Narrative

There and Back Again

When I was eight years old, my family made the decision to move across the country. My parents were getting tired of living in Ohio, and wanted to go west, much like the wagon trains of the 19^th century. Unlike those pioneers, we weren't moving to the frontier. We were moving to the state of California – population 38 million. Still, it would be quite a change. We would leave behind old friends, old jobs, old schools, and head into the unknown.

We had well over two thousand miles ahead of us. We set off early in the morning. My mother Renee, my younger sisters Emma and Lindsey, my dear old dog Rufus, and I rode in a blue Ford Windstar. My father followed us, driving a grey Honda Accord. Also following us was a U-Haul truck carrying all of our worldly possessions.

On we drove, stopping at chain restaurants and hotels. Our first tourist stop was at the Cleveland Natural History Museum. As a young boy, I was absolutely obsessed with dinosaurs, so I enjoyed seeing all of the prehistoric exhibits. We also went to the observatory, where we learned a decent amount about the cosmos. Then we left. My parents took the pace slow, because there were three young children – one of them only two years old - accompanying them.

We drove a long time, first arriving in Indiana, then Illinois, and so on, until we arrived at Utah. There we stopped at the Dinosaur National Monument. It was an exciting experience for me. There were preserved excavation sites of various prehistoric beasts made into a tourist site. I got some souvenirs, including a stuffed dinosaur I named Al. Then on we drove, through the twisted and convoluted roads and highways of Salt Lake City, through the hot and dusty desert of Nevada, and finally to the humid climate of Northern California. In the end, our journey had taken us two weeks. Once we arrived at our destination, we camped for a few weeks while we waited for the house deal to go through.

Fast-forward seven or eight years. My father got a job offer from his old job back in Columbus. I was fourteen or fifteen. I was having a rough time in middle school, but I did have some friends and a girlfriend, and I was loath to leave them behind. But leave them behind I did.

We drove in the same cars we had many years ago. We started our second journey in the summer of 2009. This time we took the scenic route. We started by driving our way down to Los Angeles to visit my aunt and grandma. We spent a couple days there, playing board games and other such things. Then it was time for us to leave. After leaving Los Angeles, we headed east to Arizona. There, we arrived at the Grand Canyon.

The Grand Canyon is awe-inspiring. It is millions of years old, and truly vast, in some places as deep as a mile. So naturally, it was quite an experience to see it. Only one problem: I had a bit of a fear of heights. I was afraid to venture too close to the edge for fear that I might fall off. When my dad sat right on the edge, I was terrified for him, bugging him incessantly. Still, it was a fun trip. Truly a spot of majestic beauty.

After that, we continued driving along the interstate, arriving in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Not much to say about that place other than its weird name, because we didn't stay very long. After that, we headed to Texas. We stayed mostly in rural parts of Texas, occasionally visiting a couple of corner shops. One had a Confederate flag. That was a bit of a shock to see. After that we went to Oklahoma, and them to Missouri. The only thing I really remember about Missouri was lots of signs for adult superstores, which always amused me.

After that came Illinois, then Indiana, and finally good old Ohio. We stopped off at the Cleveland Natural History Museum once again to look the new dinosaur exhibits. I was much less interested than I was when I was 8, but it was still interesting to see. Finally, we went down to Westerville, Ohio. I had gotten a pretty nasty sunburn then, and that made the next few days of moving into our house a bit of a pain. I've lived here for six years now, and I have to say, I preferred California.