The Times They Are a Changing: Part II - Btown
II
The Times They Are a Changing:
Btown
I looked all over the US trying to find a place to move. Look, as much as I love California, it is expensive. I feel like the only way I can comfortably stay in California is if I keep working high stress jobs. That way I can make the income needed to afford my mortgage. Since time is precious, I am not so sure I want to spend all my time working high stress jobs. So, during the pandemic, I started looking around at other places to live.
I covered the map. I promise you I did. For a long time, I was going to Boise, Idaho. They say Boise has perfect climate, even though they get snow. Then, for a time, I was going to go to Reno, Nevada. For a period, I was going to Vegas. Then I was convinced I was going to go to my initial destination out west of Denver. Even looked up a lot of houses in the Denver area. I even thought about going to Austin and opening a doggy daycare with my buddy Mike. Then when I became concerned with Mom’s health, I thought about Madison, WI. I spent a weekend there once and I loved it.
However, two things kept coming to mind when I was looking for my next town to live in. The first was proximity to Terre Haute. I wanted to be within driving distance so that, even in bad weather, I could get home to Mom or if family needed anything, or God forbid something bad happened. Denver, Austin, Boise, didn’t provide this. Madison was over an 8 hours’ drive, so I ruled that out as being too far away. The second thing was it had to be a cycling friendly city. After all, I am an athlete and cyclist. Another important factor I must mention here is I had to be close to my good buddy Chip. Chip and I have been great friends since we were 10. He honestly has played a huge part in my decision to move closer to home. Of all the people that I mentioned moving closer to, he is the only one who really kept on my ass about it, and constantly asked when, not if, it was happening. So, I narrowed it down to three places in Indiana: Indianapolis, Newburgh, and Bloomington.
I have no issues with Indianapolis. Home of the 500 and home of the Colts, which are literally two of my favorite things. It is close to Terre Haute. However, Indianapolis just never felt like home to me. I like it. I just never really saw myself living there. Even leaving college, I didn’t interview with one company in Indianapolis. I was drawn to it. It has some good cycling from what I read. It was never a serious contender.
The same could be said of Newburgh. I don’t know a lot about it, I have been there a few times. It is where my good buddy Chip and his family live – that's why it was on the list. I looked at houses there and they are nice. However, the couple hour driving distance from the family in Terre Haute was more than I wanted to do. If I was going to be in Indiana, I figured I should be a little closer.
This left Bloomington or Btown. Something in my heart just said yes to the thought of moving back to Bloomington. I am not sure what it was or is, but when I started looking at houses in Bloomington, I knew it was where I wanted to be. I loved my time in college in Bloomington. The location means I can get back to Mom and B in an hour. In Indianapolis for a Colts game or the 500 in an hour. Perhaps Garret can take me on a tour of the Indy 500 museum. I can shoot over and spend time with my oldest friend Adler in an hour. Then in an hour and a half I could be at my good buddy Chip’s place. It just seems like a very logical place for me to choose, pretty much equidistant to my family, friends, and sports teams.
Bloomington is also a great cycling city. I remember that from my days in school there and the friends I follow on Strava who live there. I am excited to get back to Bloomington and ride some of the places I rode when I was in school there. I want to know if the hills will still be as awful as I remember, or if I will be better equipped to ride them after riding out here in California. I am super excited about the cycling opportunities Bloomington offers.
Another reason Bloomington seemed like a great fit for me was because it is close enough to Clay County and I will be able to go watch my nieces and nephews do their sports. Brinlee with her cheering and Mr. Brody with his baseball, football, and basketball. I will never have kids of my own, and I will really be excited to go enjoy the “Friday Night Lights” of watching these two do their sports in High School. It was important to me to be close and have the flexibility to get to their games and events.
I am excited to be moving to Bloomington. I am heading back there September 12-14 to hopefully find my new home. Most important thing of said new home is big back yard so that Kona has a roost to rule over.
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