Now Playing:
Velvet Revolver, the whole CD (because it kicks ass!)

I intended to post on Thursday night, but instead chose to spend that time writing a real letter to a certain friend of mine :) Naturally, Friday was occupied with final concerns with summer research, then moving out. I did have some thoughtful things to say, but they've been somewhat beaten out of me.

All in all, the last few days have been bittersweet. In many ways, this was the best summer I have had yet; in other ways, this was by far the worst. Regardless of which takes greater importance, I was rather sad to leave on Friday. Lack of sleep and a general desire to get done with moving home kept me motivated, but the afternoon and evening passed in a rather dazed state. Saturday went well enough, with the drive down to NC passing generally uneventfully. Hanging out with my best friend and his girl on Saturday night was pretty awesome as well. He had better come back from overseas in one piece or I may have to kick his ass in the afterlife.

Being sleep-deprived again on Sunday, the day didn't start all that well, but the rainstorm that hit that afternoon made things significantly worse. Pouring rain and the occasional hydroplane-causing puddle thoroughly ruin a 75 MPH stretch of highway. The day ended with me almost getting a decent amount of sleep for the first time in weeks. It was bright and sunny on Monday morning, and the camp at which my friend is a counselor (an awesome one, I hear) was positively beautiful.

After an excellent lunch and coffee (and sad goodbye), we headed home. Naturally, a couple hours into the drive, we hit the same storm again, only this time we went pretty much through the entire thing. And it hadn't rained out at all - it was still pouring when the sun set. The only thing worse than driving on unfamiliar roads in the pouring rain is doing so at night. Just when I thought things were bad enough, we hit the more rural stretch between Richmond and DC. Which lacks reflectors in the lines. So I'm driving along in my 8th hour behind the wheel, wipers on hyperspeed, squinting at the near-invisible dashed white lines, doing 70 and getting passed anyway by tractor trailers, which kicked up so much water that I thought I was in a carwash...

Finally we made it home and I collapsed into bed. About 24 driving hours, 1000+ miles, and dozens of Propel waters, frappuccinos, iced coffees, and diet sodas later, my first road trip was over. It was awesome to see my friends and good to get more driving experience. Do I ever want to drive again? Probably. Do I want to see a steering wheel any time in the next month? NO.