Everything that's been happening the last couple of months started a little over a year ago when I went to Hawaii with my mom. I'm a big believer that God puts you in places and people in your path to show you where to go. Our last day in Hawaii, I was out swimming across the street from our hotel when a girl swam up to me out of the blue. She said she thought we were staying at the same hotel, that she'd seen me walking along the beach earlier and that when she saw me out swimming she thought she needed to come talk to me. I found out her name was Alitha and that her birthday was March 5 (see the strange similarities). As we were talking, I explained that I was discontent with how things were going in my life at the time and that I knew a change needed to be made but I didn't know what I was supposed to do. She looked me in the eye and told me to go to grad school. I was taken aback because grad school was something I'd been considering, in fact, Mom and I'd gone to the University of Hawaii at Manoa to check it out the day before. But I hadn't brought up the subject of grad school with Alitha. I took that as about an obvious of a sign as I was ever likely to get and made up my mind that I was going to apply to schools to start Fall 2010. I got accepted into the University of Utah in Salt Lake City at the end of April and began planning my move to SLC in August.
My mom ended up driving out with me, she didn't like the idea of me making the cross-country trip by myself, plus I'd planned a really cool trip (if I do say so myself) to places she'd never been before. We left out on August 8 with a plan to arrive in SLC on Aug. 14. That first day we made it to Mount Vernon, IL. The second day was probably our longest driving day. Through St. Louis and Kansas City (though we were sure to stop in KC to try their BBQ) and on to WaKeeney, KS. The third day was the start of the fun. We drove to Colorado Springs and straight to the station for the Pike's Peak Cog Railway and up the mountain we went. It's a really neat train trip if you ever get the chance to go, be sure to take plenty of water! The change in altitude is no joke going up Pike's Peak! The fourth day we went to Royal Gorge, which is home to America's highest suspension bridge. We road the aerial tram, I walked across the bridge, Mom rode the trolley and we took the incline railway down to the bottom of the gorge. We covered all the angles, the only thing we didn't do was ride the SkyCoaster and go flying out over the gorge! (Mom didn't realize that Jamie and I had already ridden the one at Carowinds the summer before we started college) The next day we headed out from Colorado Springs, but stopped by the Air Force Academy just north of town. I went and made pictures of the chapel and I think I got lucky because a tour group had just pulled up out front when I got there, so I got to go inside and take pictures. I thought I heard a gentleman saying that he'd been unable to get inside. The inside is absolutely gorgeous! From USAFA we drove into Denver and went to the Capital building before driving on through the Rockies and stopping in Glenwood Springs. The next day we stopped at the Colorado National Monument before crossing into Utah. That afternoon we went to Arches National Park and stayed in Moab. Then finally it was Aug. 14 and we drove into Salt Lake, though we kept going past the city so we could go out to Antelope Island and go see the Great Salt Lake. Antelope Island is really the best way to see the Lake, there's a beach where you can get into the water, a visitor center and on the southern end of the island there's a wild buffalo herd. Sunday morning, Mom and I went to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and that evening she flew back to NC. I moved into my apt on campus on Aug. 16 and had orientation on Aug. 17 (where I met two fellow Southern gals).
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