Trip across the country

Hello Fellow Postees,

It has been about three weeks since my last blog and it’s been fairly eventful, so I figured a new post was warranted. I had a wonderful two weeks with my parents in Port Angeles, WA hiking and camping on the beach, a beautiful day in Victoria, runs with dad and tickling mommy and squeezing mommy’s cheeks made for an excellent time at home. Then I was off on a sleepful red-eye flight to Boston where I hung out with a good friend Sarri, but then the true adventures began…

Gita and I are driving out to NM where we will be living together as I teach Biology at the UWC and she will be going to a massage therapy school in Santa Fe. We are both very excited about our occupations and being able to be surrounded by some of the best kids the world has to offer.

I figure, I’ll give you a play by play account of how the travel days have gone, transcribed by my secretary Gita from the passenger seat (therefore any grammatical errors and typos you can blame on her), as we compose this from the side of the highway with a flat tire waiting for AAA to arrive.

The trip has been wonderful so far, despite the fact that throughout our travels wherever we were, seemed to be experiencing record temperatures. Yuck.

Day 1

Leave Sarri’s apartment at 7 in the morning after a fun night in Boston (I was introduced to StarCraft II – pretty cool) and take a train to Worcester (pronounced Wooster by those crazy Mass people) where I rendez-voused with Gita and maliciously threw away some of her possessions in order to make space for myself in the car. These included a plant, hangers and fungi cultures she uses to make yogurt with. Me, the jerk, then continued to complain that I could not see in my rear view mirror except for apples and pears that when breaking suddenly, as sometimes happens when driving, would proceed to fly about and hit us along with other miscellaneous objects (not safe!). A reorganization was in order, but we proceeded to Becket, MA where we watched a very innovative and cool dance program at Jacobs Pillow where Gita spent a summer during her time at Middlebury (admission, $120, was free after we helped with parking). Then it was on through eastern seaboard traffic all the way down to Washington D.C. to spend the night with my sister. We arrived at midnight in our nicely air-conditioned car and as we emerged to greet the sister, our pores opened their mouths instantly and salivated sweat (yum!).

Day 2

I woke to see that Gita had already risen and left the room. Upon further inquiry I found that she had unpacked her car and ruthlessly examined the contents and made quite a pile of belongings that she was reluctantly willing to part with. These items were things such as a complete papasan chair, many canned goods, and shampoo. She had done all of this before 10 am in a futile attempt to avoid the heat but made significant progress nonetheless. We then decided to send the sister to work and spend the rest of the day in air-condition movie theatres and museums. En route to these attractions our wonder at the ability of people to be out in such muggy and deplorable conditions turned to amazement as we withered in the heat. The one redeeming quality about being outside was that Kraft Foods was launching a new home-style macaroni and cheese. We collected four units of said mac’n’cheese and two Kraft Foods hot pads (YES – it was for free). After watching Salt in which Anjelina is still hot, we went to the National Portrait Gallery for a free tour and learned some pretty cool stuff about American history through pieces of work that are not very well known. The sister met us there and we proceeded to dinner at a place that Lara had always wanted to try but had been intimidated by the price. Armed with the parents’ credit card we enjoyed a very tasty meal and were graciously treated to a few appetizers by an acquaintance of Lara who works there. Pleasantly full but not overfull we proceeded to the National Mall. Upon arrival I was reminded of the greatness of our country as I saw the White House on one side, the Washington Monument on another, and segue tours running the distance in between. We hung out at the Washington Monument where Gita and Lara had quite the UWC conversation about how to change the world. Then it was back to the apartment where we prepared tuna mac’n’cheese (curtsey of Gita’s contributions and Kraft Foods) for the next day’s lunch. NOTE: Lara’s apartment and roommates seemed to be of high quality, which has not always been the case (the family rejoices).

Day 3

In an attempt to beat the D.C. traffic we were on the road by 6:30a.m. We arrived at the Dismal Swamps of Virginia and North Carolina in sweltering 10a.m. temperatures. We found our way to a wonderfully helpful ranger station and then proceeded to the Dismal Swap (Lake Drummond), which is accessible via car (thank God). Upon arrival at the swamp, Gita was called by nature to make an excursion into the woods where, en route she tripped over a branch and bruised herself so badly that it looks as if I beat her with a baseball bat. The swamp is more like a lake except that the water is the color of thick coffee, so our desire to swim was quickly replaced by the desire to get back into the air-conditioned car.

Then it was off to the Outer Banks the birthplace of heavier-than-air flight. For those who do not know, the Outer Banks is a 100-mile long spit that runs parallel to the coastline of North Carolina. It experiences constant winds, which helped the Wright Brothers to have controlled testing grounds for their flying apparati. We looked at the famous flight grounds… they were flat, grassy fields (big surprise)… The Outer Banks is on average about a quarter of a mile wide and extends into the Atlantic Ocean so far that the mainland is beyond the horizon. Definitely a vacation destination, check it out online.

We drove down the entire spit and boarded the ferry in an impeccably timed/barely-made-it fashion to Pony Island, the very end of the Outer Banks. As the sun was setting we approached the only town on the island, Ocracoke. We took a local’s suggestion and enjoyed a wonderful seafood dinner. We then set up our tent and decided that since we were going to be in the middle of New Mexico being this close to an ocean and not taking a dip would just be silly. Unfortunately, the silliness was just about to commence. In the dark heat of 10 p.m. we got directions to an ocean access point from a surfer dude and took a turn-off onto a packed washboard, sandy road. After driving for about a mile (where is this ocean?!?) it was as if a double-sided mirror was put in between Gita and I, for we both turned to look at each other and said ‘OH SHIT’ in perfect unison. The hard packed sandy road had abruptly turned into loose, deep sand in which we got heavily mired. After futile attempts to drive out of the predicament, we started digging. The situation still looked bleak after half an hour but as if planned, one EMS truck came from the sea and a Coast Guard truck came from the road and converged, almost eerily on our marooned automobile. From the way they dismissed us, it was apparent that our plight was common. But when they saw the sand that had caked upon our arms and faces they lent a very appreciated hand and pushed us out. NOTE: Deep sand behaves in a surprisingly similar fashion to wet deep snow, an observation that was lost on our southern helpers. At this point it was getting late but we still had enough pluck to ask the Coast Guard officer how to get to the ocean. We followed his high-quality directions and walked to a dark beach that was lit by the light of the Milky Way and the crashing waves. We also discovered bioluminescent bacteria that light up when disturbed. As we waded into the surf we saw salt-crystal sized colonies light up with each crash of the waves. After a quick dip in which our feet did not leave the bottom, because night swimming in the ocean is very dangerous, we headed back to the campsite for a night of fitful sleep in the heat.

Day 4

I woke up in a haze to a vibrating cell phone alarm. I quickly discovered that the phone had been going off for 25 minutes and that we had very little time to catch the ferry… but alas where art Gita? I emerged from the tent to find her splayed on the picnic table in an attempt to escape the stifling heat of the tent and the large spiders and snakes on the ground. We broke camp in record time and made the ferry to the mainland. When we hit land we were off to a lunch-date with some UWC friends in Durham, NC (ETA 3 hours). Two miles later however, unavoidable road debris reared its ugly head and bit us in the buttocks popping our back passenger tire. We did a time/risk/benefit analysis and decided that because the road debris was stuck in the tire and had shaved metal filings onto the ground, an attempt to change the tire may still leave us with an undrivable car. This, coupled with the fact that we would have to completely unpack the car in order to change the tire (estimated length of job 4 hours), resulted in a phone call to AAA for a tow truck (ETA 45 minutes). Two and a half hours later a red 1990s Volvo with a small AAA sticker in the window pulled up to give us a hand. There had apparently been a miscommunication. He assessed the tire and not having brought a tire or a winch himself, helped us call a TOW truck from AAA. After AAA called numerous times to check on how we were doing in the summer heat, we determined that, instead of trying to replace the tire ourselves, waiting for a tow truck was still a good idea. Three and a half hours later however, the tow truck FINALLY arrived. The driver was very nice and we were quickly on our way to the repair shop. Upon arrival it was determined that no serious damage was done to the car but we had to stay in Greenville, NC for the night.

Chinese food in the hotel room, Everyone Loves Ramon, air-conditioning, shower, good night sleep = everything is gonna be alright.

Day 5

We started the day with three days worth of driving ahead of us with only two days to do it in. Thus, since this post is getting long I will paraphrase, which is still a quite good description of the day’s events.

We drove a lot.

17 hours of driving landed us in Little Rock, AK.

Day 6

We woke after 4 hours of sleep and made it to NM that night. The summer monsoon-like rains of NM had turned the landscape into a beautiful mixture of green and the pinks, oranges, and reds we were so accustomed to during our time at UWC which was during a 7-year drought.

We unpacked the car and admired the scenery. I think we are going to enjoy being here. Thanks for reading.

Kris and Gita

P.S. For pictures check out my facebook album.