After a rough summer semester of work, 9 credit hours' worth of online classes, and constantly babysitting my older nephew while my younger nephew was born, I was finally ready for an OAR-esque adventure. So, I decided to embark on a cross country road trip to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming with Mike and Logel for a mountaineering adventure. Mike was already out West for Geology Field Camp in New Mexico and Logel was in North Carolina, where he lived until about a month ago. Logel and I decided to meet in Chattanooga and drive to Colorado, where Mike would hitchhike to meet us. I drove up 7 hours by myself, stopping in Macon, GA for dinner and Starbucks with my cousin Courtney and her husband, Jeff. I spent a few hours with them before trekking on to Chattanooga. I met Logel at his brother's house, meeting even more Logels, including his nieces and nephew. We checked out his new mountaineering tent and set it up in the backyard. I also flipped through some of Logel's mountaineering books.
The next day, we headed to Guitar Center so Logel could sell some of his music equipment before the trip for fast cash and we also met up with JB, a random guy Logel found on Craig's List RideShare. He had been at Bonnaroo and lost all of his money somehow, so he was paying us $40 for a ride to Colorado. I was hesitant about picking up a complete stranger but he was really nice and he just slept in the back the entire ride. I drove the first shift, through Kentucky traffic that Logel's phone routed us around and St. Louis, where I accidentally missed an exit. We stopped off at a gas station in Missouri to meet up with Anna, who I had originally met at Logel's house over winter break. We also stopped near Fort Leonard-Wood, where Liana is stationed in the Army, to meet up with her for dinner. We went to this amazing authentic German restaurant. The food was delicious and the owner was extremely friendly. Soon after that, we took off for Kansas. Luckily for me, Logel drove through the misery that was Kansas. Not only was it boring, flat, and straight but it was also that absolute worst time of day. I slept for a few hours in the passenger seat and when I woke up, I talked Logel through some of the drive.
Around sunrise, we pulled over for gas in Kansas and I took another turn driving. I was somewhat delirious but the coffee helped. I drove us straight to Denver, where we dropped off JB at REI and spent some time at the flagship. By this point, I was beyond delirious. I passed out on one of the display cots at REI and made Logel drive the rest of the day. We went to Garden of the Gods while waiting for Mike, who we had been tracking via GPS on my phone. We finally got an address from him in Colorado Springs and met him at a Carl's Jr. He looked miserable. Apparently he had been hitchhiking from Texas and he had spent the night near the border of Texas and either New Mexico or Oklahoma. He slept in a ditch and was picked up by a trucker the next morning, who took him all the way to Colorado Springs. The three of us piled in the car and headed to Boulder, CO for the next leg of the trip.
Events occurred: June 19-21, 2013
As I've mentioned numerous times before, Bob's River Place on the Suwannee is a magical place. When my friend Chris returned home from MIT for the summer, he brought back two friends, Adam and Leslie. Neither of them had experienced Florida before so Chris set out to show them the best of Jacksonville and the surrounding areas. Obviously, this meant a trip to Bob's. Since there were six of us (me, Chris, Leslie, Adam, Lloyd, and Ryan), we piled into my mother's mini van and headed west.
We arrived at Bob's and immediately headed for the rope swings. The slides were also open this time, unlike the first time I went to Bob's when most everything was closed down. I finally faced my fears and attempted to jump off of Demon, the highest rope swing. Luckily, it was a total success. Everyone shouted for me to jump at the perfect moment, when he swing reached its peak and, despite my intense fear, I let go and dropped into the water. The water rushed up so quickly, pulling my hair towards the surface. I emerged and started swimming as quickly as possible toward the shore, since the current was swift and I saw the kid behind me in line getting ready to jump. I also braved the slides for the first time. The taller one was actually less intense because the end of it was about a foot or so off the water. Therefore, you just slide right off the end and into the water. The other one, however, ended in the water because the water levels on the river were so high. Thus, as I was sliding down, gaining speed, I just abruptly stopped while still on the slide. Not the most comfortable...
While at Bob's, we also played beach volleyball. The court had been filled with water and we were all terrible. I had difficulty playing because of my past shoulder injury but that was mostly just an excuse; None of us could really play. We cheered at the thought of keeping the ball in the air for multiple passes and eventually gave up. At some point, Cameron met up with us from Orlando and we all took turns trying to cross Bob's log roll and battling each other. We also partook in karaoke, joined by a random little girl who was at Bob's with her family and really liked to sing Taylor Swift. We stayed at Bob's until he closed down at six and then we headed to get dinner. While driving home, Chris and I noticed that the van was shaking a bit more than normal but I knew that it shook at higher speeds so I ignored it. I discovered the next morning, when my mom drove it and realized something was wrong, that one of the tires had separated and we almost lost a tire on the highway. I have since learned to pay more attention to cars.
Within 48 hours of returning to Florida, I found myself driving down to Gainesville to go on a typical OAR night paddle. Mike texted me the day before and I drove down with no hesitation. I met him at his apartment and we proceeded to the Gear Shed, where Bevin was ready to throw a canoe on top of her SUV. We picked up Nina and Kendall, then headed to the Santa Fe River. Squishing five people into a canoe is quite the OAR specialty. We paddled upstream for a long period of time, barely moving against the current. Getting back to the car took virtually no time because the water was moving so swiftly that we didn't even have to paddle. We heard voices around our car and panicked. We tried to approach slowly in case it was a band of thieves or murderers or something. We saw floodlights though, and realized it was the police. They saw our car and thought it was abandoned or something, so they just wanted to make sure we were ok. We thanked them as we loaded our canoe and then headed home.
Events occurred: May 8, 2013
The drive to Boston was as nightmarish as the drive from Florida to Kentucky had been. We were all exhausted, but Carolanne and Michael handled the brunt of the driving. The border crossing was also terrible, mostly because it was so late that we had to get out of the car and wait elsewhere, still not allowed to use our cell phones or anything. Also, I had left my glasses in the car by mistake and wasn't wearing my contacts either, so I could hardly see anything. They took our oranges, which we had forgotten to eat before we entered the US again, but other than that we didn't have any difficulties. I was mostly just sleep deprived and delirious. We arrived in Cambridge at 4:30 AM and found parking near MIT around 5. We had to take all of our belongings out of the car, so I loaded up everything and used my carabiners to attach various items to myself. I didn't feel like repacking everything, so I just wore all my jackets and even my climbing harness, trudging across MIT campus as such. Sarah's dorm, East Campus, was on the far side of campus from where we had been able to get parking. Exhausted, we pushed ourselves across Massachusetts Avenue and as soon as we reached Sarah, I collapsed in a hot, sweaty pile at her feet. Wearing my down jacket had not been a wise decision.
When we got to Sarah's room, Rhea and I immediately showered. Michael and Carolanne chose to sleep but for some reason, Rhea and I decided to just stay up and go explore the city. We walked across the Mass Ave bridge toward Boston proper and took a left down Newbury. Since it was not yet 7, virtually nothing was open. We found a local coffee shop and utilized the extra shots of espresso to boost our energy. This was probably a mistake. Caffeine + sleep deprivation = terrible idea. We were soon bouncing down the street, running through the Boston Public Gardens and the Commons. We picked up the Freedom Trail and raced toward Faneuil Hall, which was of course a dead zone. It is also worth mentioning that Rhea and I had both started speaking in an exaggerated Canadian accents that eventually transformed into an Irish accent for some reason. The worst part was that we couldn't stop ourselves, giggling and shouting in thick (yet fake) accented English. We turned back toward MIT and found breakfast at an Arabic Cafe in Central Square. It was delicious, eggs, meat, and veggies all thrown onto a breakfast sandwich.
Our energy was fading, probably from walking so many miles with espresso as our only fuel, but for some reason we decided to walk back down Newbury. We ended up at Lush, a cosmetics store, for over an hour. They pampered us with sample scrubs and make up, which I typically don't wear but liked. Lush is a very interesting company. All of their products are 100% vegan, meaning that no animal byproducts were used nor animal testing, and they also have some products that donate proceeds to a charity of your choice. Rhea spent a small fortune at Lush but I resisted and only allowed myself an edible lip scrub (which lasted a week, maybe two). We then wandered over the bridge once more, collapsing in a pile on some grass between Bexley and the MIT Student Center. Christopher soon joined us, since we were next to his dorm, and mocked our idiocy, as we spewed out random chatter in Irish accents and giggled to ourselves, occasionally speaking in unison. We had reached our breaking point. Around 5 or so, we met up with Michael and Carolanne for dinner and Rhea collected her belongings. One of her best friends had recently moved to Allston and Rhea was staying with her for the next week. We said our goodbyes and parted ways.
Since Michael and Carolanne had slept all day, they were fully energized by the time I had hit my wall. Still, I wanted to show them around somewhat, so I took them back across the bridge and down Newbury. At this point, my friend Kathryn had texted me and invited me to trivia at Triton, a bookstore and restaurant on Newbury, where she and her friends frequented. So I walked Michael and Carolanne to the gardens and then pointed them toward the North End, suggesting that they try Mike's Pastry. I then met Kathryn for trivia, leaping into her arms since I hadn't seen her in so long. Luckily, her friends had all met me numerous times and were not surprised when I did this, saying hi to me and asking me how my semester had been. Unfortunately, I didn't get to spend much time with Kathryn, since she wasn't feeling well on Friday night and only got worse as the weekend progressed. By the time trivia was over, I was ready for bed. I headed back to East Campus and curled up in my sleeping bag. Carolanne eventually joined me, and we talked while Michael and his sister went hacking.
The next day, I woke up extremely early, especially compared to my friends, who had become nocturnal. I showered and ventured out, getting coffee and breakfast and hoping to meet up with my friend Chloe from Greece. We had been texting but unfortunately she dropped her cell phone in water in the middle of our conversation and could only communicate via email. So I headed back from Harvard to MIT because I missed her right before she headed into a multiple hour training course for her medical trip to Africa in July. Around 1 PM or so, Michael texted me that he and his sister were going to go hiking outside the city and wondered if I would like to join. I declined since I preferred to stay in the city while I could. I then ran into Carolanne and decided to head back to the dorm to organize my stuff. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that Carolanne was going too and that they were headed to the airport from there. So I unintentionally ended up carrying around all of my belongings again, unable to reach any of my nearby friends until Chris finally woke up at 3 PM and let me leave my things at his dorm.
Despite looking like a homeless person for a few hours, I didn't mind. I decided to go ahead and book my flight home for the following Monday, since all my friends were about to head into finals and I didn't want to be a burden. I also was trying to figure out my plans for New York. Originally, I invited Chris to Greek Easter (since he is also Greek) and he was going to either ride the bus with me or drive us down in his car. He had too much school work though, and had to bail. Despite not being able to attend, he still welcomed me into his dorm while I figured out my plans for the next day. We went to get food (late lunch/early dinner for me, breakfast for him) at an Indian restaurant in Central Square. I was trying to get in contact with my aunts in New York but I was having trouble. After dinner, we tried to get coffee at a local espresso bar but, unfortunately, they had just closed. So we headed back to Bexley to hang out. While we were in his room, another Bexley-ite, Soraya, came to ask us if we wanted to join her for a run. My proclamations of slowness were ineffective and I ended up running from MIT across the Longfellow Bridge, winding through Beacon Hill, down the Esplanade, and back onto Mass Ave. It was several miles longer than I had anticipated I would be running on this trip, which was 0, and Chris ran circles around me while my lungs were having difficulty adjusting to the dry Boston air. By the time I got back and got in touch with my aunts, it was too late to take a bus into NYC, so I ended up staying in Cambridge for the night.
The next morning, I woke up naturally around 5:30 AM. I took a shower and left a note for Chris as I headed out the door. I made it to South Station with 15 minutes to spare. As I headed into the bus terminal, however, I noticed that all the lights were out. So when I got to the ticket counter and they refused my credit card, I panicked. I sprint through the terminal looking for an ATM, thankful that I had left all but a small backpack at Chris's dorm and didn't have a lot to carry. The ATM charged me a ridiculous fee (four dollars) and the bus tickets were ten bucks more than I was used to paying but I got the last seat on the 7 AM bus, so I didn't care.
When I arrived in New York, I took the 6 train to the Upper East Side and was greeted by several aunts and uncles and a slew of cousins. We hopped in the car and headed out to Long Island, where my Aunt Aspasia and Uncle Victor were hosting Greek Easter. The smell of lamb and other meats was overwhelming and heavenly. I spotted my cousin Dean tending the grill and the lamb on the spit. I reintroduced myself to various cousins that I hadn't seen in years and happily awaited the egg ceremony and egg fights, the singing and dancing, and, of course, the food. Egg "fights" are one of my favorite Greek traditions. Essentially, everyone has one egg and you tap the narrow end against someone else's wide end. The last person standing with an uncracked egg or uncracked end is declared the winner. The food was undeniably incredible. Luckily for everyone there, Dean is a professional chef and he did not disappoint. My cousin Mala's beautiful voice led the singing, overpowering everyone else's attempts. My Aunt Cindy and Uncle Brian, who live near Boston but had been in Connecticut for the weekend, were able to give me a ride back to Cambridge so I didn't have to deal with the bus, nor did I have to get back at 3 AM like I had anticipated. So, full of delicious Greek food and armed with leftovers for Christopher, I headed back to MIT.
The next morning, I woke up and said goodbye to Chris, not sure if I would see him before my flight. I then headed to Harvard, where I met Chloe for lunch. We walked around and stopped by her final club, where she gave me a key chain from an event they'd had. I left her and headed back toward MIT, where Rhea was meeting me via bike. She came in with me to Bexley to get my stuff and I gave her a small tour. Chris returned shortly thereafter and gave an even better tour. We said our goodbyes again and Rhea walked with me to Kendall Square, where I picked up the T for the airport.
Events occurred: May 3-6, 2013
The next morning, I woke up early and pushed myself to finish my research design. Though it wasn't due until midnight, I had no intention of spending my entire day inside. I finished and submitted it by 2 PM, then ventured into the city with Michael and Carolanne, braving the rain. Unfortunately, Rhea was feeling really sick and spent all day in bed. We brought her soup and Gatorade and she recovered somewhat the next day and was fine the day after that. As soon as we could, Michael, Carolanne, and I headed toward an Indian restaurant that Michael's uncle had recommended. I had never particularly cared for Indian food until I joined OAR. Now, it has become a staple, and I loved this all-you-can-eat authentic restaurant. Toronto is notorious for ethnic food and culture and I tried to soak up as much of it as possible, hopping from each town to the next. My absolute favorite, obviously, was Greek Town. I ran around excitedly, ordering pastries and frappes, as well as a gyro of course. I also tried to converse with some of the shop owners in Greek but only a few obliged. We also explored the underground tunnels connecting Toronto and walked around the stadiums for various sports teams.
The next day, I spent some time with Michael and Carolanne, Rhea still sick in the apartment. We walked around without any direction, just enjoying the fresh air and the sunshine. I was so relieved to have finished and submitted my last paper, officially done for the semester, that I practically skipped around the city. I took off on my own for a while so I could walk some more rather than taking the subway, anxious to move around after such a lengthy drive, and I also relaxed in the apartment for some time. We soon packed up our stuff and headed for Michael's family cottage in Peterborough.
We arrived at the cottage late at night and I was so tired that nothing registered. I passed out on a bed with Rhea and we woke up to the sunshine in the morning. The lake was beautiful but, alas, it was far too cold to swim in. I sprawled out along the edge of the water with a book, letting the sun warm my skin like a reptile. Peterborough was the epitome of relaxation. We spent two days on the porch or by the water, drinking tea and reading. I think I drank at least ten cups of tea a day, not realizing how caffeinated it was. Michael and I took out the sailboat and it was so much fun zooming around the lake. However, the water splashing up was very cold, since the lake had only been ice-free for about two weeks. Nonetheless, it was very fun and extremely beautiful. I also got to learn some more about sailing, which I've always enjoyed. I was sad to leave the cottage but also excited to get to Boston!
Events occurred: April 29-May 2, 2013
After some hiking in Kentucky, we headed north. Michael's father used his hotel points to book a room for us in Buffalo so we wouldn't have to camp in the cold and rain. As we drove across the Kentucky border into Ohio, we decided to stop in Cincinnati to stretch our legs after having faced some horrible traffic. I had never been to Cincinnati before but I really liked the river and the bridges. We parked right near the river and wandered around (somewhat aimlessly) until we stumbled upon a park and some food. After a lengthy break, we piled back into the car and trekked toward Buffalo.
I immediately collapsed on the bed in our hotel room, only rising for a much needed shower. The next morning, I decided that I needed to stay back and work on my 20 page research paper, which was due the next day and so far consisted of one sentence. I stuck around with the group in Buffalo only long enough to score some free hummus and chips from a promotional food truck for Sabra (which was AMAZING, especially because they had a ton of delicious toppings to choose from), play with puppies in the park that were up for adoption, and buy some infamous sponge candy from a local candy shop. Sponge candy is virtually indescribable, but I will try my best. It is somewhat hard to bite into at first but it melts in your mouth instantaneously. So good and highly recommended. After I finished my candy, I was dropped off at a Starbucks near the border on the US side. I worked through three cups of coffee, a blueberry muffin, over 100 pages of research readings, and about 12 or so pages of my own work.
When we finally crossed into Canada, Michael circled Niagara Falls for my benefit. I had been before when I was younger, so I didn't feel too bad about having missed it and I was glad that I didn't hold anyone else back from enjoying their time there. We headed toward Toronto, facing heavy traffic and pouring rain. I tried to work on my paper in the car but I was starting to feel car sick because of the stop-and-go traffic combined with novice stick shift drivers (no one stalled out in traffic, thank goodness). When we reached Toronto, we headed to Michael's uncle's house to pick up keys to his aunt's apartment, where we were staying. She was out of town and generous enough to let us stay at her place regardless. He gave us great advice on what to do and see, especially where to eat.
Events occurred: April 27-28, 2013
When Michael approached me about road tripping to Boston, he knew me well enough to know that I would be a guaranteed "yes." The semester was over and I didn't have any finals left other than some papers I needed to turn in. I took a chance and figured I could write them on the road, which luckily didn't completely backfire. The deal was that Michael's younger sister Sarah goes to MIT and she wanted her car for the summer. So, we were driving up to Boston to deliver it and then flying home whenever. Michael and his girlfriend Carolanne had already booked their flights for Saturday, May 4th, but I decided to wait. Greek Orthodox Easter was on May 5th this past year and my family always has a huge celebration in New York that I have never been able to attend. I figured that I ought to go, since I would already be in the Northeast and I had become accustom to riding the bus between Boston and New York City.
The day after our last day of classes for the semester, I met Michael at his apartment in Gainesville. We packed my stuff into his car and headed across town to pick up our fourth. Her name was Rhea and I had never met her before. I had some reservations about Rhea because I had never met her before and we were going to be traveling together for over a week. As soon as I met her, however, all my concerns disappeared. Her cheerful disposition and her ukelele both won me over instantaneously. Carolanne also joined us and we headed for Panama City. The plan for the entire trip was to go to Panama City, where Michael's parents live, to trade his car for his sister's, and then drive to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky to meet up with another OAR trip for some climbing. We went to the beach in Panama City and it was beautiful. The sand was pure white and the waves were lapping the shore gently. Rhea immediately collapsed in the sand, soaking up the sun and taking a nap. Michael and Carolanne explored the shoreline and I wandered aimlessly in circles before joining Rhea on the sand. Soon thereafter, we ventured to Michael's parents house, where we were welcomed with an incredible dinner and generous hospitality. We enjoyed our time their so much we ended up staying until close to 10 PM. We piled into the Corolla and headed toward Kentucky.
One important note about this road trip is that Sarah's car is a stick shift. Michael was a competent manual driver and he had taught Carolanne how to drive stick over a year before. Unfortunately, she hadn't had the opportunity to practice since then. Rhea could also somewhat drive stick shift but she struggled with getting the car into first gear. To quote her, she either "peels out or stalls out," which was fun to experience at 3 AM. I can also drive manual cars but I had only learned a few months before, when Mike took an afternoon to teach me. I had been driving my mom's car around Gainesville for a few months for practice but it was the only car I had any experience with. We also picked up an Auburn student in Georgia who had sent out an email to OAR, wanting to join the Red River Gorge trip and needing a one way ride to Kentucky. He had the most stick experience, learning to drive stick shift as a valet. Commence road trip.
The drive to Kentucky was a nightmare, merely because it is about a 12 hour drive or so and we started after 10 PM. I took one of the first turns driving and I was grateful for the opportunity to sleep during the worst shift of all: 3 AM to 7 AM. Luckily, the rest of the world doesn't tend to drive around at these hours, so our lack of manual driving skills were mostly unnoticed. We arrived in Kentucky at 11 AM and met up with the rest of the OAR group. We headed off to climb shortly thereafter. By the time we made it to the wall, however, I was exhausted. I curled up under a tree and passed out. I never actually climbed anything at the Red, which is a shame because the climbing there is famous and fun. That night, we returned to the camp ground at Miguel's Pizza and I split a weird pizza with Nina. It had potatoes and a bunch of other odd ingredients on it but it was still delicious. I also connected to the wifi and attempted to work on the 20 page research design that I had to finish by the following Monday. I had done very little for it and was trying to find some decent pdfs to download so I could work on it sans wifi.
The next day, unfortunately, it was raining. We decided to forgo climbing and go for a hike instead. We discovered some interesting trails nearby and happened upon a natural bridge as well. I was still tired and thus began my cycle of sleeping and consuming coffee that dominated the trip. Carolanne joked that I was like a puppy because I would run around for a few hours and then tucker out, bouncing between high energy and no energy with little in between. We then headed north again, toward Cincinnati and Buffalo.
Events occurred: April 25-27, 2013
After a rough summer semester of work, 9 credit hours' worth of online classes, and constantly babysitting my older nephew while my younger nephew was born, I was finally ready for an OAR-esque adventure. So, I decided to embark on a cross country road trip to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming with Mike and Logel for a mountaineering adventure. Mike was already out West for Geology Field Camp in New Mexico and Logel was in North Carolina, where he lived until about a month ago. Logel and I decided to meet in Chattanooga and drive to Colorado, where Mike would hitchhike to meet us. I drove up 7 hours by myself, stopping in Macon, GA for dinner and Starbucks with my cousin Courtney and her husband, Jeff. I spent a few hours with them before trekking on to Chattanooga. I met Logel at his brother's house, meeting even more Logels, including his nieces and nephew. We checked out his new mountaineering tent and set it up in the backyard. I also flipped through some of Logel's mountaineering books.
The next day, we headed to Guitar Center so Logel could sell some of his music equipment before the trip for fast cash and we also met up with JB, a random guy Logel found on Craig's List RideShare. He had been at Bonnaroo and lost all of his money somehow, so he was paying us $40 for a ride to Colorado. I was hesitant about picking up a complete stranger but he was really nice and he just slept in the back the entire ride. I drove the first shift, through Kentucky traffic that Logel's phone routed us around and St. Louis, where I accidentally missed an exit. We stopped off at a gas station in Missouri to meet up with Anna, who I had originally met at Logel's house over winter break. We also stopped near Fort Leonard-Wood, where Liana is stationed in the Army, to meet up with her for dinner. We went to this amazing authentic German restaurant. The food was delicious and the owner was extremely friendly. Soon after that, we took off for Kansas. Luckily for me, Logel drove through the misery that was Kansas. Not only was it boring, flat, and straight but it was also that absolute worst time of day. I slept for a few hours in the passenger seat and when I woke up, I talked Logel through some of the drive.
