I live here now?!?

Here I am, safe and sound in Carmel, IN, surrounded by a slowly lessening stack of boxes and bins in my new apartment.

I wanted to do updates from the road, but didn't have access to internet - okay, that and I was really tired after driving tons each day.

The first day I made it as far as Bridgeport, CT, and had a great time visiting with my friend Nate, who is in Natureopath school. The next morning after sending Nate off to finals, I drove to Stamford, CT to visit with my friend, Muneeza, and her 2 beautiful daughters. It was a nice, leisurely morning, and a really good visit - but did put me on the road considerably later than anticipated. If there is anything that I learned on this trip, it was the lesson of letting go of expectations and schedules, and allowing things to be what they need to be. I still struggle with that one, but for a little while, I practiced living in the moment rather than the future or past.

The 2nd night I found a campground in Lancaster County, PA and nested in a makeshift bed in the back of my Vibe. It got me through - not the best rest, but enough to keep going the next day.

It was a beautiful morning on the 3rd day, and I really enjoyed a break at Hershey, PA, after driving through some backroads in Lancaster County and taking pictures of barns painted with the designs that the Amish are famous for. I took the Chocolate World factory tour, and a trolley tour of downtown Hershey - I never knew what an incredible philanthropist Milton Hershey was!

From there, I had a couple hours with my friend, Jaynie, in Harrisburg, PA. Then it was back on the road - having loads of adventures in driving in torrential rains (the whole trip was almost all rain) while surrounded by 18-wheelers. After crossing into Ohio, I found a rest area and slept in the car again - this time just putting my seat back.

I did pick up some cheese and fresh sourdough bread at the "Amish Cheese Shop" just over the border in Indiana - oh, delish!! :)

I arrived at my new apartment complex about 1:30 in the afternoon Thursday, only to discover that I wouldn't be able to get into the apartment until Friday morning! So I made some calls, had some dinner and was grateful to be taken in by some new friends in nearby Indianapolis.

Bright and early at 9am, the movers arrived and we unloaded into the apartment - they accomplished in 3 hours what would have taken me at least 3 days - if you ever need moving, Glenn Jocelyn's guys at "Moving and Odd Jobs" in Chicopee, MA are the BEST!!

That brings me pretty much up to date - slowly working my way through the stacks of boxes and bins. Very excited to have an actual dining room and walk-in closet!