Welcome Home: The SFO > STL Roadtrip Move, Day 5

Late Post for Sunday, December 5, 2010.

Total miles = 2,034. Having driven across approximately 70% the width of the North American continent, I arrived in St. Louis, MO last night.

Because of the quick start date to my new job, the past several days and couple of weeks seemed to go by at a dizzying pace. I'm being put up in transitional housing by the university, which is a great relief. This fast move would not have been possible without that support. I called the campus administrator on duty for the week when I was close to St. Louis (about 100 miles west of the city, filling up the gas tank one final time in Kingdom City, MO), and she planned to give me my apartment key and help orient me to parking and the building. She met me and I parked in the underground garage of the two-story apartment building that is owned by a private company that could not rent all the units, so the university partnered with it to put upperclass and graduate students in here as an off-campus housing option. "Off-Campus" meaning it is literally across the street from the southern edge of the main campus, so it is very conveniently located and I am walking distance to work. The apartment I am in was the space used as the "model"/"showcase" apartment to recruit students to live here (which you will see was not a very hard sell). So this will be a good place to settle in a bit (with just a few weeks' worth of stuff) and take some good time to look for a permanent address.

I've already posted the cute door tag that welcomed me on the front door of the apartment (see yesterday's blog post). Now let me show you inside the door (the whole place reminded me of the clean and colorful mid-century modern designs of Palm Springs)...

Bedroom #1: bed was fully made up just in case I didn't have any bedding with me (or in case I was too tired to make the bed, which was the case with me); working clock radio, dresser behind the desk table, and even a very cool pre-installed wall-mounted hanging magazine rack.

Bathroom (with a towel, just in case).

Bedroom #2: with minimal bedding in case I wanted to use my own.

Closets are smartly designed with pre-installed organizer units (Bedroom #1 has gray fabric curtains that slide on a thin line to cover the closet). Bedroom #2 had a cool pre-installed wall-mounted invisible shelf for books above the desk.

Even a working iPod docking stereo station (Bedroom #2) and a combination pushpin/magnet board.

Full kitchen (electric range, dishwasher, microwave, and a "disposal in the sink" - lyric from "Somewhere That's Green" from the musical Little Shop Of Horrors): refrigerator was stocked with beverages, freezer had two vegetarian frozen pizzas, and the tote bag on the countertop had some assorted snacks and treats for me.

A SLU totebag with teas, cookies, granola bars, and an assortment of oatmeal.

Cafe seating area right by the kitchen.

Living room: the use of carpet remnant squares on top of the gray commercial carpet was a very nice pop of color (yes, the chair and couch are black "leather").

Every apartment in this building has a wall-mounted flat screen TV - not surprisingly, the university was able to fill it with students!

An assortment of local reading materials (magazines, entertainment guides, SLU newspaper) was laid out for me on the coffee table. (I felt like Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada: "That's all...")

A great notebook that I am using for my first weeks of meeting notes, SLU drinking cups, pens, highlighters, keychains, sticky notes, notepads, and magnet-backed grocery shopping list pads.

Another totebag with a polo shirt and a T-shirt, courtesy of Housing and Residence Life. (The note explaining the contents is tucked into a front pocket and is addressed to "Dr. Ray!")

Coffee table even had a poinsettia and some votive holders.

Side table in the living room: the street address of this building is "374."

As I prepared to go to bed early for my first day of work in four months, I felt restless with anticipation and excitement. I hope many great adventures await me, and I'm sure I will be challenged in this job, and maybe I will challenge others back (in a good way). I recalled something I saw on that long stretch of my drive through Kansas: I noticed that the jet airplanes high overhead seemed to be following each other's contrails. I guess that makes sense: air traffic control and flight paths must all have designated routes to follow (weather permitting). So I wondered about my career in this context: whose trail would I be following if this job had never existed before? Even though my position at St. Louis University is a newly created one, I know I am indebted to all those who have taught and mentored me, and I hope I will always leave some brand new trails of my own wherever I go.

After unpacking the car Sunday morning, I went to meet my friend Melanie (who was gracious enough to receive the boxes I had shipped ahead of time). I got my boxes, we unloaded at the apartment, and then Melanie took me to a great brunch place downtown where we enjoyed savory crepes and lots of hot coffee!

Melanie's home (practically "down the street" from SLU and my temporary apartment).

Mittens Jersey, Melanie's cat (ah-choo!).

Brunch at Rooster: goat cheese and veggie crepe with a creamy tomato aioli sauce, coffee, and very spicy breakfast potatoes!

Off to post-brunch shopping (probably not since grad school in Vermont in 1993 has a winter photo like this been possible)!

After our Sunday brunch, Melanie took me to some stores and we shopped for groceries and some other essentials I needed to live in my temporary apartment for a while (and we completed some of her shopping errands too). (Yes, Tim and Margot - surprise, surprise: a day with Melanie that involved shopping - shocking!)

Perhaps prophetically, just over 12 hours before this Sunday started, one of the first place names I noticed after the Kansas-Missouri state border was "Raytown, MO." Well, I'm Ray. This is my town now. Hello, Missouri. Thank you for welcoming me. I'm happy to be home.