The West

          Family travel is always an adventure. Especially road trips. My dad insists on doing most of the driving despite my mom’s frequent offers to take over the wheel, and only relinquished his position to let me drive on our last trip, through the Midwest. My mom is always the navigator, loading up on free maps and guides at rest areas, and Diana never fails to be the annoying child in the backseat who refuses to even try to fall asleep.

 For the last two summers, we have taken long road trips, covering what I consider to be pretty huge distances--especially considering we are usually crammed into a compact car. In 2009, we flew to San Francisco, one of my favorite places, and flew home from Las Vegas, one of my least favorite places, visiting everything in between. A favorite was Yosemite National Park, where my dad and I rode mules.

            Last summer, we flew to Chicago, drove to Montana, drove back to Chicago, and flew home. It was completely different from the West Coast, and compared to the East Coast, it was a different world. Driving through Nevada and Arizona in 2009, there were deserts, but in Wyoming and North Dakota it was like another planet. It was actually like stepping back in time, and seeing all of the untouched land was completely and utterly breathtaking. Even my dad was speechless. Everything is open, and you can see for miles—endless, empty, open road is something I find to be beautiful, and incredibly liberating. The way I felt driving through Wyoming is indescribable; New England tends to have an effect of confinement on me, but the West is almost frighteningly open, flat, and barren.

            Of course, there always has to be an element of fun on family vacations, and Diana and I accomplished this last summer by becoming Junior Rangers at several National Parks and Monuments. These programs are usually reserved for kids 12 and under, but the park rangers were nice enough to let us complete the workbooks and give us an induction ceremony. We even received badges, which I think were the best (and cheapest!) souvenirs of our vacation. My parents always try to ensure that we get everything we can out of each vacation, so we watched two rodeos, rode horses through the mountains several times, and went rafting on the Colorado River. We had such a great time last summer that we are going back this month, flying to Denver and driving through Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. This time, we are staying at a dude ranch for a few days, and we’ll probably visit every National Park we pass by.

            Last summer’s trip to the West has inspired me to go to college out there. When I go to college, I want to be in a place that I love, and thus all of my school visits, searches, etc. have been largely based on location. Although the majority of schools I am interested in are in the Northeast, I am planning on applying to a few on the West Coast as well as in the Midwest. Going to college in a place like Wyoming definitely has its benefits. Aside from one or two schools, every college I have looked at costs well over $40,000 a year, which I think is absolutely ridiculous. Most of the schools in the Midwest are far more affordable, and I would have the opportunity to get an excellent education in the most beautiful part of the United States.

where we went

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