The Westward Advance

We've chronicled our trip from Durham, NC to Columbus, NE in a reader's digest fashion. Our last days in Durham were filled with friends and last minute chaos. Thanks again to the Christians and the Kellers for literally saving us that last day. We headed for Asheville around 8:30 p.m. on June 4th with a loaded car and exhausted passengers, but we made it. Our first major event: The Biltmore Estate.

Here you can see the Biltmore home behind Chad. Completed in 1895 under the ownership of George Vanderbilt-a multi-millionaire railroad tycoon. It boasts 175,000 square feet including over 250 rooms, an indoor pool and gym, a bowling alley, a library with over 10,000 volumes, 65 fireplaces, and a banquet room with a 70 foot-high ceiling. It is gorgeous and of course, enormous! The most fascinating thing about the place is that the Vanderbilt children called it home. I imagine them running through the halls playing impossible games of hide-and-seek, having sleep overs, and every other thing that normal children would do.

Here you can see the outside of the grand staircase that spirals through four stories.

Seeing me in front of the building with the stroller might give you an idea of how big it truly is.

We loved it and we recommend the audio tour to anyone who might visit.

The day after Biltmore we spent the entire day driving. Destination: Lexington, KY. Chad decided to take the scenic route through the Smoky Mountains. To all you Rocky Mountain natives, I must defend the Smoky Mountains. They are indeed mountains in their own right and they are beautiful. The trees are endless--blanketing every square inch of the land. Chad said that driving through them reminded him of Brazil. You can see in the pictures above and below.

Lexington, Kentucky

If Chad had met his maker while driving through the beautiful city of Lexington, KY, he would've died a happy man. That is how much he LOVED Lexington with its gorgeous, rich horse farms which were beautifully manicured and fenced. While there we visited a horse farm that keeps retired race horses, the Kentucky Horse Park, and we took the "Dreamer" driving tour where you drive through Kentucky and see all the places where that movie was filmed. It was BEAUTIFUL.

This horse lives at the Kentucky Horse farm. We saw some thoroughbreds there with some impressive resumes.

Below, it may be hard to tell because of the windshield glare, but some of the roads in Lexington are narrow, lined with stone walls, and arched over with trees. They are picturesque.

After Lexington, we drove on--passing through St. Louis in the middle of the day. We stopped to see the gateway arch. We paid $20 to ride a tram to the top and look out these tiny windows to the huge city of St. Louis 650 feet below. This is a picture of the view from up there.

And below is some of Chad's photography magic.

We drove for two more days and finally arrived in Columbus, NE population 21,000. It is an industrial town, but it has its charms. It feels safe here and it feels like we're back in the west. Our apartment is huge and relatively cheap compared to Durham. All our stuff arrived safely with the exception of my laundry rack which was broken by one of the mover's heavy foot, and my spoons which have somehow managed to disappear. Lydia loves having her own room without a treadmill or computer to cramp her style. The branch here is friendly and I already love it. Imagine you have a glass of something bubbly and non-alcoholic as we toast to our new year here in Columbus.

Disconnectivity

Definition: No Internet or TV for over two weeks! Talk about withdrawals. No morning news, no emails, and no blogging. To help alleviate the pain a little, I made two almost-desperate visits to the Columbus Library where every 15 minutes of Internet costs fifty cents. I insatiably poured my hoarded quarters (usually reserved for the occasional splurge on a Dr. Pepper) into the machine attached to the computer. I drank in as much Internet as I could using a browser that is about three versions behind and a barely-functioning mouse. Fortunately the Kimber house is back in business thanks to the Time Warner Cable guy who came promptly at nine this morning. And though my computer isn't exactly Pentium Dual Processor, it beats the quarter-drinking one at the library. And after two weeks of disconnectivity, I really wonder how we ever lived without the super information highway we call the Internet.

More updated posts pending.

Last Times

Our time in Durham is rapidly closing. I find myself thinking..."this is the last time I'll drive down Carver street," or "this is the last time I'll get to go for a walk to the duck pond." "This is the last time I'll borrow an egg from Brooke." "This is our last Sunday in this ward." The list of "lasts" is endless. We have learned so much from our time here in NC and we have loved it. Maybe not at first, but definitely now. It is hard to leave...especially knowing we probably won't be back and we may never see some of the amazing people we have come to know ever again. Durham will always have a special place for me. It is were I spent everyday of my first pregnancy. This apartment is the home to which I brought my first-born. This is where I've learned what it means to have good neighbors, to have my ward be my entire social network, where I've learned that Chad, me, and Lydia are our own family, and so much more. I will miss it. We will miss it.

Big Eater

They always say that kids' favorite toys are everyday household items. Well, they are right. Whenever Lydia needs something new, I just look in the kitchen.

Strawberry Pickin'

One of the great things about North Carolina is picking strawberries at the local farm for $1 per pound. Here is our strawberry patch kid Lydia just chillin' in the vines while we pick away.

Early Riser

Don't you wish you could be this alert in the morning?

One of our favorite moments with Lydia each day is when she wakes up in the morning. She can hear me coming in because our floor squeaks really bad and when she does, she starts kicking and smiling. She is a very happy riser. Sometimes she peeks her head up over her rail or she will grab her bumper pad and pull it down so she can peek through the bars. It always brings a smile.