Blasting Zone

That was the second longest road trip of my life. Sis and I drove 520 miles through 5 states with 3 stops (lunch at Cracker Barrel, gas at Sheetz, rest stop by Cumberland) from 8:30 to 5:30 on 3 hours of sleep. I navigated all the way and we made no mistakes the entire way. w00t.

We drove past Columbus (hi David, Dan, Eric, Nesi, and Sam!), through upper Ohio (hi Jackie!) and skirted through the sliver of West Virginia, into Pennsylvania (hi Tom and Andy!), back into W. Virginia, then through Maryland, just in time for rush-hour traffic from around D.C. (Look! It's the National Parking Garage!). I got a little confused for a bit because there's an Ohio County and an Ohioville in West Virginia, and it rained the whole way, but we made it to Jacob's, safe and sound. There we met his sister Cory, his super-literate mother Deborah, and his father Randy. His father ran away with the circus when he was younger (literally) and went to IU.

Sis and I were so tired from everything that we were in bed asleep by 10 pm (I apparently dozed off around 9 watching The Usual Suspects). I woke up around 2 and got a drink of water...I came back and Max (the family cat) had stolen my bed. I still managed to recover 12 hours of much needed sleep.

We got up today and met Jacob's friend Simon from Yale, making him the second Ivy League student I've ever met in my life. I was surprised when he didn't fit the snobby, preppy, condescending, rich stereotype. We explored the National Smithsonian Zoo all morning. It was quite a different zoo than I'm used to in Cincinnati. The zoo here in D.C. is free, and because we went when we did, completely devoid of children. I witnessed the wonders of the Multitasking Pachyderm, the "Construction Worker Exhibit", and the lifeless seals. The Batcave was closed. I even got a flattened penny from our National Zoo (I've collected somewhere around 40).

I just finished another excellent dinner at the Pattersons/Steins (lemon chicken and gnocci), and tomorrow night we have reservations at the Sequoia, a swank restaurant on the river. We have plans this week to visit The Smithsonian museums, a concert at the Kennedy Center, the Archives, some Shakespeare museum, and several other free things.

Suddenly I'm not so excited about returning to Purdue so soon. We have to make a long drive home, then I have to get ready that night and make another drive back to West Lafayette. Still, it's actually healthier for me at school. I walk miles every day, try to go to the gym regularly, and the dorm food is undeniably healthier than greasy Gold Star chili (oh, how I've eaten chili since I've been home). It's gonna be interesting when we have to fit Jacob and his luggage in the car for the ride home...