Taking the Long Way

Well, tomorrow is the big day: I am leaving on my 3-day solo road trip to Arizona! Just me, a car, a bunch of CDs, and 1,500 miles of freeway. I am so excited. The car, amazingly, already has most of my stuff in it. For those interested, my ride is a dead-sexy brand-new white Chevy Malibu. It's a total chick magnet, let me tell you. Ladies, the line forms over there. Thanks, rental car company!

First orders of business before leaving town: drop by the optometrist and pick up my equally dead-sexy and stylish new glasses/contacts, then off to the dentist for that last-minute checkup. Then it's freeway-ho and the destination goal for Monday is Medford, Oregon (or northern California). On the second day I hope to reach Phoenix if I can get an early enough start, but that's going to depend on time and energy constraints. We'll see.

The weirdest part about this move is the knowledge that it's THE move. Over the weekend we had some family dinners and my extended family members were asking me, "So when are you coming back to Washington?" And I realized . . . I had no idea. I mean, obviously I'll be back on holidays and whatnot, but as far as moving back - that is uncertain. I will undoubtedly be in Phoenix at least through next summer, and after that I'll basiclaly be graduated and working. That means I could end up staying in Phoenix for who knows how long! This means that, for all intents and purposes, this trip is essentially me leaving the nest. And that feels gooooood. The open road in front of me is a perfect literal and figurative symbol of the future.

I'M GOING BACK TO PHOENIX!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!