The Latest Trip Across America Ended Up In a Move For Our Family
I've told you about the traveling to Virginia and I've told you about the traveling to California. But now it's time to tell you about the trip. This trip we just took was to Washington DC. We saw the monuments and museums. We saw the Capitol Building, the Pentagon, and toured the Bureau of Printing and Engraving and the Library of Congress. When we weren't in DC, we visited Civil War sites. We did something exciting every day of the two weeks we spent in Virginia. We also spent time with the Kipps, who are a nice family that live in New Market.
Before I went to Virginia, I didn't even know that a battle of the Civil War happened in New Market. I don't remember it in my history books or the history films I watched but the actual Civil War Museum is in New Market and I learned about the New Market "field of lost shoes," where Civil War soldiers were fighting in mud that sucked off their shoes... yet they kept fighting!
My favorite place in Virginia to visit was the Roanoke Transportation Museum, which I wrote about on a previous blog.
After we left Virginia, we went to visit friends in Texas. We have a friend near Dallas and my mother has a Navy friend from the old days in San Antonio. This was an exciting visit to Texas for us because our family has been considering relocating. We found out how much homes rent for - which is amazing compared to California. One bedroom apartments are only $500. Huge homes rent for $800-$1000. My mom was offered a job! When she looked into other work in the area, it pays the same as she would make here! We met such nice people who said they were willing to help us relocate. We stayed with a family friend who we have known for about ten years. He travels during the school year on the road but said we are free to stay in his home even when he's on the road, when we arrive to relocate in Texas. So, we wouldn't have to rush into finding a place. We could find the right place for our family. There are very good colleges in Texas. One of the best engineering schools is right there in Texas. I want to be an engineer so this is great for me. There are five community colleges in the area our family wants to move to. Since I go to community college now, that's super important to me. Right now, my community college is an hour away from where I live. School would be much closer to get to if we moved there and I'll be driving myself to classes next year.
Here are some pictures I took of homes for sale for $90,000. These are 3 bedroom homes!
Right now, when we are in California, I sleep in a small area in the kitchen of a single wide mobile home because we are so poor there. When we looked at homes in Texas, near Dallas, we saw four bedroom homes that rent for less than what my mom now pays in rent. It made me feel hopeful, like we could have the kind of life I've been wanting for a long time. Some of these homes come with swimming pools and it seems like every house has air conditioning. When my mom sat down and figured out the math, we would have twice the size home we now have and spend less every month than we now do. My dad is totally supporting our move. This makes me really happy. He is looking into moving there, too. My dad was offered a transfer by his company, with a raise and a promotion, if he takes a job with them in Houston. He is thinking it over but I hope he will say yes or find other work near us.
I expect to live with my mom until I at least finish college but maybe even a couple of years after that, just enough to get my career started and save for my own home. That won't be for another six to eight years. So, you could see why having my own room means so much to me.
Traveling has taught me so much. The one thing I know for sure is that the rest of the United States is totally different from California. People really care for each other in other parts of the States. People are more respectful in other areas, too. What I also noticed is that there are so many stereotypes Californians have about people in other states that aren't true. There is prejudice but it is just in a few areas, not everywhere. In most areas, people don't care that I'm not white. But, when I was growing up, I always heard that people would treat me badly if I traveled to the South. The funny thing is white people are the ones who told me this so I believed them. Now, I know that Southerners are actually nicer than the people I live near in California! Texans have some funny ideas about Californians, too... like many of them think everyone who lives here is liberal and pro-choice. But our family is conservative so that's not true for us. But, that's okay. I think Texans and Californians just need to get to know each other a little bit better. Then they won't think these things about each other. I love California so I will always return here for trips. I just know our life will be a better one for all of us in Texas.
