Farewell, Valparaiso + Our Trip Westward

Valparaiso, IN, is a small suburb in northwest Indiana, about 50 miles east of Chicago, and it has been the place I’ve called home for a majority of the past seven years (um, did I really start college almost seven years ago?). I went to Valparaiso University for my undergraduate and lived here for the summer between graduation and graduate school. Shortly after I began my graduate work at the University of Dayton in Dayton, OH, Ryan returned to Valparaiso (where he grew up and went to college as well) after working in Detroit for a couple of years. Living in Dayton was lonely for me, and with Ryan and many of our college friends in Valpo, I spend almost all of my weekends and breaks during grad school out here. Ryan and I got married at the Chapel at Valparaiso University and started our life as a married couple out here.

And this week, we leave Valpo. As this post goes live, in fact, the movers are here packing up our belongings and Charlie is probably freaking out. I’ve tried to explain the move to him, and then I just feel bad and feed him chicken and then he goes back to hiding under the bed. 

It’s a bittersweet feeling: we are immensely excited to move to the Seattle area, because of the career opportunities, the culture, the climate, the landscape, and the change of scenery. Simultaneously, we are sad to leave a place that means so much to us, even after how much parts of 2014 stank (seriously, the stories I have about trying to find a job here…).

I’m totally photo-dumping all the pictures I took on my runs this week into this post. Valpo is such a pretty place, especially compared to the other more industrial areas of northwest Indiana. If we ever return to the Midwest, we’ll probably move back here, but we’re planning on spending quite a while as Pacific Northwesterners. 

It’s totally weird for me right now to think of myself as a West Coaster. Yet at the same time, it just sounds so right. Bring on the temperate weather, weekends hiking in the mountains, fresh seafood, dog parks, all the half marathons and marathons, and every organic vegetable I can purchase at Whole Foods. 

Since it will take a while for our stuff to get out to Washington, we’re visiting St. Louis for a bit to see my family and then taking a road-trip out west! The last time I was out west was three years when I went to Salt Lake City for a research conference with a bunch of people from my honors college at VU. I LOVED Salt Lake City and almost wanted to take the route to Seattle that goes through Salt Lake and Oregon…except it would mean way too much time in Kansas and Nebraska, which aren’t the most exciting states (sorry to anyone who lives there).

So we’re heading through South Dakota, Montana, and Idaho to head to Seattle! I went to South Dakota about ten years ago, but I haven’t been to any of the other states, so I’m really excited about this trip. We have stops (some overnight, some just a break from driving) planned in Rapid City, Missoula, Billings, and Coeur d’Alene, along with some other places. I’m going to try to Instagram this entire trip, since I know it will be scenic (once we get into South Dakota).

My goal for this trip is to work out each day, even if it’s only a 30 minute treadmill run or some yoga in the hotel room. We’re going to be spending several hours each day in the car, and any exercise beforehand will keep me from driving Ryan insane getting antsy. 

Questions of the Day:
Have you ever made a major move to a new city?
If you could live in any part of the country, where would it be?
Any suggestions for fun things to do in South Dakota or Montana?