Location: Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

The journey has officially begun!

I boarded my flight from Tulsa to Greenville about 6 PM yesterday evening (with all of my bags barely packed, but definitely ready to go). My flight went off without a hitch, with a quick layover at DFW I arrived in Greenville at about 11 PM to Dan practically waiting for me at the airport (fantastic timing)! From there, Dan drove us back up to Raleigh where we promptly crashed at his brother Chris’s girlfriend’s apartment.

Today was pretty relaxing. Dan isn’t going to see his brother for a couple of months so we wanted to spend one last day hanging out. We slept in pretty late, but got ready quickly because we wanted to get to the football game early. Today, I was not a Cowboys fan, I was not a Longhorns fan, rather I was a North Carolina State Wolfpack fan. It was a hard transition (as their color is red… which I despise, generally speaking) and we were rooting against a team in Orange (Clemson). I snuck in as a student (thanks Samantha, whoever you are) and we got FANTASTIC seats on the front row of the endzone. Although the game was pretty much a wash, it was amazing fun to be so close to the field, even though we were losing. We battled to catch field goal attempt balls, helped raise the net to catch the extra close ones, took our picture with Mrs. Wuff (the mascot bride) and chatted with the security guards keeping any overzealous fans off the field. The weather was perfect, the sun was shaded by the stadium walls and all in all, it was a pretty perfect day.

On the way home, we grabbed a pizza, tossed the football in the parking lot until dark and then headed in for a quick catnap and some TV football. Unfortunately, neither the Texas, nor the Oklahoma State games are showing out here, so I have resorted to following the score via Sportacular. But hopefully, neither team needs my help.

Today really went off without a hitch. A good relaxing start to a hopefully relaxing trip. My only major blunder today involved a car called Wanda. Wanda is a 1996 (ish) Bermuda Grass Green Ford Escort with as many problems as Britney Spears pre-comeback. Wanda (who I named after the domestic abuse victim from the Dixie Chick song “Goodbye Earl”) has a number of issues. She has attachment issues; her front bumper is held on by twisty ties. She has trust issues; her driver door doesn’t open, so to enter the car, one must sneak in through the passenger side and open the driver door from the inside. She’s not very bright; the interior lights do not work at all. She’s got a bad clutch (not a metaphor) that squeaks and creaks every time you step on it. When she cries, there’s really no stopping it as the windshield wipers are relatively useless and completely have a mind of their own. She also has is incredibly picky, she only has one key and without it, you’ll never get in.

So when I asked Dan for the keys so I could go get my pack out of the boot (my accent and vocabulary transformation has already begun), Dan responsibly reminded me, “don’t forget to not lock the keys in the car because we don’t have a spare!” I walk towards Wanda, laughing and thinking that I would do something like that. I open the trunk, grab my pack (which required two hands and a brief set down of the keys – aw, CRAP! That’s where I went wrong!) and slam the hatch down quick to run back inside the house… But without the keys. Literally less than 30 seconds after Dan had reminded me to steer clear of this very predicament. Fortunately, I had made a mistake earlier in the day that saved us. I had accidentally forgotten to lock the passenger door when I got out of the car earlier, so we (and by “we” I mean Dan) were able to crawl into the car and reach for the keys. Crisis averted.

Not sure about the plans for tonight yet. Probably something relaxed as we begin Dan’s roadtrip tomorrow and drive North to Washington D.C.

XOXO

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