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Winter Road Trip

December 28, 9:30am: Deposit $300 into my bank account and leave Hutchinson with Google map directions.

12:30pm: Arrive in Kansas City. Eat at Panera Bread with Katie. Then, we drink Boba tea at Tea Drops and take pictures in a red phone booth.



3:15pm: Leave for Ursa, IL.

9:00pm: Arrive in Ursa. Meet Brian's family. Play Apples to Apples. Sleep.



December 29, 10:30am: Depart for Chicago with Brian.

2:30pm: Realize Google Maps is leading us in a wild circle around Peoria, IL.

3:00pm: Realize Peoria IL is far outside the fastest route to Chicago. Realize it was foolish to come on trip without map. Stop in a gas station and figure out good route.

5:30pm: Entering Chicago an I-55. This is as far as we'd planned. We simply picked a road that traveled right into downtown Chicago. Panicked, I try to contact several friends who live in Chicago for advice. We pick up Sharon from the train station, find a parking spot, and meet Christina and Sarah at a deep-dish pizza restaurant.

8:30pm: All of us pack into my mom's car to see Christina and Sarah's apartment. The apartment is obviously inhabited by very artsy people. Sharon suggests we go to a coffee/dessert shop and an improv club. We leave Christina and Sarah and have coffee. The improv club had no showings.

11:00pm: Arrive at Jaci's house in Grayslake. Her dad gave us directions over the phone. I thought it would be simple, so I didn't bother writing them down. Halfway into the conversation, I realized he was expecting me to have been writing everything down. He sounded angry and I didn't want him to have to repeat himself, so I said nothing. I repeated as much as I could remember to Brian. We dropped Sharon off at a station and began the hour-long journey to Grayslake. My memory soon failed me and we were stuck with vague recollections like, "He said something about two stoplights, one stoplight, gone too far, Center street (or something like that), and a four-way stop. I don't know what order he mentioned those things in, but they were all touched on." By some miracle, we made not a single error and got to the house at the expected time. It was cool. We then watched Iron Man with Jaci and her friend Kelly.

December 30, 12:00pm: Leave Grayslake for Lynchburg, Virginia. On our way, we spotted the Newsboys traveling in their trailer truck. By the time we arrived in West Virginia, it was dark. We were tired. Google Maps must have been feeling mischievous, because it certainly had its way with us that night. It led us through the most convoluted, mind-numbing, twisting, freaky-ass route you could ever imagine. The crescendo of this wackness was our trip through the haunted mountains of West Virginia. I wouldn't have stopped the car in those hills, no matter what you offered me. It was perhaps the most traumatic thing I have ever experienced. We eventually get through Hell and end up in Virgina, where we easily find Daniel's house. It is about 5 in the morning at this point.

For the stay in Virginia, I will not record the times or days, because I cannot remember. In any case, we had lots of fun. Daniel showed us his college, Liberty University. Because of our shared disdain for the Institution and all it stands for, we (mostly Daniel) decided to "decorate" one of the buildings.



As far as I know, the lights are still stuck there.

We chose to actually wake up early one morning to go to DC. So we did. Highlight of that trip was probably the hammered dulcimer concert we saw at the Kennedy Center. We of course saw the monuments and some museums as well.



We did many other fun things. On the 4th, about 1:00pm, We headed back to Kansas. Made it back here in one shot. I had a few close encounters with sleep on the way, but we managed to get here without any traffic violations or deaths. I dropped off Brian at about 9 or 10 o'clock on the 5th in Caldwell. I then drove in a helpless daze around Wichita for a while before finally coming back to my senses and heading for home.

I'll be heading back to college tomorrow. Peace.

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