Montana —Antoinette cried when I told her it will take a while before we can go back to Cebu to visit their Lala (Grandmother) as Nanay (that’s me) will give birth to Baby JJ come September.
Her twin brother Nicholas said “okay” as their father Jeff loaded our bags at the back of the white Ford Expedition we rented for a one-week road trip with stops in the states of Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana, and some small towns in America that you might have never heard of (Mesquite, Nevada or Inkom, Idaho anyone?).
Our family’s plan to leave China and settle in the United States has been brewing for a while. Jeff and I knew that at some point, we needed to leave the Middle Kingdom because of several reasons, one of which involves raising a growing family surrounded by good healthcare plan, a clean environment (no smog), and an educational system that will ensure our children’s future. The decision to pack our bags and head off to the airport was strengthened with my second pregnancy (of Baby No. 3 a.k.a. Jeffrey Peter Ruffolo Jr. or JJ).
So while the 12-hour flight from Guangzhou to LA was not a trip we look forward to, Jeff and I took another bold and brave step: managing jetlag and dragging our 22-month-old twins into another rollercoaster adventure that this time involves 13 luggage pieces.
Getting out of the Tom Bradley International Terminal on a cold Wednesday night was only the beginning of a long journey that took us to different Marriott hotels across the states of California, Nevada, and Utah—and into the desserts, valleys, and grasslands of America, a far cry from the concrete jungle that is New York or the superstar-infested world
of Hollywood.
Jeff drove usually for three straight hours before parking the car in a rest stop and taking a 15-minute “power” nap to recharge his weary soul.
Driving from one town to the other, we lamented about the “convenience” brought about by fast food drive-thru, as if every single American is starving to death.
I stopped counting how many Carl’s Jr., McDonalds, Subway, Popeyes Chicken, Del Taco, and Taco Bells we passed by out of boredom.
We did take advantage of the drive-thru and found ourselves physically ill by the end of the first day.
We stopped at Las Vegas, spent Thursday night at the Renaissance Inn, and didn’t waste any time in ordering real food which took shape in my favorite, French Onion Soup and one large serving of Margherita Flatbread (think tomatoes, basil and lots of cheese).
Exiting Vegas, we were greeted with a vast dessert of nothingness.
We sought refuge in radio stations which played songs from Coldplay and at some point, two singles from Maroon 5.
We had trucks as road companions and truck drivers as rest stop acquaintances.
Changing diapers in random convenience stores became a norm.
We stacked up on butter cookies and chocolate chip cookies for the twins to nibble on hoping that they won’t scream at us while Jeff was trying his best to focus on the road and I, focused on being Miss Chatterbox to keep him awake.
At St. George, Utah, we bought the twins new drinking bottles after a late realization that they’re too young to drink straight from a regular water bottle of Aquafina.
It was Friday afternoon when we arrived in Cedar City, after going around St. George looking for a better hotel deal from the varied Marriott hotels. But it was Memorial Day (which falls on Monday, May 25) weekend in America to honor fallen armed forces veterans and so most of the hotels were charging more than usual.
So we decided to go up to Cedar City and stayed at Marriott’s Springhill Suites.
If you are into shopping, get ready to spend your dollars here as outlet stores are everywhere.
I was tempted to leave Jeff and the twins for a while and head to Banana Republic or American Navy just to check what great deals I could find there; but my pregnant, lazy self told me to better stay put and just settle for a quick stroll around Walmart to buy some diapers and baby wipes.
By Saturday, we arrived in Provo, Utah and checked in at a Residence Inn (our second time).
The twins were exhausted and that is good news for me as Jeff and I can finally have peace and quiet.
We drove to the house of Gary Tate, a good friend of Jeff’s parents, to say our hellos and we were welcomed with warm hugs and great blessings for being in Utah.
Back at the Residence Inn, Jeff made mouthwatering steak for dinner and I had white rice to go with it. I did my happy dance.
The twins and I woke up 11 a.m. on a Sunday and breakfast of scrambled eggs, French toast and bacon was ready, thanks to the dynamic husband and father Jeff.
We drove to a local park where Nicholas and Antoinette played to their hearts’ content and ate our lunch of green salad, Rotisserie chicken, and Jeff’s salami sandwich in one of the park’s benches.
It made me wish (again!) for Cebu and the Philippines to have more green spaces, and not just concrete roads and buildings.
In Salt Lake City, our family was welcomed by wide roads and a slight drizzle.
I was introduced to several buildings owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or the Mormon Church of which Jeff is a member.
Jeff had an interview there for a possible job opportunity.
I’m Catholic but our religious differences has not come in between our relationship.
To us, it’s all about respect and acceptance.
We left SLC after two days and made our way to Idaho.
We thought of stopping by a tiny town called Inkom for the night but the two motels we found had that horror-movie-kind-of-ambiance and Jeff was waiting for a man with an ax to come out of a storage unit. I felt it was a movie set from “The Walking Dead” and zombies will appear from nowhere and then Daryl Dixon will be shooting them with his trusted crossbow.
In this road trip, sunset comes as late as 9 p.m. so we decided to just continue driving until we reach Butte, Montana, which would be six hours away from Kalispell, our new home in our third country of residence.
Twin rainbows accompanied our journey as we were singing to Spiral Staircase’s “I Love You More Today Than Yesterday.”
We arrived in Butte close to midnight and La Quinta Inn and Suites was our home for the night.
We immediately sought the comfort of the kingsize bed to get at least an eight-hour sleep for another long drive the following day.
This one-week road trip taught me so much about patience and focus, love and determination, loyalty and trust.
Ours is a multicultural family that speaks two main languages (English and Cebuano) and some second/third/fourth languages in between.
Ours is a weird mix of the East and the West who love books, long drives, and superheroes.
Ours is an ongoing, never-ending adventure of discovering and rediscovering places and people, which we hope to impart to our children as they grow up to be
culturally-aware and socially-conscious citizens of the world.
This road trip from LA to Montana is yet to find its ending. Similarly, our road trip in understanding the ephemeral nature of our mundane existence in this Earth has yet
to find its answers.
But for now, we are content to live a life that is surrounded with love and joy.
Sure there are major roadblocks along the way—ask us, we know about being robbed during a vacation or our kids being deported and separated from us—but there is truth to that thing that they say about the light at the end of the tunnel.
When Jeff was courting me to become his wife (we realized we didn’t have any time for a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship so we skipped that stage), he shared to me a mantra which, he said, should become our family motto. It goes: “It doesn’t matter what we do, as long as we’re together. “
This trip definitely defines this family motto.
So wherever you choose to go or travel in search for yourself or to start a new life, we wish you a meaningful journey that will enable you to find the happiness that you truly deserve.