A Long Road

     It's been a long time since I wrote on here last. That was not entirely planned, but as with many things in life, things didn't go exactly as planned in that regard. Things got in the way, and my time was spent elsewhere. It has been somewhat adventurous, to say the least. To start off, I no longer live in Pennsylvania. I packed up all my belongings last December and drove six days and roughly 2,700 miles to Washington. 

    I'm finally living in the Pacific Northwest and satisfying a long time dream, almost. I didn't quite make it to Seattle like I wanted (that town has very high housing costs like most major cities), but I did find a reasonably decent place to live in central Washington with low housing costs. It's not too far from Seattle (the only problem being getting over the mountain pass, which is not really doable for a normal car in winter), and I get to explore a part of Washington that I would have otherwise overlooked had I gone where I initially wanted. It's also great to be able to buy marijuana like a civilized human being. That in and of itself makes the experience entirely different, safer, and less sloppy feeling. I also forgot how much I missed seeing mountains, big and real mountains. That part has been great. 

    The road trip itself was awesome. I drove mostly overnight, having learned years ago that it's far preferable to drive through major cities during the middle of the night than the middle of the day. The only issue I had was in Chicago where they had a traffic jam at 1 o'clock in the morning for some insane reason. I also got to see a couple of friends along the way, which was a nice bonus. The sights were amazing, and I even ate some real Wisconsin cheese and sausage. The stuff in Minnesota was really good too. South Dakota has the most amazing sunsets some days. I also smiled with glee when my eyes spied a Speed Limit 80 sign for the first time and my foot happily complied by going to the floor. In the middle of the night, in South Dakota on the empty straight and flat freeway, I had one of the best times listening to Pink Floyd and my smoking playlist while a joint burned in my fingers, the window open just a crack. I was happy to find Bawls, an energy drink I haven't seen in years, for sale at a store in Gillette, Wyoming. One thing I noted was not so much as a tinge of regret or even really fear. Unlike past adventures or moves where I worried or felt like I was making a huge mistake, I felt none of that on this trip and felt like I was actually moving in the right direction. Overall the road trip was a phenomenal experience I'll never forget. 

    The pandemic has been a major bummer for me, like everyone else. There have been some upsides, like time to work on skills and such as well as appreciating the little things. It has been draining as well, and has made socializing and trying to make friends incredibly difficult. I moved to a town where I know no one and really nothing about beyond what I could find out from doing research online. All the research in the world can't tell me what it's going to be like to live here though, what the people are like, etc., and reading about a place is not going to tell me how it's going to feel overall. 

    Yet, I took the chance, and I don't regret it. This place has it's flaws, like any other, but doesn't suck in the ways that really annoyed me where I was living back east. The flaws it does have, I feel are minor and I can generally live with. I also have yet to really explore Seattle like I wanted, again due to the pandemic mostly, and I may discover some things I really like over there too. Still, it would be nice to be able to actually make some friends, which is hard enough as an adult and didn't need to be further complicated by social distancing. One thing my dad noted, and I agree, is that if I hadn't made the trip out here when I did, I probably would have never made it at all. At least I'm here, so I can work with that and I won't have any regrets about not coming or taking the chance. I won't keep wondering what it would be like or what if I had gone, like I have for the last 20 years. That's something, and I'll appreciate that. I can at least work with this.

    I'm surviving, and trying to adapt. It's been an interesting experience and one grueling year, that's for sure. I've had my ups and my downs, and I would say probably as many setbacks as I've had successes. I'm pushing forward, however, and am looking at things improving. Overall, things are going in the right direction and I'm hoping and looking for 2021 to be far better than this last year has been. It feels like everything got put on hold, but hopefully there's a purpose for it all and it will work out in the end. Here's hoping something good comes from this craziness and chaos overall, besides just the very welcome change of address and scenery - which was technically 2019.