U.S. Trip

Prior to leaving for Sydney and my world trip, I took off on a drive across the states. Here’s the story in pictures: from Washington state to my parent’s home in rural New Jersey.

Colorado: Stopped in Denver to visit old college friends, James and Hannah (Diedrich) Mitchell and Jeff Miller. A quick nights sleep and I’m on the road again.

Wisconsin: I picked up my old friend Jess Care in Chicago and drove out of the city to visit her friend Miranda. Playing with fire on my digital.

Ohio: Met Eric Schaefer, a young man I’d been talking to for sometime, got to know his family, and started dating. Amazing.

Ohio: Caught up with friends from Spokane, the Conrads. Ginger smiles for the camera.

Michigan: Spent sometime with my sister Megan. It’s been way too long, and it was great to catch up. She’s captain of the fencing team at UMich. She dragged me along to practice and insisted I fence - something I haven’t done in five years. Great times.

Michigan: Reunited with my dear friend Jenn, who rescued me from the Ohio exit where my car quit due to a bad AC compressor. I’ve known Jenn since gradeschool, but it’s been a while since we had time to hang out and visit and it was great to talk face to face again.

Maryland: I still remember Claire as twenty-something and single… but I got to meet Ritter kid number 3 (Matthew) on this visit, and enjoyed a lot of laughs with the girls, Taylor and Hannah.

New Jersey: Ran into my cousins in the grocery store and didn’t even recognize them. We went to the 4-H fair with my grandmother and the kids asked me all kinds of questions about my travels. Matthew calculated that I’ve spent almost 90 hours of solo driving time so far!

New Jersey: Home in time to help mom teach, of course! This time it’s Geography through Culinary Arts.

New Jersey Shore: Teaching my mother the tricks of digital photography. Number 1: get a willing model.

New Jersey: My little brother isn’t so little anymore…. Chris and I chatting about life while Mom sneaks a picture.

New Jersey: My makeshift computer desk where I update this website, keep in touch with my trip contacts, and otherwise try to iron out the details before I leave.