Well, yesterday passed fairly uneventfully in terms of my birthday. Other than the five million facebook “Happy birthday!” messages and a small gift from my mom, we didn’t make much of a fuss about it. It didn’t event feel like my birthday; so much is going on that my head can barely stop spinning, much less recognize the fact that I’m seventeen. (Plus, it’s been a while since I thought of myself as sixteen, anyway.)
Anyway, as far as yesterday went, it was nice. We got up early in the morning, had breakfast on the run, and got to Washington & Lee University for a group information session. The guy who led that, Chris, was a character—tall and skinny with pinstripe black pants, a short-sleeved white button up, and a ruffled red bowtie; but if you’re thinking nerdy, he actually wasn’t. He was just… I don’t know, interesting. After Chris finished the information session, we toured the campus with Abbie. It was a pretty comical coincidence as both Abbie (“Abbie, not Abigail”) and I were in sweater-tops, floral skirts, and nice sandals. Although, other than Abbie and the moms, I was the only girl on the tour. It was maybe four guys and me, which in itself was kind of amusing, and might have been beneficial if I had thought any of them were cute.
Okay, I’m just going to come right out and say it: Washington & Lee is a quirky school. It’s like Mount Carmel for college kids, for one thing. Remember Sr. Camille Anne’s “High Five” speech? If you see someone in the hall and they’re less than five feet away, we say hi. Well, I got pretty much the same speech yesterday, much to my amusement. “If we make eye contact with each other, we smile and say hello.” Plus, it’s not much bigger than Mount Carmel and the professors and even the president of the school knows you. (If you’re a senior, apparently, the president has you over for dinner at least once during the year.) And you need to pass a swim test to graduate college. Oh my! I could go on and on, but that makes it sound like I didn’t like it—and I did. It’s a very pretty school with a great focus on education and a friendly, easygoing attitude.
After the tour, we took a carriage ride through Lexington. I always love carriage rides outside of New Orleans, because everywhere else but New Orleans uses horses instead of mules, and not to hate on mules or anything, but horses have so much more of a personality. Our driving horses were two black Morgan/Percheron crosses who were about sixteen and ready to settle into semi-retirement. In fact, I think we were their last ride as full-time drivers. Their names were Dick and Dan, and their human counterpart, the carriage driver, was named Angel. She had a smoker’s voice, lilted by a southern accent, and was absolutely nice, but had a little kick to her that made her completely at odds with her name. She was feisty and nice to her horses; I liked her.
The town, as we discovered even further from the tour, is absolutely charming. The houses have names, like in an Austen novel (like Mansfield Park ;p) or like something out of Wuthering Heights. And people knew the local pets by name. (Let me insert here that before the tour, we went to get coffee at a local little coffee shop and on the wall, there were rows of pegs where regular customers kept their coffee mugs.) Dick and Dan were pretty adorable, too. They were terribly confused when a delivery truck stood in their usual parking spot, and Dan never quite recovered, trodding along with a confused look on his face for the rest of his, and Dick the Chicken (who spooked at or at least curiously considered every little thing that crossed his path) was especially smart and had picked up a neat little trick. We had to stop at red lights every so often, and without fail, at every red light, Dick would start moving a half-second before the light turned green. As the green light on the other side of the intersection switched to red, the light makes a little clicking noise. Dick can apparently hear this click and has learned that it means its time to go. It never surprises me how smart these animals can be.
We were staying in Lexington last night and had nothing to do after the carriage ride, so we ended up eating lunch on the back patio of a little restaurant in a hill, doing some laundry at the local laundry mat (what an experience! I’ve never been to one in my life), did some shopping downtown, and then we hung around the pool, reading and soaking in the gorgeous scenery.
We left Lexington this morning, after a pretty nice breakfast on the front porch of our hotel, looking out past the brick archways onto the rolling green lawn. From there, it was only a two hour drive to Richmond, pretty miniscule compared to the twelve and five hour drives we’ve been used to. We got to Richmond at a little after eleven this morning and spent the afternoon exploring.
We ate lunch at Noodles, a little restaurant that sells (you guessed it!) noodles, and spent the afternoon shopping in Carytown and at Stony Point, both outdoor boutiques and brand-name stores on what they call the West End. Finally, we called it a day and headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow, we’ll tour the University of Richmond.
Until then, good night!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
The Road Trip of Awesome: Car Trouble, Wild Turkeys, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding
There’s never a dull moment, not even on driving on the interstate through little foothills of the Smokies.
This morning, when we tried to pull out of Asheville, North Carolina, the car started to sound funny. The engine was stalling a little as it turned on, and as we had five hours of driving ahead of us, we didn’t want to take any chances and end up stranded on the side of the road. So, once we got the car started, we had to pull in to the Sears up the road from our hotel and let the mechanics take a look. Lucky we did, too, because by the time the men went to look at the car, the engine was so dead that it wouldn’t even start.
While our car was getting its check-up, we walked up the road to an iHop and ate breakfast. (Nutella crepes and ice coffee overlooking the mountains is wonderful.) Even the walk wasn’t too bad, despite the fact that we were practically walking alongside the highway. The weather up here is pretty cool in the morning (while New Orleans is getting a heat index of 110 back home). Anyway, an hour later, we had our car back, with a brand new battery, and were finally able to head out for Virginia.
We were cruising along the interstate, singing along to Disco Classics (plus me reading a chapter or two of Mansfield Park—Goal #37), when we saw the exit to Natural Bridge, Virginia. We hadn’t planned on making a pit stop, but we figured, hey, what else are road trips for? So we veered off the interstate and headed into another little mountain city.
What amuses me about the “Natty B”, as locals call, is that this gorgeous, completely natural stone crossway between two mountains has been around for millions, possibly billions, of years (as estimated by geologists), and humans think they can just stick a building up in front of it and charge you eighteen bucks to see it. I don’t get why people think they own every thing, but regardless, it was well worth the money. The bridge itself is both fascinating and beautiful, plus there’s much more to explore back behind the bridge. We stumbled across a recreation of a 1700s Indian village (complete with guides in costume!), and then decided to hike up the mountain some to see the Lace Waterfall. We figured, after yesterday’s phony waterfall, we might as well see a real one.
On our way up the mountain, we got to witness the rescue of a wild baby turkey. The flock of wild turkeys was crossing the creek when one of the babies got swept up by the current and was carried away by the creek. He finally lodged himself between a few of the rocks in the water, but the flock kept moving on. The mother kept calling back to the baby, but he was good and stuck, trying to flutter his wings helplessly, the poor thing. Luckily, a local hero happened to be standing by and gallantly climbed over the railing that lined the trail, pushed his way through the thin stretch of forest to the creek, where he braved slippery rocks and icy water to reach the bird. Meanwhile, the water was rising near the baby bird’s head, and had it not been for this heroic man, he would have drowned. But his white knight grabbed him (gently) from the rocks, crossed to the other side of the creek, and deposited the baby turkey safely on his banks. We can only hope that he’ll be reunited with his mother. But he’s better off either way, as death was slowly creeping up on him as he was in the water.
Once we finished our eventful detour to Natural Bridge, we continued on to Lexington. I must say, it is the most adorable little town. I was a little worried before we arrived, because small towns can be either hit or miss: terribly country or cute and quaint. Luckily, downtown Lexington is something akin to Stars Hollow, Connecticut. (The movie theater is playing three movies: Sex and the City, Prince of Persia, and Shrek 4.) And our hotel is a modern Hampton Inn in a historic little building. Everything here is reminiscent of a different century, but with a little modern twist.
After checking out what we could of the campus of Washington & Lee University, we stopped to eat dinner at Niko’s Grille, a family owned and operated restaurant, with a bit of everything on the menu but specializing in Greek food. And let me tell you, it was like stepping into the restaurant from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The married couple who owns it runs the register and makes friends with the customers, and their children wait the tables (along with some local help) and cook.
On our way out, we overheard a conversation between the couple owning the grille and a customer.
HUSBAND: Oh, this is your second time back here, huh? I don’t recognize you! I can’t believe it!
CUSTOMER: Yeah, I’ve been once before, and decided to come back.
WIFE, jumping in from across the room: Oh, yeah! He’s been in here before! You didn’t see him?
All in Greek accents, of course. (Except for the customer.) They can remember some faces, those two, and they have no problem pulling up a chair while you’re eating to chat with you. It was charming.
As for now, we’re back at the hotel room, getting ready for bed. Tomorrow, we tour our first college, which means getting up bright and early. Joy joy joy.
This morning, when we tried to pull out of Asheville, North Carolina, the car started to sound funny. The engine was stalling a little as it turned on, and as we had five hours of driving ahead of us, we didn’t want to take any chances and end up stranded on the side of the road. So, once we got the car started, we had to pull in to the Sears up the road from our hotel and let the mechanics take a look. Lucky we did, too, because by the time the men went to look at the car, the engine was so dead that it wouldn’t even start.
While our car was getting its check-up, we walked up the road to an iHop and ate breakfast. (Nutella crepes and ice coffee overlooking the mountains is wonderful.) Even the walk wasn’t too bad, despite the fact that we were practically walking alongside the highway. The weather up here is pretty cool in the morning (while New Orleans is getting a heat index of 110 back home). Anyway, an hour later, we had our car back, with a brand new battery, and were finally able to head out for Virginia.
We were cruising along the interstate, singing along to Disco Classics (plus me reading a chapter or two of Mansfield Park—Goal #37), when we saw the exit to Natural Bridge, Virginia. We hadn’t planned on making a pit stop, but we figured, hey, what else are road trips for? So we veered off the interstate and headed into another little mountain city.
What amuses me about the “Natty B”, as locals call, is that this gorgeous, completely natural stone crossway between two mountains has been around for millions, possibly billions, of years (as estimated by geologists), and humans think they can just stick a building up in front of it and charge you eighteen bucks to see it. I don’t get why people think they own every thing, but regardless, it was well worth the money. The bridge itself is both fascinating and beautiful, plus there’s much more to explore back behind the bridge. We stumbled across a recreation of a 1700s Indian village (complete with guides in costume!), and then decided to hike up the mountain some to see the Lace Waterfall. We figured, after yesterday’s phony waterfall, we might as well see a real one.
On our way up the mountain, we got to witness the rescue of a wild baby turkey. The flock of wild turkeys was crossing the creek when one of the babies got swept up by the current and was carried away by the creek. He finally lodged himself between a few of the rocks in the water, but the flock kept moving on. The mother kept calling back to the baby, but he was good and stuck, trying to flutter his wings helplessly, the poor thing. Luckily, a local hero happened to be standing by and gallantly climbed over the railing that lined the trail, pushed his way through the thin stretch of forest to the creek, where he braved slippery rocks and icy water to reach the bird. Meanwhile, the water was rising near the baby bird’s head, and had it not been for this heroic man, he would have drowned. But his white knight grabbed him (gently) from the rocks, crossed to the other side of the creek, and deposited the baby turkey safely on his banks. We can only hope that he’ll be reunited with his mother. But he’s better off either way, as death was slowly creeping up on him as he was in the water.
Once we finished our eventful detour to Natural Bridge, we continued on to Lexington. I must say, it is the most adorable little town. I was a little worried before we arrived, because small towns can be either hit or miss: terribly country or cute and quaint. Luckily, downtown Lexington is something akin to Stars Hollow, Connecticut. (The movie theater is playing three movies: Sex and the City, Prince of Persia, and Shrek 4.) And our hotel is a modern Hampton Inn in a historic little building. Everything here is reminiscent of a different century, but with a little modern twist.
After checking out what we could of the campus of Washington & Lee University, we stopped to eat dinner at Niko’s Grille, a family owned and operated restaurant, with a bit of everything on the menu but specializing in Greek food. And let me tell you, it was like stepping into the restaurant from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The married couple who owns it runs the register and makes friends with the customers, and their children wait the tables (along with some local help) and cook.
On our way out, we overheard a conversation between the couple owning the grille and a customer.
HUSBAND: Oh, this is your second time back here, huh? I don’t recognize you! I can’t believe it!
CUSTOMER: Yeah, I’ve been once before, and decided to come back.
WIFE, jumping in from across the room: Oh, yeah! He’s been in here before! You didn’t see him?
All in Greek accents, of course. (Except for the customer.) They can remember some faces, those two, and they have no problem pulling up a chair while you’re eating to chat with you. It was charming.
As for now, we’re back at the hotel room, getting ready for bed. Tomorrow, we tour our first college, which means getting up bright and early. Joy joy joy.
Monday, June 7, 2010
The Road Trip of Awesome: Whoa! A LOT has happened.
We left Atlanta early Sunday morning, stopping at mass along the way. And the mass alone has enough stories surrounding it that I fill a whole blog about it. We walked in to a mass on the feast of Corpus Christi that was said in both Latin and Spanish (you had the sense of déjà vu as the prayers went on), and then, at one point, I wasn’t sure if we were at a poetry reading or church. The priest was quite the performer, reciting a Corpus Christi-themed poem with all the rhythm and gusto normally given to Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”. The ceremony went on for nearly two hours, and as there was no end in sight, we finally had to excuse ourselves before the final blessing. (This was after a “special treat” for mass that day, in which we processed around the church itself and then into and around the lobby and then back into the church to take our seats again.) After that fiasco, we were finally able to hit the road. Again.
The three and a half hour drive to Asheville was nowhere near as monotonous as the first stretch of the journey. The Interstate took us on a winding, forested path through the hills and eventually we entered into the Smoky Mountains themselves. True to their name, plumes of steam and fog billowed like smoke off the gigantic mountain faces, and the slow, winding roads turned into sharp curves up the mountain at seventy miles an hour. We went uphill and downhill and uphill and downhill for what seemed like ever, the car protesting all the way. It was kind of a relief to be able to pull off the interstate and turn on to the quaint, trafficky little streets of Asheville.
The city is adorable. It’s nestled in the hills and is filled with cute, quirky little districts. The historic district and downtown are definitely my favorites. The historic district has all the crisp, clean chain stores like American Eagle and Soma nestled into old brick buildings, while downtown is kind of like the French Quarter—not in looks, but in the strange, New Age shops, the homey cafes, and colorful people it attracts. Sunday evening, we decided to park in a lot downtown and walk the streets. (The traffic lights are such that it is faster to walk than to drive.) Even walking from one store to the next, you’re hill-climbing, though, and it’s a bit of a challenge. They’re huge on books here, though, and I even found a cute little zine stand that I checked out, which should count for Goal #44. While we were browsing one of the used bookstores right off Broadway, a summer shower hit out of nowhere, and we were caught in a furious little rainstorm. When the skies finally cleared, we continued exploring and found a cute little park on the outskirts of downtown, all cobblestone and ferns. All in all, it was a pretty nice night.
Despite yesterday’s bout of rain, the weather today was beautiful. Cool, almost, with no humidity and bright blue skies and those white, puffy clouds that always make me smile. We divided up our time today between getting lost and touring the absolutely gorgeous and somewhat famous Biltmore Estate. It was built in the 19th century and spreads out over 8,000 acres of mountains and hills and meadows and rivers. The Biltmore House and its gardens were both inspired by French renaissance architecture, and both look so reminiscent of the palace at Versailles that you can’t help but notice the influence. If you’ve ever seen the movie Marie Antoinette, you have some idea of what the Biltmore Estate looks like. The house itself is seven-stories tall, although the ceilings are so high in some rooms that there are only three or four main floors.
We spent an hour and a half in the Biltmore House alone. It reminded me of clue, as they have a Billiard Room and a Conservatory and an underground passageway that leads from one part of the house to the next. The library alone houses 23,000 books, and there are numerous other stocked bookshelves in the house. Plus, there’s a bowling alley, a swimming pool, and three kitchens. It’s pretty amazing, and pictures are coming soon. (Although, I left my camera cord at home, so they’ll have to wait a little while.)
Even once you leave the house, there was so much to do on the grounds that we were quite content to spend all day there. The Vanderbilts today have converted the old stable (all mode of stone and brick and wrought-iron) into a restaurant, so I ate lunch in what, about one hundred years ago, used to be a horse stall. The horse’s hay rack and water bucket (made of iron) and even the sliding doors of the stalls and the drains and pipes of that they used for washing the animals were all in tact. Later, I got to spend my time with some real horses, two huge Belgian Drafts with wide, innocent eyes and the sweetest personalities—Chester and Burt. They were down at the restored 1900s farm on the estate, along with a ram and sheep and roosters and baby chicks. I was in heaven.
We did quite a bit of hiking, both uphill and down, and even got suckered into talking a mile-long trail to see a “waterfall”—nothing more than a little splash of water flowing over the side of a bridge. Five miles of forest trails and one wine tasting(/grape juice tasting) later, we were ready to go back to the hotel.
I had to take an hour or so in the room to recoop before I had the energy to go walk through Asheville Mall, nothing nearly as exciting as Biltmore today. And tomorrow, it’s back on the road—to a new town and a new hotel, with more adventures. Heck, we’re so crazy we’ll even take on a new state!
At seven o’clock tomorrow morning, we’ll be sipping coffee and packing up the car, ready to head out of this place. Goodbye North Carolina, hello Virginia!
Lexington, here we come.
P.S. Click the title of this post to be linked to Biltmore’s website. Check it out, because it’s pretty awesome.
The three and a half hour drive to Asheville was nowhere near as monotonous as the first stretch of the journey. The Interstate took us on a winding, forested path through the hills and eventually we entered into the Smoky Mountains themselves. True to their name, plumes of steam and fog billowed like smoke off the gigantic mountain faces, and the slow, winding roads turned into sharp curves up the mountain at seventy miles an hour. We went uphill and downhill and uphill and downhill for what seemed like ever, the car protesting all the way. It was kind of a relief to be able to pull off the interstate and turn on to the quaint, trafficky little streets of Asheville.
The city is adorable. It’s nestled in the hills and is filled with cute, quirky little districts. The historic district and downtown are definitely my favorites. The historic district has all the crisp, clean chain stores like American Eagle and Soma nestled into old brick buildings, while downtown is kind of like the French Quarter—not in looks, but in the strange, New Age shops, the homey cafes, and colorful people it attracts. Sunday evening, we decided to park in a lot downtown and walk the streets. (The traffic lights are such that it is faster to walk than to drive.) Even walking from one store to the next, you’re hill-climbing, though, and it’s a bit of a challenge. They’re huge on books here, though, and I even found a cute little zine stand that I checked out, which should count for Goal #44. While we were browsing one of the used bookstores right off Broadway, a summer shower hit out of nowhere, and we were caught in a furious little rainstorm. When the skies finally cleared, we continued exploring and found a cute little park on the outskirts of downtown, all cobblestone and ferns. All in all, it was a pretty nice night.
Despite yesterday’s bout of rain, the weather today was beautiful. Cool, almost, with no humidity and bright blue skies and those white, puffy clouds that always make me smile. We divided up our time today between getting lost and touring the absolutely gorgeous and somewhat famous Biltmore Estate. It was built in the 19th century and spreads out over 8,000 acres of mountains and hills and meadows and rivers. The Biltmore House and its gardens were both inspired by French renaissance architecture, and both look so reminiscent of the palace at Versailles that you can’t help but notice the influence. If you’ve ever seen the movie Marie Antoinette, you have some idea of what the Biltmore Estate looks like. The house itself is seven-stories tall, although the ceilings are so high in some rooms that there are only three or four main floors.
We spent an hour and a half in the Biltmore House alone. It reminded me of clue, as they have a Billiard Room and a Conservatory and an underground passageway that leads from one part of the house to the next. The library alone houses 23,000 books, and there are numerous other stocked bookshelves in the house. Plus, there’s a bowling alley, a swimming pool, and three kitchens. It’s pretty amazing, and pictures are coming soon. (Although, I left my camera cord at home, so they’ll have to wait a little while.)
Even once you leave the house, there was so much to do on the grounds that we were quite content to spend all day there. The Vanderbilts today have converted the old stable (all mode of stone and brick and wrought-iron) into a restaurant, so I ate lunch in what, about one hundred years ago, used to be a horse stall. The horse’s hay rack and water bucket (made of iron) and even the sliding doors of the stalls and the drains and pipes of that they used for washing the animals were all in tact. Later, I got to spend my time with some real horses, two huge Belgian Drafts with wide, innocent eyes and the sweetest personalities—Chester and Burt. They were down at the restored 1900s farm on the estate, along with a ram and sheep and roosters and baby chicks. I was in heaven.
We did quite a bit of hiking, both uphill and down, and even got suckered into talking a mile-long trail to see a “waterfall”—nothing more than a little splash of water flowing over the side of a bridge. Five miles of forest trails and one wine tasting(/grape juice tasting) later, we were ready to go back to the hotel.
I had to take an hour or so in the room to recoop before I had the energy to go walk through Asheville Mall, nothing nearly as exciting as Biltmore today. And tomorrow, it’s back on the road—to a new town and a new hotel, with more adventures. Heck, we’re so crazy we’ll even take on a new state!
At seven o’clock tomorrow morning, we’ll be sipping coffee and packing up the car, ready to head out of this place. Goodbye North Carolina, hello Virginia!
Lexington, here we come.
P.S. Click the title of this post to be linked to Biltmore’s website. Check it out, because it’s pretty awesome.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
The Road Trip of Awesome: Green and Flat and Nine Hours Long
Oh joy untold! After nine hours on the road, we’ve finally made it to Atlanta, and are (hopefully) finished with the more boring part of our journey—which means, Let the Road Trip of Awesome begin!
We decided late last night that we were going to leave this morning, after I took the SAT Subject tests. So my day, in a nutshell, has been comprised of a one hour Literature test, a one hour History test, and nine hours in the car. But honestly, it was just a bit more eventful than it sounds.
I left New Orleans at eleven o’clock in the morning, Starbucks in hand, and radio turned up loud—jamming out to The Greatest Hits of Fleetwood Mac. We hit the Interstate for nine hours straight, stopping in or at least passing through all the major destinations between here and Georgia: Gulf Port, Mobile, Montgomery, Auburn, and (finally) Atlanta. The scenery was always green and flat, but there were some interesting sights: a Taco Bell “hiring if you’re smiling”, the outlet mall at Gulf Port, and the frat boys at Auburn. Finally, towards Atlanta, the route itself started getting a little pretty. The little round hills and tall, noble-looking trees beat green and flat any day.
Atlanta was a little tricky, because it has about a dozen lanes of highway curving through the city, and the GPS sometimes expects us to cross over about six of them at a time. Not going to happen, so we ended up taking a little scenic tour of Atlanta (purely by accident), and ended up finally pulling over on Pleasant Hill in north Atlanta. It’s eight o’clock at night New Orleans time (nine in Atlanta), and we’ve been driving since eleven. Plus, we’ve spent the day in four different states, so it’s understandable that we’re kind of tired.
Okay, that’s an understatement. To be honest, when we checked in to our hotel, we were downright delirious. (Someone couldn’t even figure out how to use the elevator at first. :p) I plan on staying right here in bed, with my sweatshirt, my iPod, and my book that I’m reading and not moving again until tomorrow morning. Because once we wake up, we’ve got three hours of driving to go. Compared to the nine hours, the drive to South Carolina sounds so easy.
And speaking of things that sound easy, I haven’t forgotten my hopes of accomplishing some of my 101 goals on this trip. I’ve been trudging through Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park all day (part of Goal #37) and the book is finally starting to pick up. Plus, I have big plans to knock out some other goals, like Visiting Katie (#28) and most definitely seeing two states that I’ve never seen before (#81). But I’ve done enough for tonight.
Until tomorrow… Arrivederci.
We decided late last night that we were going to leave this morning, after I took the SAT Subject tests. So my day, in a nutshell, has been comprised of a one hour Literature test, a one hour History test, and nine hours in the car. But honestly, it was just a bit more eventful than it sounds.
I left New Orleans at eleven o’clock in the morning, Starbucks in hand, and radio turned up loud—jamming out to The Greatest Hits of Fleetwood Mac. We hit the Interstate for nine hours straight, stopping in or at least passing through all the major destinations between here and Georgia: Gulf Port, Mobile, Montgomery, Auburn, and (finally) Atlanta. The scenery was always green and flat, but there were some interesting sights: a Taco Bell “hiring if you’re smiling”, the outlet mall at Gulf Port, and the frat boys at Auburn. Finally, towards Atlanta, the route itself started getting a little pretty. The little round hills and tall, noble-looking trees beat green and flat any day.
Atlanta was a little tricky, because it has about a dozen lanes of highway curving through the city, and the GPS sometimes expects us to cross over about six of them at a time. Not going to happen, so we ended up taking a little scenic tour of Atlanta (purely by accident), and ended up finally pulling over on Pleasant Hill in north Atlanta. It’s eight o’clock at night New Orleans time (nine in Atlanta), and we’ve been driving since eleven. Plus, we’ve spent the day in four different states, so it’s understandable that we’re kind of tired.
Okay, that’s an understatement. To be honest, when we checked in to our hotel, we were downright delirious. (Someone couldn’t even figure out how to use the elevator at first. :p) I plan on staying right here in bed, with my sweatshirt, my iPod, and my book that I’m reading and not moving again until tomorrow morning. Because once we wake up, we’ve got three hours of driving to go. Compared to the nine hours, the drive to South Carolina sounds so easy.
And speaking of things that sound easy, I haven’t forgotten my hopes of accomplishing some of my 101 goals on this trip. I’ve been trudging through Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park all day (part of Goal #37) and the book is finally starting to pick up. Plus, I have big plans to knock out some other goals, like Visiting Katie (#28) and most definitely seeing two states that I’ve never seen before (#81). But I’ve done enough for tonight.
Until tomorrow… Arrivederci.
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