8:30 AM
And we're off! Two guys, a girl, and a whole lot of classic rock.
To recap: Yesterday as of 3PM, I was officially invited to join my brother (Tyler) and his friend Mark on their trip driving cross country to California! OK, invited might be the wrong word seeing as I shamelessly begged and then broke down into tears when my request to tag along was met with a big fat NO. But seriously, a three person road trip is so much better than a two person road trip. I think I brought some pretty valid arguments to the table, such as the two person camera dilemma. When you go on a trip with only 2 people, inevitably you end up with lots of awkward pictures with just one of you in the photo because you get tired of hunting down strangers to get the both of you. And while I don't think it was my rational arguments that won Tyler over, I think he will appreciate their value over the course of the next 10 days.
Speaking of the next 10 days, let me give you the little details of the trip that I know so far. (After writing that line, I realized that I didn't even know our destination for tonight... I had to shout up front above the blasting ACDC to ask!) So tonight we are headed to Tennessee for our first campground where we will set up this supposed 3 person tent... I had nightmares all last night about the tent not being big enough to fit all of us and me being kicked out and left to sleep outside with the bears. Needless to say, my last night in my bed wasn't too restful. As for what else I know about this trip--We are driving to San Francisco, CA to drop Mark off for his summer internship. I'm also jumping ship in San Francisco to fly home sweet home. Tyler made it very clear that he wants to drive the entire way home by himself. His plan sounds miserable to me, but he says he wants to feel the sense of accomplishment that comes with driving cross-country all by yourself. I still think he's going to change his mind and realize how long and boring the trip back will be. I think my parents have that same feeling because they told me to hold off on buying my plane ticket. We'll see what happens. I think after camping for 10 days on the way out there, I'm going to be ready to fly home!
9:22 AM
The boys finally decided to close their windows. In an effort to be a pleasant trip goer, I've decided to try my hardest to be agreeable and maintain a positive attitude. Unfortunately in this case, the victim is my hair. The wind-blown look on an already frizzy haired individual is not a good one. No matter... who knows when the next time I'll see myself in a mirror anyway!
1:56PM
Poor Mark. We switched drivers about 20 minutes ago, but being the lucky person I am, the exit I decided to get off at put us in a small town overshadowed by a menacing mental institution. Oops! They really should list that as one of the attractions on the road sign. Anyway, needless to say, we weren't in that town for too long. A quick bathroom break and we were back on the road. In the midst of the hurry, Mark took my spot in the driver's seat without readjusting the seat that I had moved to accommodate my short legs. While this position wouldn't look painful for most people, Mark is 6'4" (I am 5'5"). Despite urging him to pull over and fit it, he says he's fine. We'll see how fine he is later on 3 hours down the road.
2:15PM
Tennessee Welcomes You. The Volunteer State.
2:57 PM
Tyler selected Fergalicious from Mark's iPod? Maybe there is more to these two than just classic rock...
3:59PM
The rain has officially begun. After an entire day of ominous clouds, they decided to unleash their water weight as soon as we get within 10 miles of the campground. Putting up the tent should be an interesting challenge... Not to mention rain= no windows down, and no windows down= can't breath kind of hot (Apparently A/C costs you precious gas, who knew?). I miss my crazy wind-blown hair already.
8:03PM
Wow, the first evening of camping and already adventure ensues! After driving about 20 miles off the main road to get to the park, we finally pulled up to the check-in cabin. At which point, we met the most expressionless woman I've ever met. She gave us a 5 min spiel about how Cades Cove is a natural habitat for black bears and all food must be kept locked in the car at all times unless you are eating it. Anyway, as she's explaining all of this, I am having a mild panic attack, to which she paid no attention... didn't miss a beat in proceeding to tell us the check out procedure for tomorrow.
So after pulling away from my new best friend, we made it to our campsite just in time to put up our tent and throw our sleeping bags inside before a torrential downpour/thunder and lightning extravaganza decided to grace us with its presence. We spent the next 30 minutes inside our tent that was smelling of wet feet and boy already. When our air supply became on the verge of unbearable, we caught a wafting scent of the delicious dinner taking place at the campsite next to us. They have one of those canopies that shelters their picnic area. With all three of our stomachs growling, that scent was all the motivation we needed to send us sprinting towards the car to search out some covered area to cook our food... Well I also forgot to mention that the tent was leaking through the roof... another reason to seek refuge elsewhere for awhile.
After a couple of loops around the campground (a couple of loops is a nice way of saying that Mark was a horrible navigator without his glasses on...) we finally found a sheltered picnic area. We noticed that it looked kind of crowded, but we figured that was because everyone was in our same predicament. We were wrong. Apparently the nice people of the Baptist Church in Forrester, NC had reserved the area for their church cookout. However, the three of us looked so pitiful with our Gaterades, smushed buns, and propane tanks that they said they wouldn't mind us using a table and joining them. We looked so helpless in fact that they began offering us burgers, hot dogs, condiments, the works! Too bad the boys shot them down with claims of wanting to "rough it" and "do it on their own." To me "roughing it" is sleeping in a tent and living out of a car. If someone wants to offer me a free meal, I'd gladly accept!
However, this is their trip, so I played along with the survivor men and ate my surprisingly delicious burger without any add ons from our new Baptist friends.
Alright the sun is going down and so must I. Hopefully I won't have any bear stories to share tomorrow morning!
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