The idea summer after junior year was met with considerably more relief than any previous college summer. The last two summers were viewed mostly with reluctance at having to leave behind the best years of my life. Junior year, however, was a different story. Not that it wasn't great, because all my Pepperdine years have been amazing, each in a completely different way; but it definitely held a higher contrasting stress-to-fun ratio than freshmen and sophomore years. And so summer (and by "summer" I mean late April) began, complete with the graduation of dear friends, Heidelberg reunions, and the promise of working Bible Lectures while donning the same 2 t-shirts all week long.
That last item on the agenda changed though, when I got an offer to drive to South Carolina with Kins for her brother's graduation from Clemson. Her family made it sound like I was doing them a huge favor by making sure their darling daughter made it across the country alive and, more importantly, on time for the graduation ceremony, but having someone offer to pay my way to complete one of my life-long dreams? Duh, yes, please and thank you!
The first leg of our trip was considerably dull-- desert, cacti, more desert, rocks, the occasional tumbleweed. From eastern California all the way until Eastern Oklahoma we experienced the sheer glory of desolate wastelands. By New Mexico I was shouting in excitement at giant walls of rock, for lack of anything else to look at on the side of the road. We did happen to pass one small ghost town, which we would have loved to explore, but as we were on a time crunch, we were forced to condense our itch to discover to a 70 mph drive-by. Gallop, New Mexico provided us with all it had to offer-- a pet-friendly motel and a boxy bed to sleep in for 5 hours before getting back on the road.
The panhandle of Texas sucks.
Welcome to Tulsa, land of John Kempe and his adorable family that was so kind as to let us stay the night there. We didn't get to see much of the city (or any of it for that matter), but I did have my first experience with Blue Bell Ice Cream. I wasn't disappointed.
Next stop: Memphis, Tennessee where Caroline and her wonderful family let us stay. We made a mandatory stop at what Caroline promised us was one of the more redneck Soncics in the area and indulged in Oreo shakes with extra Oreo. We were sent off with a Ziploc full of brownies and an atlas to help us along the way (prior to this we'd gotten a little bit lost since neither one of us had gotten directions before embarking on this journey).
Driving through AR, MI, AL, and GA, were all notably similar. But by this point Kins and I were so sick of desert we were reveling in the amount of trees and greenery. Beautiful! I'll admit, AR had the prettiest looking rivers and trees. I'm only sad we had to miss out on the World Famous Wal-Mart Museum. And did you know the Mississippi River is brown?
Finally we arrived in South Carolina, where we were not just on time for the graduation, but EARLY. You're welcome, Cronins. Also, a huge thanks to all those who fed and hydrated Kins and I along the way!
Now that I have 20 states under my belt, my dream of visiting all 50 is that much closer. Anyone feel like driving up to Alaska next summer?
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