1 Down, Plenty More to Go

Well that wasn't too hard now was it. 

Day one of the road trip is officially complete. We took off from the office this morning at roughly 10:20am, a full hour and twenty minutes after we had planned to. This meant we had to drive extra fast to make up for lost time. Just kidding, we were very cautious and safe drivers. I digress. The road trip almost got off to a bad start as we did not close the back passenger seat before pulling out. While our colleagues gestured in horror we began to roll down the driveway before one ran up to close the door while giving us a "maybe this isn't such a good idea" look. Well it wouldn't be a road trip without a humorous door left open story!

We hit the road and began the long, monotonous journey that is the PA Turnpike. I was surprised to see that most of the billboards did not ask me to accept Christ, as they have in the past, but rather asked me to accept coal as my energy source of choice. There were at least 7 or 8 of them. I will have to do some research. 

The trip itself was pretty painless. Once we got out of the Philadelphia metropolitan area the traffic just ceased to be. A couple trucks, a couple rogue travelers and us. We skipped along merrily through the farms before skidding to a halt in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh has always fascinated me. It's a fun little city that everyone always beats up on. We were in Pittsburgh to stop and see our friend Sean who goes to the University of Pittsburgh. Sean was concerned that since his dorm was on a hill it would be too exhausting for us to meet him there. The fact that we were driving a car didn't seem to occur to him. He said that we should instead meet him on Forbes Ave, allowing us all to have a "THIS IS JUST LIKE PRINCETON" moment. He didn't know a street number to put into the GPS so we just put in 100 and figured we could follow Forbes Ave until we reached Pitt. 

The GPS did not appreciate this method and started flipping out the minute we reached the city. TURN LEFT THEN TURN RIGHT....RECALCULATING. As GPS lady yelled, despite following her directions, Ch'nel and I found ourselves getting more and more lost within the mean streets of corporate Pittsburgh. TURN RIGHT THEN LEFT THEN LEFT! RECALCULATING. GPS had us turning the wrong way down one way streets, into houses where streets did not exist and at one point directed us into the middle of a stone plaza with people drinking coffee at cafe tables. They gave us a confused look that makes me think cars were not supposed to be there. Whoops. I shouted 'SORRY! FROM NEW JERSEY!' before beelining it back to the highway. After taking a deep breath, turning off the GPS and turning it back on, we gave the GPS a second chance. This time it safely directed us to Sean and his "Cathedral of Learning". 

Sean greeted us with hugs and secret handshakes before whisking us into the cathedral. Before we knew it we were 36 stories above Pittsburgh getting a birds eye tour of Sean's "Kingdom". Point Pitt. Pittsburgh's not the prettiest city by any means, but it has a fantastic collection of bridges ("the most of any city...in the world...or something like that" according to Sean) that looked really awesome from up above. Fact checking has just confirmed that Sean may in fact...be right? That can't be true. 

We were starving by this point and demanded that Sean take us somewhere good for food. We were slightly delayed as Ch'nel and I insisted on taking pictures with any buildings that had the same name as buildings at Princeton (The three of us met at Princeton). There were a surprising amount. I guess rich guys don't discriminate with their donations as much as I thought they did. 

Sean brought us to a place that served good food, I didn't care I just wanted a giant Diet Coke. the fact that the restaurant had sweet potato fries was a very welcome bonus. We caught up, laughed over summer stories and got the dirt on Pittsburgh. After dinner we forced Sean to take pictures in front of various Pitt landmarks including the cathedral and the Pitt panther. 

Our fun could not last, however, as Sean had a four hour lab to get to (FOUR HOURS! GOOD GOD!) We hopped in the car and called my friend from high school, Aba, to announce that we were on our way to Cleveland so she should batten down the hatches and get ready for our arrival. She sounded concerned and said that she actually wasn't home right now, she expected us later. We assured her that we would definitely get lost. 

Well we didn't and we arrived in Oberlin, OH in a fairly reasonable amount of time. Aba was not here. So we found a Wal-Mart. I assured Ch'nel that under no circumstances would the hippie dippy Oberlin students allow a Wal-Mart within a 100 mile radius of their campus. We found one within 2 miles. Thank you GPS. This Wal-Mart was unlike our Wal-Mart back home. Here you could buy gas, hunting equipment and have a conversation with a guy named Pork Chop. What more could you want. Ch'nel and I left Wal-Mart with the things that you always end up with when you waste time in Wal-Mart....Oreos, Rice Cakes and a tarp. 

Aba called to tell us that she was home and we went to find her house. This would have been easier if the houses in Oberlin put numbers on themselves. After circling the block a couple of times she flagged me down and we were able to see each other for the first time since high school graduation. It was the stuff road trips are made of. 

Aba's house is great! It's an old house with giant rooms and a comfy futon. Chiz and I are now retiring for the night with an episode of The Office in the background. Tomorrow, after a good nights sleep, we will hit the road for Chicago, or Chi-Town as I hear the kids call it these days.