Author: Jess

Well, I’ve had a couple of weeks to reflect on my last few days in Tucson and my across-the-country road trip so I thought it was about time to actually write about it.  My last few days in Tucson were both exciting and sad.  I was excited because I was finally starting the next chapter, but I was sad too because I was leaving behind some great people that I’ve gotten to know during our time there.

Thankfully, my sister agreed to ride with me on the long road trip back to the Midwest, otherwise it would have been rather lonely.  So the day after my last day of work, I picked Jo up at the airport in Mesa, Arizona.  The challenge for this trip was that we were in the TT so Jo was only allowed to bring essentials.  After some strategic maneuvering, we were able to fit it all into the trunk.

After picking up Jo at the airport, we made our way to Sun City, Arizona, to visit Grandma (and Pepe!) for a day before starting our trip to Iowa.  We hung out with Grandma over night and then started early the next day.  Our first destination was Moab, Utah, and Arches National Park. The scenery on the way to Moab was pretty great so we were entertained the whole way.  After one near-miss turnoff (in my defense, the road was not clearly marked) we made it to Moab.  That night we ate at a brewery and then headed over to Arches National Park for some sightseeing, which was only a few minutes away.  Arches National Park is absolutely breathtaking.  If you’ve never been there, you’ve got to go.

After a night in Moab, we hit the road again.  That day we were headed for Denver, Colorado.  After driving through some more amazing scenery, we made it to Denver.  It was still early because it only took us about six hours to get to Denver, so we decided to take a trip to Golden and check it out.

Unfortunately, the scenery ended in Denver.  After leaving Denver, we knew we had a long day of driving.  But, even though we knew it would be boring scenery, we were still not prepared for the less than stimulating drive through Nebraska.  All I can say is thank goodness the speed limit is 75!  We made it to Atlantic, Iowa, and stayed the night with Fred and Kathy, only to get up again and drive the remaining few hours to Iowa City.

Driving into Iowa was a relief.  After crossing some beautiful (and not-so-beautiful, i.e., Nebraska) countryside, it was particularly pleasing to see the “Welcome to Iowa” sign.  So now I’ve been spending my time since the road trip searching for jobs and playing trophy wife.  So far so good.