My two weeks in Chattanooga have come to an end. Tomorrow, I’m driving 12 hours to Houston for my sister’s wedding. I’m really not looking forward to driving that long, but I didn’t want to leave Chattanooga a day early to split the drive up. I got myself a chocolate chip cookie and Gerolsteiner to keep me motivated during the drive tomorrow. I don’t usually like flavorless sparkling water, but I’ve been obsessed with Gerolsteiner since I tried it for the first time a few weeks ago. I’m not sure what it is about it that I like. Maybe I feel good drinking it because it has a lot of minerals that are good for me. Or maybe I like it because it’s fancy expensive water and I tend to like fancy expensive things. Don’t we all?

Anyway, let’s get back to Chattanooga. My friend Faith, who lives in Austin, put me in touch with her friend Katie, who lives here with her husband, Nathan, and their three boys, Bennie, Martin, and Felix. Being introduced to Katie made all the difference in my time here. She is so nice and made a lot of time for me. We got coffee and walked part of the riverwalk, I went to Mass with the whole family, we went to a talk about friendship at the basilica, she introduced me to her friend Laura and the three of us walked another part of the riverwalk, and finally, I went to her house today and we walked to a bakery with the kids. That’s where I got my chocolate chip cookie for tomorrow. Here’s a picture Bennie took of us this morning as proof that I’ve been social in Chattanooga.

I had a few days of extreme fatigue, so as with Raleigh, I wasn’t able to explore as much as I would have liked. I managed to do more than in Raleigh though. I walked around the North Shore neighborhood. I walked across the famous walking bridge. It connects North Shore to downtown and had been closed for renovations for 18 months. It reopened a few days after I arrived! I walked parts of the riverwalk. I hiked to Sunset Rock and sat up there for half an hour enjoying the view. There were two boys that looked like they were in high school rappelling off the top of Sunset Rock. They had all the right gear and looked like they knew what they were doing, but it looked terrifying. I would love to try it some day.

My conclusion after being here for two weeks is that Chattanooga is the perfect city (for me):

• I love its size.
• I love that the Tennessee River flows through it and has a nice riverwalk.
• I love that there are so many trails. Trails north of the city, in the middle of the city, and south of the city.
• I love that it has mountains. They’re not huge, but they’re enough to get a good workout and a good view as a reward.
• I think I would love living in North Shore. It’s on the northern bank of the river, has restaurants, coffee shops, pharmacies, and grocery stores that are walking distance, it’s right by the walking bridge, it has parks, and it’s right in the middle of the city, so the most you have to drive to get anywhere is 20 minutes.

Even though I think it’s perfect, I’m not sure I’m going to move here. The problem with Chattanooga is that it’s mostly college kids, recent college grads, and young families. Most of the people that I met here are married and have kids. I met one single person my age and all her friends are married. I love my married friends, but their lives are very different than mine and I need single friends too. I’m sure I could find some here, but it’s going to take a lot of work. After being alone on a road trip for most of this year, I’m not sure that I want to start next year by moving to a city where it’s going to be harder to make friends than in other cities, which means spending a lot more time alone. It’s hard enough to make friends in a city with lots of single young professionals. Do I really want to make things harder for myself?

As I was mulling all this over a few days ago, Austin popped into my mind. I lived there for 2.5 years and left because it felt like Neverland. It was full of Peter Pans and Lost Boys and Girls and it didn’t feel like a place where I could put down roots. However, if I had never lived there, Austin would be almost perfect. It’s not huge, it has a river, it has a greenway with trails, it’s close to family, and it has some of my best friends. The only thing it doesn’t have is mountains, but that might be a good excuse to go on trips. And I don’t have to hang out with the Peter Pans in the city. The fact that I have so many good friends there means not everyone there is in Neverland. So as much as it hurts my pride to say this, I’m considering moving back to Austin. It’s not decided yet because Chattanooga is still tugging at my heart and I want to spend a few days in Austin to see how I feel about it when I’m there. But right now, Austin seems like the better choice when I’m being objective.

Thankfully, where I’m moving is a decision for future Priscilla. For now, I just have to focus on making the best out of my 12 hour drive, seeing as many friends as possible in Houston, enjoying time with family at the wedding, and making bread with Petunia, my sourdough starter. She’s been staying in her grandparents’ fridge while I’ve been away and I’ve missed her. After that, the road trip continues.