So what am I doing for my first official College Spring Break? I'm on a road trip with my family... to Tennessee. No offense to anyone who lives there, but it's not exactly the place I think of when I think Spring Break, especially since we're not even going to Graceland. (Although that was technically my decision.....it is pricey, man).
Anyway. It started out pretty rocky, and then....stayed fairly rocky throughout. I'm not sure who exactly thought it was a good idea to lock my brother and myself within tongue-lashing and fist-throwing distance of one another. The latter didn't actually occur, if anyone was worried, but it could have...
The plan was to leave at 5am. Did we leave at 5am? Not a chance. Never in my life have we ever left as early as we meant to for any trip, including those where we had to be at the airport at a specific time. My family is not the most time conscious. Even when we all were awake and supposedly ready to go, various people ended up running back into the house for something or other at least four different times. Hooray for organization!
We finally got on the road shortly after 8 o'clock. It wasn't long thereafter before I was asking myself why the heck I hadn't just stayed home and slept. Remember how I said my brother and I don't get along? Yeah my whole family is much better not stuck in a twenty foot square space. My family is critical and arrogant and each person thinks that they know exactly the Right way to do something. I am of course including myself in this, because I am most definitely the same way. However, my dad and brother are even more accomplished champions at being pricks. My smart-ass comments most likely didn't help, but hey, where's the fun in being docile and taming the acid tongue? ;) I got, not in trouble per se but at least reprimanded, a few times for making comments about Iowans based on supposed Minnesotan superiority. It was funny, in a haha-wait-you're-a-friggin'-hypocrite way, when other people made off-hand comments which were no worse than my own.
The drive was mostly a blur. Well, not exactly a blur, but I slept for most of the first half. Part of this was because I was tired, part was because I was bored (I get nauseous when I read for too long and we forgot the car DVD player), and part was honestly just because I'm used to sleeping at particular times during a weekday because of when I crash between classes.
By 3pm, we were in Illinois and we were hungry. The problem: we hadn't seen any food signs along the highway we were driving on. Miles after miles passed, and still no customary blue sign with reassuring symbols of tasty, if vastly unhealthy, sustenance; there were even conjectures that perhaps the people of Illinois did not eat. After what seemed like a decade, we finally saw golden arches. It was after we'd eaten that more issues began to arise. Everyone was now awake. Oh the horror! :P
Plus, my dad took over driving. Which meant that my mom was in the back with my brother, which meant Quiz Bowl Questions. Don't get me wrong, I love trivia questions. But this is where the cumulative arrogance of my family comes into play...or should I say explodes into conflict. My dad thinks he knows everything, my brother is only minutely better, and I'm somewhere on the spectrum. There's always issues. My dad didn't pay attention to the road because he was focusing on being a know-it-all and answering first and we got lost for a few minutes. (This of course caused my brother to go on and on about all the things my dad did wrong, even though he doesn't even have a permit.) There were insults and comments whipped around the car like a whirlwind and I ended up just curling up in the front seat, listening to music, crying, and ignoring everyone else out of frustration.
Now, before people are overwhelmed with pity, things got better. :)
My mom stopped asking questions and fell asleep! :P
That sounds a lot harsher than it is intended. It seems however, that the equilibrium in the car can only settle when one or more of us is asleep. It is a scientific discovery! When all four of us are awake and alert, bashing of heads ensues. We all hate each other! Haha, just kidding. :)
After that I pretty much just sat in the front seat and acted as a second pair of eyes for my dad. We crossed into Indiana around 7pm CT because that's when all our cell phone clock's changed. Shortly thereafter white speckles began flying at us. Could it possibly be? Snow? We had left Minnesota to get away from the snow! This was inconceivable! Never mind the fact that we had initially intended to avoid Indianapolis because of a snowstorm. I, apparently, was the only one who actually remembered this and was thus not surprised. We braved the elements and kept going. Coming up on Indianapolis, my dad thought, well why not just drive on to Cincinnati? So we kept going.
Crossing into Ohio was pretty weird. Literally on one side of the border there was snow, and on the Ohio border there was none. No snow at all. The surroundings would have been green, if it wasn't all wrapped in Night's ebony cloak. When we neared Cincinnati, my dad once again said: "well we're this close, why not just cross into Kentucky and then stop for the night." So once again, we drove on. Weirdest thing? As we crossed the southern border of Ohio, our headlights passed over a looming sign that said Welcome to Indiana. My dad and I both had mini-heart attacks. Apparently a bit of Indiana wraps around Ohio to the south before Kentucky. So within half an hour we crossed three different state borders: Indiana into Ohio, into Indiana, into Kentucky.
At this point it was about 11pm, and I figured we would stop shortly after we crossed the border. My dad however, figured we might as well keep going...apparently until he ran us off the road out of tiredness or the car stopped from lack of fuel. We didn't though. I guess I never really paid attention well enough in Geography, because Kentucky really surprised me. I was expecting like farmland and countryside, but we drove through hills and heavily wooded areas. I'm slightly disappointed because I'm sure it would have been beautiful during the day. It was actually very pretty at night by the light of a nearly-full moon, but also quite eerie.
We finally pulled into Lexington, Kentucky about 12:30 am. We found a Days Inn and promptly crashed. Now apparently we're having lunch with some "old friend", but shortly we'll be on the road again, Destination: Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Will write more upon arrival, with pictures included.
Loves,
B
Anyway. It started out pretty rocky, and then....stayed fairly rocky throughout. I'm not sure who exactly thought it was a good idea to lock my brother and myself within tongue-lashing and fist-throwing distance of one another. The latter didn't actually occur, if anyone was worried, but it could have...
The plan was to leave at 5am. Did we leave at 5am? Not a chance. Never in my life have we ever left as early as we meant to for any trip, including those where we had to be at the airport at a specific time. My family is not the most time conscious. Even when we all were awake and supposedly ready to go, various people ended up running back into the house for something or other at least four different times. Hooray for organization!
We finally got on the road shortly after 8 o'clock. It wasn't long thereafter before I was asking myself why the heck I hadn't just stayed home and slept. Remember how I said my brother and I don't get along? Yeah my whole family is much better not stuck in a twenty foot square space. My family is critical and arrogant and each person thinks that they know exactly the Right way to do something. I am of course including myself in this, because I am most definitely the same way. However, my dad and brother are even more accomplished champions at being pricks. My smart-ass comments most likely didn't help, but hey, where's the fun in being docile and taming the acid tongue? ;) I got, not in trouble per se but at least reprimanded, a few times for making comments about Iowans based on supposed Minnesotan superiority. It was funny, in a haha-wait-you're-a-friggin'-hypocrite way, when other people made off-hand comments which were no worse than my own.
The drive was mostly a blur. Well, not exactly a blur, but I slept for most of the first half. Part of this was because I was tired, part was because I was bored (I get nauseous when I read for too long and we forgot the car DVD player), and part was honestly just because I'm used to sleeping at particular times during a weekday because of when I crash between classes.
By 3pm, we were in Illinois and we were hungry. The problem: we hadn't seen any food signs along the highway we were driving on. Miles after miles passed, and still no customary blue sign with reassuring symbols of tasty, if vastly unhealthy, sustenance; there were even conjectures that perhaps the people of Illinois did not eat. After what seemed like a decade, we finally saw golden arches. It was after we'd eaten that more issues began to arise. Everyone was now awake. Oh the horror! :P
Plus, my dad took over driving. Which meant that my mom was in the back with my brother, which meant Quiz Bowl Questions. Don't get me wrong, I love trivia questions. But this is where the cumulative arrogance of my family comes into play...or should I say explodes into conflict. My dad thinks he knows everything, my brother is only minutely better, and I'm somewhere on the spectrum. There's always issues. My dad didn't pay attention to the road because he was focusing on being a know-it-all and answering first and we got lost for a few minutes. (This of course caused my brother to go on and on about all the things my dad did wrong, even though he doesn't even have a permit.) There were insults and comments whipped around the car like a whirlwind and I ended up just curling up in the front seat, listening to music, crying, and ignoring everyone else out of frustration.
Now, before people are overwhelmed with pity, things got better. :)
My mom stopped asking questions and fell asleep! :P
That sounds a lot harsher than it is intended. It seems however, that the equilibrium in the car can only settle when one or more of us is asleep. It is a scientific discovery! When all four of us are awake and alert, bashing of heads ensues. We all hate each other! Haha, just kidding. :)
After that I pretty much just sat in the front seat and acted as a second pair of eyes for my dad. We crossed into Indiana around 7pm CT because that's when all our cell phone clock's changed. Shortly thereafter white speckles began flying at us. Could it possibly be? Snow? We had left Minnesota to get away from the snow! This was inconceivable! Never mind the fact that we had initially intended to avoid Indianapolis because of a snowstorm. I, apparently, was the only one who actually remembered this and was thus not surprised. We braved the elements and kept going. Coming up on Indianapolis, my dad thought, well why not just drive on to Cincinnati? So we kept going.
Crossing into Ohio was pretty weird. Literally on one side of the border there was snow, and on the Ohio border there was none. No snow at all. The surroundings would have been green, if it wasn't all wrapped in Night's ebony cloak. When we neared Cincinnati, my dad once again said: "well we're this close, why not just cross into Kentucky and then stop for the night." So once again, we drove on. Weirdest thing? As we crossed the southern border of Ohio, our headlights passed over a looming sign that said Welcome to Indiana. My dad and I both had mini-heart attacks. Apparently a bit of Indiana wraps around Ohio to the south before Kentucky. So within half an hour we crossed three different state borders: Indiana into Ohio, into Indiana, into Kentucky.
At this point it was about 11pm, and I figured we would stop shortly after we crossed the border. My dad however, figured we might as well keep going...apparently until he ran us off the road out of tiredness or the car stopped from lack of fuel. We didn't though. I guess I never really paid attention well enough in Geography, because Kentucky really surprised me. I was expecting like farmland and countryside, but we drove through hills and heavily wooded areas. I'm slightly disappointed because I'm sure it would have been beautiful during the day. It was actually very pretty at night by the light of a nearly-full moon, but also quite eerie.
We finally pulled into Lexington, Kentucky about 12:30 am. We found a Days Inn and promptly crashed. Now apparently we're having lunch with some "old friend", but shortly we'll be on the road again, Destination: Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Will write more upon arrival, with pictures included.
Loves,
B
No comments:
Post a Comment