East or West, Home is Best...

but which one is home?

When we moved to Wyoming almost 3 years ago, then AD Gary Barta assured us, "oh, people from the east move here all the time and swear they'll never move back."

Funny, he's already moved to Iowa.

There are certainly things I enjoy and appreciate about Laramie. But right now we are in the midst of our month-long trip east, spent in Maryland, Florida and New Hampshire. And I can't get over the fact that, no matter how much I may like Laramie, it just isn't home. THIS is home. HERE is home. I love the east coast, and here are a few reasons why:

1. Dunkin' Donuts: Come on, is "Daylight Donuts" supposed to compare to this great institution? I have never had a bad iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts. All I have to do is say "extra cream, extra sugar" and it comes out perfect. I've had one every day I've been in NH, plus one in Florida. It helps that there are more per capita even than Starbucks.

2. Trees, trees, trees, GREEN everywhere, draped over the road, all along the horizon, covering the mountains. The Rockies are lovely, the Tetons are grand, but give me the green humped mountains of the Appalachians any day.

3. My family is here--not confined to one place mind you, all up and down the east coast they are, but with the exception of my mom and sister, everyone else is here.

4. Fresh seafood. Wyoming doesn't even stand a chance in this category. I'd much rather have Maryland blue crabs or steamed clams or broiled scallops than something made from elk.

5. The beach. Ditto #4. I love the beach, I love the ocean and I hate that my kids are growing up not spending time at the beach regularly, getting sandy, beachcombing for shells, riding the waves. Hate it.

6. New England style houses. No split levels or ranches for me, give me a good OLD Colonial, Gambrel, Saltbox or Cape Cod any day, specifically the ones in Amherst Village. I'd take any one of them if they were remotely within our budget.

7. It hasn't changed a whole lot. It's funny, driving down roads I used to travel all the time, I still feel like I could do it with my eyes closed. Some things have changed of course, many things for the better like having more Targets around.

8. It just feels like home. It feels like this is where my heart is, like I am settled, content, serene when I am here. Even though I can't believe that there are so many people crammed into one geographical area, I just long to be here, I don't know why. Its like the sea turtles, always coming back to the beach they were hatched on. Some instinctual homing device inside me just wants to be back here.

9. Long trips don't seem as long. When you're planning a trip out west, you type your destinations into old Mapquest and it spits out one thing: "get on route X and drive for 400 miles in the same state until you can't stand driving one minute longer." Here a 400 mile trip would take you through like 8 states and you'd be changing roads all over the place, even if you were still technically on the same highway. Its amazing how you actually feel like you're getting somewhere here. Unless of course you're stuck in traffic on 95.

10. My history is here. Some people want to erase their history, with good reason, so moving far away makes sense to them. My history hasn't exactly been rosy, but I'm still working on it, hoping to redeem it, so I'm not prepared to just leave it all behind for far off lands.

So, don't take offense, my Wyoming friends. You have a lovely state. But it will never be the home to me that I have in NH, or in Maryland. It just doesn't feel the same.