I got up at 9 Thursday morning, showered and scurried over to the dining hall to stuff my face before my epic journey around the great state of New York. I had a swim bag full of clothes, my iPod, and a book for the bus ride(s). The cab I had arranged for was even a little bit early. At first I was a bit confused because they sent a giant van to get me, maybe expecting more than one girl and a single bag. They grabbed some other kid a minute later and we finally departed the IC campus. It was gray and rainy, but I still loved winding through the town I'm still not too familiar with and staring at all the leaves and houses. I enjoy looking at houses now. They are like inviting dorms with their own bathrooms.
Of course the bus station was in a slightly shift area, but I am from Wheaton, so I was largely unfazed because it was about 11:30 in the morning. The bus station seemed to be built about 500 years ago, seriously, because everything was wooden and their bathroom stalls were obviously made for midgets. It turned out that the bus I was taking to Albany required me to change buses in Binghamton with an hour layover. At that point, I didn't even care. The fact that I had a ticket in my hand and a definite time of departure was enough for me. I waited for about 45 minutes and the Trailways bus rolled up. I hopped on, and it was a pretty nice bus! Now perks, but it was clean and I had a seat all to myself. I stared out the window for the two hours to Binghamton. I ooohed and ahhhhed at all the leaves. I'm good at entertaining myself.
The Binghamton station was fine. I entertained myself for the hour with vending machine and watching the CNN they had playing. I considered trying out the "Deer Hunter Version IX" video game, but I wasn't in the mood for shooting crudely-animated deer at that moment.
My next bus was probably constructed while The Partridge Family was all the rage. That's all I'm saying. This bus made a few more stops at the most random SUNYs in the world, most of which I had never heard of. Finally I got off at Albany at the sketchiest station ever, and grabbed the first cab I found. The guy wasn't exactly sure where RPI was (I know, WHAT?!) so it ended up costing me like 30 bucks. Claire's lovely friends found me in the Union and took me to dinner. They were a really awesome bunch. Then, Claire came back from crew and I was ridiculously happy. I went with her to meet some of her crew friends, who were pretty hilarious.
It was so much fun reconnecting with Claire, I even ended up going with her to chemistry the next morning. I played on her laptop and marveled at the 320 person lecture hall. Claire snuck me into dining hall #3 (we never paid for a meal for me!) and we had lunch. I wasn't too keen on sitting through biology, so I wandered around campus and headed back to her dorm, where mom and dad met me! They came bearing many gifts including CHIPOTLE. Oh yes, we have the most amazing parents in the world, ones who would buy burritos for their children and refrigerate them while they crossed multiple state lines. We went shopping, watched Claire be honored with the Rensselaer medal (during which I established that yes, her school was awesome, but my acapella groups were better). We then went out to dinner and ate even more good food, and enjoyed all being together again. Mom, Dad, and I said goodbye to Claire and hopped in the car to return to Ithaca.
The next day Amma and Pappa joined us for a tour of the gorgeous Ithaca campus, and they got to see the TV studio I work in. We found another awesome restaurant, had lunch, and took in a little local culture at the friends of the library book sale. It's so cool having Papa and Amma so close. I'll be visiting them for the Buffalo game in just two weeks! Afterwards, Mom, Dad and I paid 6 bucks to explore gorge trail, which we found out was kind of like the stairmaster from hell. It was fun and pretty, even so. We were all pretty tired, and like the enthusiastic explorers we are, we decided our next activity was lying on Mom and Dad's hotel bed with cheeseburgers watching the Penn State football game. It was bliss.
This morning we ate at the Ithaca Bakery and drove around lake Cayuga. Mom and Dad then came and tricked out my room, giving me enough food to last me for years, lowering my bed, setting up my printer, mounting my mirror, trimming my bangs, and pretty much setting me up for life. It's SO nice to have parents take care of you.
The best part? I'm reenergized to return to classes and studies, my room is awesome, and it's only a month until Thanksgiving break. I miss my dormmates. I want them to come back!
Anyway, this was the longest post ever. For an amazingly perfect break.
