The much awaited (federal) document showed up in mail a day before SuperBowl and that meant I had to ship a bunch of boxes to my new address, give away a bunch of other stuff, …, get ready to move and, move. Talking about Super Bowl, the party turned out to be a nicer one - Bucky, Catherine, Kyle, Scott and Tim showed up; we cooked some food and got some from outside. The game itself, as almost everyone would agree, was pretty good but the result wasn’t to my liking. Call them cheaters, call them traitors, call them over-achievers, or anything else you want to - they (the New England Patriots) are still my team (from AFC).

The Move

After completing some required work with the University, I finally started moving from Houghton. It wasn’t easy by any means. I knew leaving a place (and all its people) that has (have) done/meant so much to me over past several years would be difficult but I had little clue it would turn out to be this emotionally draining. Owing to weather conditions and fatigue induced sickness, I had to split up the drive into three stages:

Day 1: Houghton, MI –> Fenton, MI

Driving through the UP was pretty smooth and one of my unphotographed waterfalls in Alger County, Alger Falls, had some visible flow of water (thanks to warmer weather conditions). This was probably the first time I have ever driven all the way upto the Mackinac Bridge following speed limit. And while discussing my emotional distress with Tim from BK Lounge in St. Ignace, he pointed out (as was pointed to him by someone not too long ago) that I should be happy that something happened, instead of being sad that it ended. These pearls of wisdom helped quite for rest of the journey

The common practice, for folks leaving the area through the Bridge, is to look back at the UP from the other side but unfortunately for me, the weather gods brought down a snow curtain. Blizzard like conditions (heavy snow as well as rains) prevailed for next 150 miles - forcing me to drive at 35mph on a 70mph Interstate. Driving through such weather took almost all of my energy and as such, was forced to stop for the night in Fenton - about 30 miles north of Ann Arbor.

Day 2: Fenton, MI –> Ohio –> Milesburg, PA

Not so good night’s sleep (owing to fatigue and kinda sickness) meant that I couldn’t start sooner. Drive through Ohio was covered mostly in fog and as such didn’t get to see much on either side of I-80. My friends in/from Pennsylvania had told me that their state was pretty and I got the first hand experience of it myself during the later part of the day. With so many hills and valleys and rivers/streams (pretty big ones too), it’s natural for me to expect a plethora of waterfalls. I should spend some time on the internet to find out more about this area and what all it has to offer. Fatigue induced sickness (again) as well as the abrupt non-functioning of low beam lamps forced me to call it a day sooner than I had planned - in Milesburg, PA - about 260 miles from the final destination.

Day 3: Milesburg, PA –> Delware –> Red Bank, NJ

Another of not so good night’s sleep (owing to the continued sick feeling) forced me to continue driving not before 9:30am. A short drive along I-80 later, I realized that I wasn’t staying too far from where a good buddy of mine lives. Rest of the drive, through Pennsylvania, Delaware as well as parts of NJ was pretty and I reached the apartment complex around 2pm. It took nearly 33 hours of driving and 20 hours of (not so refreshing) rest time to drive over 1200 miles but I finally made it one piece. As an unintentional bonus for driving this distance (as well as lifting/moving boxes around), I have lost nearly 7 lbs! Wish I knew loosing weight was this easier

Approximately 1200 miles

Settling Down, etc…

Getting into the new apartment was probably the last easiest thing I did during last few days - searching for useful shops, stores and setting up the place (from scratch) has been quite tiring, boring and most importantly, pretty damn expensive. Much of the first two days disappeared in sleeping - to recover from sickness and from pains in parts of the body I had little apriori knowledge about. Arrival of all the required (basic) facilities is taking its own sweet time and as far as accessing internet, Starbucks ($9.99/day) has been the only available option. The town/area is in stark contrast - in almost every aspect - to where I spent last several years. Similarity-wise, it has been offering some pretty amazing views of Sunrise/set - I should just find a good vantage point to take pictures from; my mailman (from the US Postal Services) - just like me - is a citizen of the (Green Bay) PackerNation! This is the last weekend before my work in the real world begins. Although I have very little clue as to what expect, I am excited about it - to learn new things and meet new people.