My second trip across the country was not nearly as enjoyable as the first. Driving by yourself is lonely, mind numbing, and requires a large amount of endurance. Granted it's nice to take in the passing scenery and to have that feeling of independence driving through countryside. However, those feelings fade in midst of a half an hour.
With no one to talk to and hating all my music in my iPod, I ended up trying to memorize rap songs (Hey, it kept me entertained and now I know half of Lil Wayne's album The Carter III).
As for my endurance, I realized that I am not one to really take breaks. I hated driving so much that I would gun each of the trips and make as few stops as possible. I'm talking 8-9 hours trips each day with maybe a half an hour total time for breaks (thanks Red Bull!)
The long stretches of driving was definitely the worst part of the trip. However, the BEST part was being able to see and stay with some of my BU favorites.
San Francisco, CA-->Los Angeles, CA
I was able to see Ms. Lauren Varona for a night. I stayed with her on my way to San Francisco last year and was able to stay with her again on my way out. We ended up going to the Abbey in WeHo (a huge shocker since I go there everytime I'm in LA) and seeing Tabitha from Bravo's show Tabitha's Salon Takeover.
She's no Britney Spears but I'll take it!
Los Angeles, CA--> Tombstone, AZ
During my trip to Arizona, I was driving in the fast lane about 20 feet behind this woman in a Mazda compact car. All of a sudden I hear a loud bang, similar to a gun shot. Her front left tire ended up blowing out. I nearly rear ended her before she swerved and drove onto the shoulder of the road.
Gripping story, I know! What do you expect? I was driving into Arizona.
I spent the night with my aunt and uncle again, as well as picked up my mom from the airport. She was nice enough to fly out to share some of the driving.
Tombstone, AZ-->Kerrville, TX
Thankfully my mom was with me to take over a large portion of the driving.
Like I stressed in my last blog,
DRIVING THROUGH TEXAS F*$%ING BLOWS!
That's all I have to say about that!
Kerrville, TX-->New Orleans, LA
Finally I made it into N.O.L.A. where I stayed the weekend with Sassie Jamie Lynn. I was so happy that we were able to reunite and do what we do best together.....dance until 4 in the morning.
New Orleans, LA-->Gainseville, FL
Not much happening during this trip but here is a picture of a Louisiana causeway to enjoy:
Gainesville, FL-->Raleigh, NC
As I made my way up to Raleigh, I had to say goodbye to warm weather and hello to wind chill factors and snow. It was alright though since I was going to a semi-SAPA reunion. I spent the night at Barbara's place and we ended up driving to meet Sam who works an hour or so south.
Good Times!
Raleigh, NC-->Pittsburgh, PA
As I left Raleigh, it started to get even colder.
I spent the night at Liz Miles place in Westchester and we ended up going out to a nice sushi restaurant in her town for dinner.
After we got back from dinner, Liz and I start watching TV and saw the weather report for the next day. Apparently an intense storm had just finished making its way across the Midwest and was going to slam New England with heavy snow and nastiness.
AWESOME!
I had made it this far without any serious weather and now I had to drive through a crazy snowstorm. Granted I could have crashed at Liz's place for an extra night but I just wanted the trip to be over with by that point.
P.S. I HAVE NEVER DRIVEN IN SNOW BEFORE!!!
Pittsburgh, PA-->Concord, MA
I left pretty early in the morning (after I spent nearly 20 minutes getting all the snow off my car and removing all the ice from it's windows). The snow wasn't bad for the first few hours but got progressively worse as I drove out of Pennsylvania and through New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.
The snow got so heavy that there was pretty much zero visibility. This meant I had to drive about 15mph on I-95 for a good stretch of my trip, turning my six hour drive into a ten hour expedition.
Also, no one in their right mind would ever want to drive in this horrible weather, except for those who drive SUVs and Emergency Vehicles. Imagine my little compact Jetta trying to navigate the snowy roads with Land Rovers and trucks darting past and spraying waves of water and slush on my windshield.
Not going to lie.
I though I was going to die....a couple of times.
But thankfully I made it to Alex's place in the late evening and we celebrated Berkeley style!
No comments:
Post a Comment