Driving Vancouver to Longmont Colorado

Hey Guys!

Just an update to say that we made it safe and sound to Colorado!

I can't believe Steven and I just drove half-way across the country... It was a very scenic drive starting from southern Montana, through Yellowstone National Park, Grant Teton Park (gorgeous), and in southern Wyoming.

We took our time completing the 24hr driving route in 3 days, spending the night in small-town Missoula Montana, and in the Whistler-like ski resort town of Jackson Hole Wyoming. We left Vancouver at about 9:30am on Friday and made it to Longmont about 7:30pm on Sunday!

It was a good road trip with good weather and good company (Steven, me, and Radio Lab)... :o) Sunday night we stayed in a hotel in Longmont and when I closed my eyes for bed I kept seeing mountain range after mountain range pass me by...

Monday morning we signed our lease at the Shores and moved in... Well, with what we had brought with us in the car anyway. The movers came to pack our stuff in Vancouver last Thursday and it won't be here for another week or so. Then we went to our respective work places and after work we went to the the 24-hr Super Walmart! We bought some basic groceries, two ulti chairs, an air mattress and a pump. Now we were really ready to settle into home! :o)

Tuesday was a big day for me too because Agilent was notifying employees about their layoff status. I was quite worried because I thought being remote would increase my chances of being chosen... However, as it turns out, I was not laid off and I will get to enjoy the beautiful Loveland Colorado office for the next 6-9 months. It's a super big building (on just one floor) with a maze of cubes (maybe 600)! It has a cafeteria with cheap food, lots of outdoor patio space with tables and chairs, so I can eat my lunch in the sun staring at the beautiful mountain view... There's also a fabulous gym for employees right in the building, they call it the Wellness Centre, and they offer free yoga, spinning, circuit training classes! It's also got lots of fancy weight-training equipment (some stuff I've never seen before). It's great! I can't wait to get into high-altitude shape! :o)

So far this week we've been eating out a lot (since we only have one pot at home)... We had dinner with Emlyn in Boulder on Tuesday, dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Longmont on Wednesday, and then dinner at a cool/authentic local taco place on Thursday. Thursday night we also did some more grocery shopping at King Soopers which is also 24 hours... I cannot understand how this small town can support two 24hr grocery stores. There's also a Super Target, and who knows, maybe it's 24hrs too!

Thursday evening I also went to an ultimate clinic in Boulder! It was really good instructional stuff and I see that I will need to learn to play ulti in the wind! I didn't really network much though because my muscles felt like jello after 2 points of scrimage so I ended up leaving early... But it's a 4 week clinic so hopefully I'll see some familiar faces next Thursday too. I also plan to drop by the Spring league on Sunday and see if I can pick up a couple of points here and there... :o)

Finally, Friday morning (today), we had the Comcast people come and install internet at home! Yay! So now I should be able to call you guys to catch up instead of writing these long emails... :o) We are using Skype for long-distance calls and it works great! If you're on Skype too then please add me as a contact... I'm listed in the directory as Sharon Kong and my Skype ID is skongalong. Easy to find me! :o)

Well, time to go hunt for another restaurant... Thanks for reading this far! I hope you all are doing well and that I get a chance to talk with you soon... We will try to post some pictures this weekend so I'll send out another update then!



Here's the map of where we went. If you click on "View Larger Map" it will highlight the route that we took.




View Larger Map



Once we get our stuff from Vancouver we will be able to post photos from our trip. We should get it sometime this week.

We've become the stereotypical American consumers. We have spent every other night shopping at Super Walmart (yes much larger than a normal Walmart) REI and at Costco. Bigger is better. REI is having a 20% off sale next week. Watch out!