As I write this, I'm chowing down on pizza at the Bellevue "Oasis", basically a pit stop, which happens to rest over the highway. Looking out, I see cars approaching from the horizon, gradually increasing in size and detail, until they roar beneath my feet and those of everyone else here. Pretty neat view. It's nice and flat out here, as expected, and the sky is big and wide. Very sunny, with cumulo-cirrus clouds making cool alternating patterns throughout.
When I arrived in Michigan, around 8:30 at night on Sunday, I came to Jess' apartment and set up shop. After sitting for a while, (a short while, as I crashed through one of her chairs :X), catching up and reminiscing (You're drunk/You're sexy!) we had dinner, a freshly made meat loaf with so not so freshly processed meat, despite the assurances of the label. For the rest of the night, both of us were constantly fearing every rumble of our revolting tummies, but we made it through. We slept it off and went to Michigan State University (The Spartans!) the next morning. After performing a mock-patient meeting with an actor/pet owner (cool!), Jess took me to the main Vet building.
While there I was able to hang out at some classes, the most exciting of which was the anatomy lab where we examined the skeletal structure of animals limbs. I was happy with the amount of information I had retained from Deej's A+P, but also learned a ton more, as the amount of information required of a vet student is clearly at a level higher than of an undergrad. Fortunately, Jess has access to several wonderful teachers and classmates. I caught up with/remet Kate H from RI, and she and I spent a lot of time reviewing the differences of the carpus and tarsus bones in both the hind and forelimbs. It was enjoyable to talk with her about Rhode Island and life after college, and about vet school in general.
After getting lunch, where I was able to play table tennis and pool with Vig and Jeremy, Jess and I sat for a bit and did some work, then attended Pharmacology and Anatomy lectures (not terribly exciting, but still valuable experience). After that, we both went home and freshened up, watched the first half of The Departed *Maybe. Maybe Not. Maybe-* We then went to downtown Lansing, meeting up with some more friends, including the super chill/awesome couple of Cassie and Kevin. We relaxed at a bar with live blues/jazz, which created a mellow kinda mood for the evening, where I got to listen in and get to know some of MSUVS's best and brightest. Following some rocking drum solos (Kevin) and some open miking (Cassie), we all headed home. Tired from a day of meeting new people and making good impressions, I quickly crashed under a lovely down blanket.
This morning, Tuesday, we woke up a bit later than expected. Despite this, I decided to return to MSU where I got myself a morning breakfast from the Dairy Store, including milk, grilled cheese, and ice cream. After saying goodbye, I filled up my tank, put in my eyes, and settled in for the drive ahead.
It's 4pm now. I should be in Minneapolis by 8, at which point I will meet up with my next gracious host, Katrin. Until then, avid readers...
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
I'm On My Way
Upon leaving on Sunday, I was invariably delayed by lack of sleep, needing to fill up gas, last minute-packings, and of course saying my final goodbyes. While I made a significant effort to be on the road by 6am, as the revised plan stated, I did not actually start driving until 8:09am. Regardless, I was on my way. (Of course, it would not be a trip without some mishaps- my newly bought camera refused my memory card, I still could not locate a friend's lost camera amongst all my luggage, and I had forgotten my new phone's wall charger AND phone charger, necessitating the purchase of one along the way.)
Using my voice recorder, as suggested by my Father, I began to record my thoughts and recollections and ideas about my trip, my drive, and my life as they occurred to me. Rather than post on some of them now, I will create a "best of road observations by nevan michael patrick richard" post when I have gathered enough exhaustion driven postulations to create an entry of entertaining length and worth. I did get choked up, and my intestines did seize every now and then as I repeatedly was seized by the understanding that I wasn't driving to Rhode Island, or that this was a vacation, but rather that I was driving far away by myself to lands I had never seen and to stay with people I did not know. It was hard, but truly, it was the music that kept me going, and the understanding and truth that arose from within- that I had been wanting to make this type of journey for years. And so despite some misgivings, and a fear of the unknown, I drove on.
Highlights of my drive to Michigan-
-The ever changing landscape: Moving west brought me through various landscapes and geographical locations. From suburban Connecticut to rural New York to isolated Pennsylvania to the farmlands of Ohio and back to quiet suburbs of Michigan. Unfortunately, the landscapes were mostly dominated by barren brown/yellowness of post-snow Winter land, though occasional outcroppings of green grass and tress could be seen amongst the dead forests. For one stretch of trees in some portion of Pennsylvania, there was actually ice amongst the highest branches of the tress, creating a wonderful "crown effect," where each of the trees possessed it's own shimmering cap of ice. When these forests of crowns were blown by the wind, it created a really cool effect. Speaking of, despite it's length, Pennsylvania did have some of the most exciting portions of my drive the first day. Namely, the sections where after miles of driving through tight portions of road where densely wooded hills encapsulated your trip which suddenly opened up to reveal sprawling valleys with minute houses on distant ledges giving scale to the absolutely massive open areas within the heart of Pennsylvania. It was really exciting to be taking a long steady curve around a mountain and to suddenly be on a bridge, many hundreds of feet above a river within a hidden valley, and then to drive back into the woods. Fun.
-The License Plate Game (with a twist!): Everyone is familiar with the tried and true game of trying to find unique license plates from states unseen before. Well, in my version, I am recording novel license plates from states not yet seen, but ALSO where they occur! For example, in Connecticut, I only saw cars with plates from Connecticut, Massachusetts, or New York. Typical, ye? And in larger states, such as Pennsylvania, the extended distance and time spent there granted time to find more exotic plates, such as Florida, Texas, and California. But then Michigan, I saw my first Rhode Island plate! I am keeping a record of these occurrences, and will post a map with these findings upon arrival in Wyoming.
-The Lack of Obstacles: I had initially given myself 15 hours to go from Cheshire, CT to Holt, MI (my first pit stop on the journey.) Mapquest had allotted 12 1/2 hours for my journey. I added 2 1/2 hours for traffic, bathroom and food breaks, and misc. stop time. However, following a short but solid nights sleep, and a steady stream of tunes from my wonderful donated mix CD's, I ended up only not driving for ~35 minutes the whole days. As a result, I ended up in Michigan no more than 12 hours/15 minutes after I had departed. Following New York, I saw no more than 6 cops between Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan, which also certainly helped with my expediency.
And thus did I arrive in Holt, where I met up with my good friend Jess (with whom I graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a degree in Animal Science in May 2010). Our adventures around Holt, and MSUVS and elsewhere, are the subject for another post. Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 29, I will set out again to my next stop- Minneapolis, Minnesota! Hopefully I will be able to find a rest stop with internet service to send emails, check my facebook, and check back in with y'all.
=G'night.
Using my voice recorder, as suggested by my Father, I began to record my thoughts and recollections and ideas about my trip, my drive, and my life as they occurred to me. Rather than post on some of them now, I will create a "best of road observations by nevan michael patrick richard" post when I have gathered enough exhaustion driven postulations to create an entry of entertaining length and worth. I did get choked up, and my intestines did seize every now and then as I repeatedly was seized by the understanding that I wasn't driving to Rhode Island, or that this was a vacation, but rather that I was driving far away by myself to lands I had never seen and to stay with people I did not know. It was hard, but truly, it was the music that kept me going, and the understanding and truth that arose from within- that I had been wanting to make this type of journey for years. And so despite some misgivings, and a fear of the unknown, I drove on.
Highlights of my drive to Michigan-
-The ever changing landscape: Moving west brought me through various landscapes and geographical locations. From suburban Connecticut to rural New York to isolated Pennsylvania to the farmlands of Ohio and back to quiet suburbs of Michigan. Unfortunately, the landscapes were mostly dominated by barren brown/yellowness of post-snow Winter land, though occasional outcroppings of green grass and tress could be seen amongst the dead forests. For one stretch of trees in some portion of Pennsylvania, there was actually ice amongst the highest branches of the tress, creating a wonderful "crown effect," where each of the trees possessed it's own shimmering cap of ice. When these forests of crowns were blown by the wind, it created a really cool effect. Speaking of, despite it's length, Pennsylvania did have some of the most exciting portions of my drive the first day. Namely, the sections where after miles of driving through tight portions of road where densely wooded hills encapsulated your trip which suddenly opened up to reveal sprawling valleys with minute houses on distant ledges giving scale to the absolutely massive open areas within the heart of Pennsylvania. It was really exciting to be taking a long steady curve around a mountain and to suddenly be on a bridge, many hundreds of feet above a river within a hidden valley, and then to drive back into the woods. Fun.
-The License Plate Game (with a twist!): Everyone is familiar with the tried and true game of trying to find unique license plates from states unseen before. Well, in my version, I am recording novel license plates from states not yet seen, but ALSO where they occur! For example, in Connecticut, I only saw cars with plates from Connecticut, Massachusetts, or New York. Typical, ye? And in larger states, such as Pennsylvania, the extended distance and time spent there granted time to find more exotic plates, such as Florida, Texas, and California. But then Michigan, I saw my first Rhode Island plate! I am keeping a record of these occurrences, and will post a map with these findings upon arrival in Wyoming.
-The Lack of Obstacles: I had initially given myself 15 hours to go from Cheshire, CT to Holt, MI (my first pit stop on the journey.) Mapquest had allotted 12 1/2 hours for my journey. I added 2 1/2 hours for traffic, bathroom and food breaks, and misc. stop time. However, following a short but solid nights sleep, and a steady stream of tunes from my wonderful donated mix CD's, I ended up only not driving for ~35 minutes the whole days. As a result, I ended up in Michigan no more than 12 hours/15 minutes after I had departed. Following New York, I saw no more than 6 cops between Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan, which also certainly helped with my expediency.
And thus did I arrive in Holt, where I met up with my good friend Jess (with whom I graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a degree in Animal Science in May 2010). Our adventures around Holt, and MSUVS and elsewhere, are the subject for another post. Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 29, I will set out again to my next stop- Minneapolis, Minnesota! Hopefully I will be able to find a rest stop with internet service to send emails, check my facebook, and check back in with y'all.
=G'night.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Send Me on My Way
Hello and welcome to my blog.
I've never had a blog before.
This will be my first time trying to keep one.
This will serve as an occasional update with funny pictures, anecdotes, and details about my journey West and Beyond :-)
I will keep a journal as well, with more detailed accounts of my life, the best and most interesting of which should appear here.
Feel free to leave comments, suggestions for stories, questions about the West, or messages of love. I'll never know if anyone is reading this if you don't. Ha.
That is all. Thank you for being my friends and family. Here we go!
I've never had a blog before.
This will be my first time trying to keep one.
This will serve as an occasional update with funny pictures, anecdotes, and details about my journey West and Beyond :-)
I will keep a journal as well, with more detailed accounts of my life, the best and most interesting of which should appear here.
Feel free to leave comments, suggestions for stories, questions about the West, or messages of love. I'll never know if anyone is reading this if you don't. Ha.
That is all. Thank you for being my friends and family. Here we go!
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