Hello, Greeley. When Can I Say Goodbye?

WELLLL, I shouldn't have blasted so hard on the midwest earlier today. As it turns out, Greeley basically fits into the midwest category and it looks like I'm going to have to get used to it. I knew it was going to be flat, but I didn't realize how flat and I knew it wasn't going to be right in the mountains, but I didn't realize just how far they'd be. It's more city than I thought it would be, too. Lots of low-income housing, LOTS of liquor stores, and traffic lights long enough to do a dozen Chinese fire drills with time to spare. It's a big change from Vermont, where there was one traffic light in the whole county and getting a second one caused an uproar.

The lack of trees is startling. There are very few all along Route 70 from Illinois to Colorado, but they start cropping up just as you hit Greeley. Mostly to line the streets, but hey, I'll take it. I already miss the woods. I also miss being able to drive 10 minutes up the road and having a mountain to climb. Looks like it'll be a bit of a drive if I want to hike. SAD FACE, SAD SAD FACE.

My dad and I arrived in Greeley around 4pm and drove up and down the streets for a few hours, trying to get a feel for the place. Found my apartment (move-in day's tomorrow!), the closest grocery store, the less sketchy grocery store a little further away, and the Target (my mom and I used to make day-trips to Target because the closest one was 2 or 3 hours away in Plattsburgh. It was quite the event, but NOW I have one less than 5 minutes away!). We scoped out good potential diners, a gluten free pizza place, the closest craft store (Jo-Ann Fabrics, 1.3 miles away), etc etc. We did a lot of exploring in a short amount of time and it definitely took a toll on me. Greeley was not what I expected, we had been in the car for almost 3 days straight, and this whole summer has been a huge transition period in general. Aaaaaand cue the public meltdown at Perkins, a tiny little chain diner that apparently has good pie? I dunno, it was embarrassing but necessary, and now that I'm all cried out and all the suspense about what Greeley's going to be like is gone, I feel a bit better.

My dad and I are staying in a Heritage Inn for the night (though the Chinese family who owns it calls it the Meritage Inn and can't make up their minds about whether to legally change the name. Colorado is weird). This place is awesome. In a spunky, thrown-together sort of way. The lobby is decorated with a Christmas tree, our room has two large paintings that are exact replicas of each other hanging on adjacent walls, the toilet has snowman decals on it, and there are themed suites with spray-painted doors. Unfortunately, we're not in one. You could call this place a dump, orrrr you could say it has character and enjoy the quirks. We're choosing the latter.

 

Well, Greeley, it's been a weird first day full of ups and downs, but mostly downs. Hopefully tomorrow is mostly ups.