Notes from the Road: Pit Stops, Part I

Good thing I don't have a large readership. This sort of tardy writing would drive them all away. In my defense I've been very busy unpacking my car (which took half an hour), undergoing various interviews to determine my employment future [another post altogether], and spending a lot of time trying to get my 15-month-old nephew to like me best. Updates on that shall be forthcoming.

Depending on different factors (how badly I have to go to the bathroom, whether or not I decide to put real clothes on or do some housework at any given point) this could be a two-parter. I haven't decided (read: I don't have to pee that badly yet).

I left Tulsa on a Sunday, around 7 am. The planned breakdown (actually given my history with road trips that is an exceptionally poor word choice) was as follows:

-Sunday: Tulsa to Columbia, MO (5.5 hours)

-Monday: CoMo to St. Louis (2 hours)/St. Louis to Indianapolis (4.5 hours)

-Tuesday: Indy to Newark, Delaware (12 hours)

-Thursday: Newark to Bloomfield (5 hours)

Wednesday I planned to spend recouping from Tuesday's drive by hanging out with Sharayah and Jason before driving home to Connecticut on Thursday.

Of course I told my family I wouldn't be in til Sunday. SNEAKY.

Anyway, those distances there? I beat all of them except for the last one, and that last one only went over because I had to drive through New York on the Cross-Bronx Expressway. Which I loathe will all my being. There was traffic after the GWB, too, and into Fairfield County. But aside from that last leg, the highways were (mostly) clear and the driving was smooth. Such are the benefits of interstate travel on 4th of July weekend. Hooray for holiday driving!

The best part about this trip (that is already a lie, I can't pick a single best thing) was getting to stop and see friends and family during my non-driving hours. This post is supposed to be a rundown of those breaks. Let's get to it now.

In Columbia I stayed with Mo. Columbia, strictly speaking, is not on the route back to CT, but I always go here first. It's tradition to include Mo in some aspect of a roadtrip. During my college years (still love saying that) I spent countless hours/vacations on the road with her or crashing at her parents' house. PLUS this was my last time seeing her as a Single Lady. Hooray for the impending nuptials!

Impending Nuptials formed the focal point of our all-too-brief time together. After reaching her house and dropping off my things we hit the road again for a whirlwind afternoon of dropping off invitations, meeting with photographers, sample hour at Sam's Club (it's tradition, don't judge), and stopping by the Impending Groom's apartment to pick up/drop off various items. Then followed an evening of making wedding send-off/favors while eating cookies baked by the I.G. and watching BBC's new Sherlock Holmes. In short, it was delightful.

Stop 2 was The Roman Residence in St. Louis. I happened to arrive the day after their one-year anniversary, so lunch was a fairly laid-back affair consisting of Nate's Secret Ingredient Burgers and about three episodes of The Big Bang Theory, Season 3. We vetoed a walk in favor of vegging on the couch. It may be instructive to note that whenever possible I will probably opt for vegging on the couch.

Post-lunch (and post-stop-for-a-caffeinated-beverage) I turned North and East to stay Monday night with my cousins, expectant parents Mike and Meagan. There were plans in the offing to go see fireworks--but Meagan was pregnant and I was wiped after driving. I don't know what Mike's excuse was. We ate grilled cheese sandwiches and played this game, which by some astonishing stroke of beginner's luck, I won. I fell asleep on the couch to the intermittent rumblings of fireworks. It was glorious.