July 17 - Great Eastern Tour Day 1

Miles travelled: 509
CDs:6
Tickets:1

5:56 a.m. - Pull out of apartment parking lot and point car towards Indiana. Equipped with directions, food, cell phone, and about 40 CDs. Elect to listen to morning radio show until out of service - it is the last time I will bother with radio stations until arriving in NY. Slightly bothered by the fact that my dashboard lights aren't working. Feels somewhat like driving in a cave, although the sun is starting to peak over the horizon.

7:19 a.m. - Curse my luck for arriving in St. Louis area right around rush hour. Pray feverishly to avoid sitting in traffic. Prayers are answered. Continue on, putting in the first CD of the trip, Goo Good Dolls.

10:06 - First stop of the trip. Am running out of gas and need to use the bathroom. Find myself almost missing Missouri when I see the gas prices in Illinois. Choose larger of the 2 gas stations, thinking it will increase my chances of finding a bathroom. Impressed by enormity of station - if necessary, I could buy spare parts for my car, bandaids, and coffee all in one shot. Make mental note to figure out where exactly I am so can use this stop in the future. Contemplate buying chicken strips from Arby's for lunch, then determine a Diet Coke and Combos from my car should suffice. One cannot have a good road trip without Combos.

11:26/12:26 - Realize I've gone into another time zone, and if I don't change my car clock will be perpetually confused as to the time. Now feel magically one hour closer to my destination.

1:35 - Meet Deputy Doug of the Indiana State Highway Patrol. Try to explain that I am afraid I've missed my road, therefore paying more attention to my directions, mileage, and road signs than my speed. Deputy Doug is unimpressed - he sees out-of-state plates and the opportunity to make himself a few extra bucks. After confirming the address on my license is my permanent address (why wouldn't it be?) proceeds to issue me a speeding citation for which he cannot tell me the cost. Must call court to find out cost. Silently curse my Missouri plates and the Indiana State Highway Patrol.

1:57 - Call court number to learn ticket cost. Continue to silently curse bad luck and justify my actions. If I was really travelling that much faster than surrounding traffic, I would have known and slowed down. Inform court officer that they really ought to print the ticket costs somewhere, instead of expecting someone to memorize the information from the phone.

2:50 - Arrive at aunt and uncle's house. Am informed that parents are stuck in construction on the other side of town. At least I missed that.

3:10 - New York contingent arrives. Run out to meet them, careful not to pounce on sickly younger brother. Travel, health, and grandma are discussed at length. Point out that younger brother looks fairly discolored to me.
"He's much better than he was," says Dad. "When he got out of your mom's black car, the difference between him and the car was striking."
"Think Bart Simpson," Mom tells me. "That's really what he looked like."
"And then the stupid woman at the hospital actually asked me why I was there," says brother.
Oh, so when you guys said yellow, you really weren't exagerating. Someone should have taken pictures.

4:10 - Pick up grandma from apartment. Miss the look of surprise on her face when realizing brother has come, as she was waiting at the door for us. Quickly tour her one bedroom apartment. Old family photos and fake flowers are all still in place. Grandma gives me house warming gift for my first apartment.
"I know you've lived there awhile now, but I wanted to get you something for your first apartment. I know it's not much. Sorry about the Christmas bag, but it's the only thing I had. I didn't get a special card, so there's just a plain one in there."
Card envelope has my full name on it, as if grandma has other granddaughters with different last names. Inside bag is lovely set of dishtowls, hand towels, dish scrubs and pot holders. They're very nice, and should clash well with my avacado green countertops.

6:30 - Sloppy joe's for dinner with corn on the cob. Contemplate skipping sloppy joe's altogether so there is more stomach space for corn, but figure that would lead to comment from grandma. There's plenty of time yet to get her worked up about something, better not start a debate on the first day. Manage to get sloppy joe on my pants. Decide I should stay away from foods that have "sloppy" in the title. Aunt was smart to keep her cooking apron on to eat.

10:35 - Attempt to do homework and check email. Dad left computer on all evening while family was talking, so laptop is dead within 5 minutes. Determine to get up early and do work while others are showering/sleeping. Will slog my way through some more Hemmingway before testing out the comfort of the living room hide-a-bed.