Travel Journal: From Ohio snow to LA sun

I have decided to jot down all of my thoughts throughout my move from Ohio to Los Angeles. Here, you will jump into the mind of Hannah. I will share every emotion, question, idea and memory that comes to my mind during this trip across the country.

Friday: The Calm Before the Storm

Today is Friday, February 4, 2022. My dad and I plan to leave super early tomorrow morning. Hopefully I can wake up early enough to get some type of workout in before the first day’s drive. My mom had to go into work, and I’m sad about it because I wish she could spend this last day at home with me since she can’t come along on the trip. The roads are on a Level 3 because of the snow and ice storm. My dad seems nervous. Hopefully this doesn’t put too much of a damper on our plans. We will be getting the U-Haul at some point today when road conditions are a little better. I am all packed up and doing some work for my full-time job now that the internet connection in town is back. I woke up to no internet connection, which was not fun as I needed it to do some work. I had a random burst of energy last night and finished all of my packing. My cat, Brooklyn, was hopping on top of and into boxes. Oh how I wish her sweet soul could come with me on this journey, but I know my parents are going to need her as I leave and their nest is emptied. Maybe I’ll find another cat in California.

I’m looking around my childhood bedroom and crying. It’s angel-themed, and has been since I was born. I have always thought my parents made that the theme so I knew there were angels watching over me and protecting me through every phase of my childhood. I’m looking at all of my trophies, medals and honors ropes from over the years. Guess all of that hard work in school was worth it. At the time, I wasn’t sure why I was trying so hard, but I didn’t know who I would turn out to be back then. There are some old photo albums in my closet. I’m in tears looking through old photos of me with my family and people I haven’t seen in several years. I can’t believe I have grown up this fast. I thought the idea that childhood flies by was a myth when I was a kid, but damn, looking back, I wish I could go back to singing “Hey Baby” by No Doubt on karaoke with my family, watching my brother play Call of Duty Zombies, watching scary movies with my dad until 1am, watching Lifetime movies with my mom on snow days, playing Xbox Kinect with my brother and all of the fun stuff I did growing up. I want it back just for a moment. But I know it’s time to move on. Life is about to get exciting for me I’m sure, but nostalgia is a heart-wrenching feeling. It feels like someone is tugging on my heart strings and little butterflies are flapping their wings in my stomach. Okay, that’s enough writing for today. I need to hop onto Spotify and finish creating a playlist for the trip there for dad and I to jam to. I’ll make it a good mix of older songs he has always played since I was a baby and newer songs that I like a lot. Hopefully he doesn’t mind modern synth-pop.

Saturday: Hard Goodbyes, Departures and Dunkin’

It's 7am on Saturday, February 5. Dad and I are officially on the road. I woke up at 4:30 and got a full workout in because I wanted to let out some energy before sitting in the U-Haul all day. I said goodbye to Brooklyn before leaving the house; I cried while petting her. My mom had to go into work before dad & I got on the road. Before she left, we hugged and cried together. She said to me, “I am so proud of you. I mean it.” My heart sank with mixed emotions. Right before I left, I took one last look at my childhood bedroom and got a fuzzy feeling in my chest before I turned the light off. Anyway, back to dad and I on the road. The snow looks beautiful. I pointed out the sparks the snow plow trucks on the interstate made while clearing the road. Dad said it’s due to the friction between the plow & the road with the speed they were going. We just passed the big American flag in Zanesville that mom always says, “I love that flag” about when we pass it. I wish she were on this trip to say it today.

It's 9am. We just passed Columbus and we are on a very flat road. Dad told me he learned in school that glaciers flattened this part of Ohio up during the Great Ice Age. Even after a huge snowstorm that didn't end until late last night, the sun is shining directly behind us. Dad said, “Looks like the sun is behind us,” and I told him it's our guardian angels. He said he thinks I'm right, and then we talked about which guardian angels we think helped with each part of the departure. We think my grandfathers made sure everything went smoothly while loading up and driving the U-Haul out of snowy Barnesville with my car towed behind it. We think my Grandma Burkhart is the reason the snow stopped just in time for the road to get plowed & salted before we left.

We just stopped for coffee. This is my first time trying Dunkin’ and I see why people love it. I got a small hot oatmilk coffee with French Vanilla and my dad got a large black coffee. We had to take a detour at Indianapolis because part of Interstate 70 was down, but we didn't let it ruin the trip. We drove a couple blocks through the city and made our way back en route in no time.

I'm a little upset because I noticed the U-Haul doesn't have an aux option so my dad isn't able to listen to the playlist I made for the trip. I'll probably put my Airpods in soon to listen to some tunes, but for now I am enjoying talking to my dad. We talked about how I'll be in LA for the Super Bowl when the Bengals come to the city to play the Rams. I told him Joe Burrow gave Kid Cudi his jersey after the game Sunday and he got a kick out of it.

We are officially on Central Time. It's 2:30 pm. We just stopped at Panera for some lunch. As my dad tried to lock the back of the U-Haul, he realized the lock he bought was too small. He went and bought a new one at a truck stop while I sat in Panera with our food. I waited until he came back before eating my chicken caesar salad because I hate eating alone and feel bad eating before him. All is well, though. We got our lunch and the new lock works. We are just an hour from St. Louis.

It’s 6pm. My back was killing me an hour ago because the U-Haul doesn't have reclining seats (and because I deadlifted at 4:30 this morning), but we stopped at a Flying J for gas and I grabbed a Core Power. The protein in the shake along with stretching outside of the truck helped ease the pain in my back. We plan to end today’s trek in Springfield, Missouri. We are just under two hours from it. Today went pretty quickly. Dad pointed out the sunset just now. “Since it's so flat here, you see a lot more of the sky,” he said. It's a gorgeous, glowing mixture of orange, light pink and blue.

It’s 9pm. We arrived at the hotel in Springfield an hour ago and doordashed some Applebee's. I tried the chicken wonton tacos for the first time and they were delicious. Now dad is going to the lobby to grab us some ice cream to wrap up this long day. We spent a total of 14 hours traveling today. I think we deserve some ice cream.

Sunday: Views in New Mexico

It's Sunday, February 6. Dad and I managed to leave the hotel just before 7am. I did a 45 minute workout in the hotel room so I am ready to take on the day. The sunrise is just as pretty as the sunset here in Missouri. It has been so easy for me to get out of bed during this trip, and I think it's because of the excitement that my dreams are finally becoming reality.

Last night, mom called dad’s phone and Joey, living in Cleveland and doing big things at Progressive, called my phone around the same time. We all talked to each other like that and it felt like we were all together again. Dad was like, “Hey, we’re all together!” It made me tear up a bit when I realized that this is actually how we’ll all have to connect once I'm in LA. This morning, I opened the sweetest text from my best friend, Kali, who was telling me how grateful she is to have become friends with me through my mom babysitting her years ago, and wishing me luck in my endeavors. I cried so much reading it. None of this feels real.

It's 11am. We've been in Oklahoma for a couple of hours now. We are about to pass through Oklahoma City. The sun is so bright today, and the view in this area isn't that interesting so I've been listening to music and resting my eyes. We stopped at a gas station earlier and I tried coffee from it and it was so nasty. I went and grabbed a Cranberry Apple Raspberry Minute Maid to make up for it. We have hit a couple toll roads, and dad told me some stories about a friend from work who had troubles with tolls.

The area past Oklahoma City apparently doesn't believe in gas stations. The signs and Google Maps kept telling us there were gas stations on different exits, so we would get off the exit, see no gas stations and turn around. Dad was super upset. But we finally found an OnCue gas station and filled up the U-Haul.

Dad started slowing the U-Haul down while on the interstate. “What are you doing?” I asked with confusion. He proceeded to pull off to the side of the road and mumbled something about checking my car on the dolly or something. Semis were breezing past, and shook the U-Haul to the point in which I thought it would topple over. I was so nervous something would happen to my dad, but he hopped back into the car and we continued our drive.

We stopped for lunch at a Denny’s in a tiny town at the tail end of Oklahoma, close to Texas. We both ordered pancakes, but could not finish them because they were so huge. “I guess the saying, ‘everything is bigger in Texas' is true, even though we aren't quite there yet,” dad said.

It's 5:30pm. We’re halfway through the portion of Texas that's in our route. We talked about the fact that the U-Haul doesn't have an aux or bluetooth option, and we didn't bring our JBL speaker. Dad said, “I don't know, it's been alright without the music because we’re able to talk more and hear each other.” He's right. I've enjoyed bonding with him. We then started talking about how we are close to New Mexico, and I mentioned Area 51. Dad said, “We have a lot of the same interests,” and then he proceeded to name off some of them: aliens, music and horror movies.

We are officially on Mountain Time; just one time zone away! New Mexico is so beautiful. It has some interesting rock formations and deserts full of these gorgeous green shrubs. Dad said he thinks it's his favorite part of the trip so far. I agree; it's definitely the prettiest, especially as the sun is setting.

We stopped at a gas station in Santa Rosa, NM. I saw those cute octopus stuffed animals that you flip based on your mood, and my dad bought me one.

We are 10 minutes from our hotel in Albuquerque, NM, and I noticed a bubble tea shop off an exit so we stopped by. I ordered both of us hazelnut milk teas with regular tapioca boba. I made him sip it before we got back on the road, and when I asked if he liked it, he said “It’s great!”

We’ve made it to our hotel in Albuquerque. We were pretty hungry, and I got so excited because there is a Del Taco next to our hotel. Del Tacos are only on the West Coast and way better than Taco Bell. We walked over and grabbed our food then walked back to the hotel. As soon as dad opened his taco and took a bite, he yelled, “This is WAY better than Taco Bell! Look at this.” He proceeded to show me how the taco was actually full unlike any from Taco Bell.

Monday: The Home Stretch

It's Monday, February 7. The drive through New Mexico between 7-8am was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. The deserts and rock formations are surreal. Dad and I said we feel like we’re in a movie. We went and got some Starbucks. I got my usual hot white chocolate mocha with oatmilk. The workers took about 10 minutes to get to my drink, so they gave us a $4 redeemer card. Dad and I thought that was very kind of them, as we weren't even waiting that long. Dad’s medium black coffee took less than a minute, though, of course.

We are so eager to get to California today that we just stopped by a Subway super quick for lunch. Arizona has some pretty views. One moment, we’re driving through mountains, the next, we’re in the desert, and then, suddenly, we are surrounded by green trees.

We made it to California. There is nothing that makes my heart feel as full as seeing that “Welcome to California” sign after days of sitting in a truck. We are now on PST. Dad plans for us to stay at a hotel an hour or so out of LA, and we are only a little over an hour from the town he's thinking of. The journey is coming to an end; now the fun part is coming up: moving into my apartment tomorrow. I mentioned playing music straight from my phone since there is no aux. “You know what song you need to play right now,” dad said. “Hmm, which one?” I asked. “Hotel California!” I played the Eagles song on my phone. “Just listen to the song and take in the view,” dad said.

Tonight, we’re staying at a hotel in Ontario. We doordashed some bowls from WaBa: I got a tofu one and dad got a chicken & steak one. Then, to reward ourselves for making it this far, we grabbed a container of Dibs Crunch ice cream snacks to share after dinner. Tomorrow is move-in day!

Tuesday: Move-in Day

It's Tuesday, February 8, and dad and I got on the road at 7:30 this morning. It's 8:21 right now, and we are still on the road due to rush hour. The trip from our hotel into LA would have only been 40 minutes if it weren't for the traffic. Dad’s GPS said traffic will cause the trip to be an hour and a half. I'm not even worried about the traffic though, because it's move-in day and I’m super excited about it.

We’ve arrived at my apartment in LA! Dad and I met the apartment manager, Kevin, and he was kind enough to help us unload the U-Haul and carry the items up to my unit. This studio apartment is precious. We have started setting things up and I can tell it’s going to be so cozy. Dad and I have worked up an appetite while setting things up, so we went to this nice restaurant a few blocks away called Granville. I got a grilled chicken sandwich and dad got a cheeseburger, and we shared a plate of brussel sprouts. We both thought it was some of the best food we’ve had in a long time. I paid for our meals. It’s the least I can do for all he’s done for me. Eventually, I’ll be able to do more in return.

My car became pretty filthy from being on the back of a U-Haul from Ohio, where there was snow everywhere, all the way to California. We stopped at this cool car wash called Mikey’s. They had us get out of the car and went to town on it. The workers were super kind to us, but they were shocked at how dirty my car was, because they probably never see cars covered in snow slush pull into their lot. Dad and I laughed thinking about how shocked they must’ve been. My car is squeaky clean now!

We stopped at Ralph’s, which is owned by Kroger, and got my groceries and more apartment essentials. This was the smallest Ralph’s I’ve ever been in, and it was so busy that dad and I struggled to get through the aisles. Dad took me out of the laundry detergent aisle to show me the octopus they were selling. “You don’t see that in Ohio!” He smiled under his mask.

Dad is sleeping on my futon tonight. My apartment is all set up and it looks awesome. My WiFi is even pretty much ready to go. We ate iHop belgian waffles for dinner, and they really hit the spot. Dad has to catch an early flight in the morning and it’s been a long day, so we can’t celebrate the move-in with a movie or anything. We’ve always enjoyed watching movies together. I’ll take him to an IMAX theater when he visits.

Wednesday: Hardest Goodbye and New Beginnings

It’s Wednesday, February 9. Dad left early this morning for the airport. I bought him an Uber because I’m not quite ready for LA traffic in my car. We hugged for at least a minute. I was crying super hard. Dad said, “Bye, Skeeter. You’ll do big things here. I know it.” Dad has always called me Skeeter, and when he said it in that moment, my heart sank. I’ll miss him so much. He’s been such a great dad. Hopefully he can visit this summer. I’m already comfortable in my apartment, though, and even found my daily gym. Things are looking up.