May 30, 2006

Roadtrips


Saturday morning we climbed into the Mustang at 8.50, picked up a couple of coffees, filled the gas tank and hit the highway by 9'ish, as hoped and planned. While there aren't any significant particular memorable details about the roadtrip, I did experience the type of epiphany one experiences when cruising at a steady speed for an extended period of time through the winding Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and flatter Ohio roads. Craig was playing deejay with the iPod - doing a fairly decent job at it, although there were moments where he did not have the next song ready in time to make the transition between songs smooth (but I think I take the job as deejay a little bit more anally retentively than he, which is neither better or worse, of course). It is notable that Craig cannot drive a manual transmission car (he claims he can, just not well) so I drove the entire span of 618.53 (plus) miles myself, for which I am still patting myself on the back. Anyway, the epiphany could be compared quite simply to the beautiful road trip sequence in Elizabethtown, only, we did not park and get out and enjoy the nuances of any of the places we passed through (McDonald's and gas stations aside, of course). It feels empowering to transport through so much geography in so little time (relatively speaking). And it's almost patriotic to witness the lush colors sail by, the full varying greens along the Penna, the vibrant flowers, the view of mountains in the distance (I isolate the Pennsylvania portion because it's always been one of my favorite states to drive through). We were about 56 miles outside of Pittsburgh and Craig turned to me, the atlas sprawled open on his lap, and said, Can we drive through Pittsburgh? I've never seen Pittsburgh with my very own eyes and would like to. I agreed, yes, I would like to do the same. Despite the mile or so of metro traffic entering Pittsburgh, the detour didn't cost us too much time, and it was well worth it. Who knew how attractive Pittsburgh could be? (except, of course, those who have already seen it, that is). We were both taken by pleasant surprise, and it's a good thing we've got an old friend that lives there so that we have an actual reason to go hang out in Pittsburgh someday, although, who ever needs an actual reason to visit what appears to be a cool city, anyway! We made it to Cleveland by 6 p.m., and our friends were excited to have us. My old friend BG is still so much like a brother to me, even without us communicating regularly. We left for dinner almost right after we got to their house (they actually live in Olmsted Falls) and at dinner we met their neighbors Mandy and Pete. I loved them, almost immediately - they were so smart and easygoing. Mandy asked dozens of questions about us, about our history, about moving to New York. I love people who are so interested in others' stories - and meeting them makes me want to strive to do the same for others that I meet. It feels good to be asked questions, to be probed for details. Pete is in school for podiatry, so I had common ground to stand on (so to speak) with him, as well, seeing as I had two feet operations several years ago and could give him candid wisdom from the foot patient perspective. Following dinner and really giant beers, we drove to BG's friend's house party. We were a little uncomfortable there, given the fact it was a celebration for a 21-y.o.'s birthday party (we're all much nearer 30) and the house wasn't exactly in the best neighborhood I've ever seen. But, we made the most of it: milled around drinking Miller Lite and pretty much staying contained within our group of six. After about an hour, we left the party and went to a nearby dive bar, but Mandy and Pete ducked out for the rest of the night. Craig and I, by this time, were so physically exhausted - it's amazing what an extensive road trip will drain from the human body - the energy, the adrenaline, the vitamins. So, we didn't stay at the bar too late. And Sunday morning we woke up early again, headed out to finish the last leg of our trip to Michigan. My parents now live in a village (according to the welcome to sign!) in southeastern Michigan - their new house is incredibly charming - I loved it! It's a 4 bedroom, which seems like a lot of space for just the two of them, but they each have their own office, and there isn't a shortage of places to stay for guests. They've been doing a lot of work since they moved in, and it looks great. My mom made us lunch, and then Craig helped my dad hang a utility cabinet in their laundry room. My mom and I browsed paint chips for the remainder of the house that they've not yet painted. For dinner, my mom had prepared beef stroganoff and I steamed asparagus and we drank some wine my dad had brought back from a recent business trip to California. By this time, I literally felt so foggy - and judging Craig's facial expression, he felt much the same. So, the four of us settled into their living room and watched Easy Rider (which was actually really good, and Peter Fonda was quite the handsome lead!) and The Poseidon Adventure, then cashed it in for the night. Our alarms were set for 3:30 a.m. in order to make it to the old Detroit terminal by 5. By this time, the exhaustion was just painful. When we climbed into our seats on the first plane, my head literally swayed with defeat of sleep deprivation. But, we made it through - a layover in Atlanta, and we were back in Richmond by early afternoon. I read quite a bit of Never Let Me Go in preparation for my book report for my friends. It's definitely a good read. Now, we've subtracted a whole car from our possession! Later this week we will subtract a second! And Saturday we get on our plane - mid-afternoon, fly to New York City, land at JFK, deboard the plane, take the subway to the Upper East Side where we will live in a subletted apartment temporarily while we wait for our actual apartment to become available (mid-July). Our week is very abbreviated, not only by the holiday (yesterday) but by the fact that we're leaving early for D.C. today to see Pearl Jam, and will not be working Friday so that we can monitor the movers as they pack our possessions. In between now and then, we've got a lot to do - but we're overall pleased with our progress. I may be away (absent) for a good portion of the month (not sure if we will have internet and Craig's work laptop in our empty sublet) but upon my return to this page (unless I am able to write later in the week), I shall be a shiny brand new New Yorker, seeing, doing, living and breathing New York things! How completely, completely fantastic. I suffer a lack of appropriate words to describe the swelling anticipation I feel as this draws nearer by the minute. Until my undetermined return...

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