I was glad to be reunited with Rach would be a gross understatement.

I have spent the last week hanging around Bryn Mawr, watching Rachel study far more Chemistry than is healthy, dipping into Philadelphia a few times, and meeting her roommates and their friends. After an appointment in Philly on Saturday, I will be heading to Easton to start my coaching with the Lehigh Valley Catz and staying with the Heimbachs!