From the Redwood Forest . . . .

Blasted Starbucks

The next morning I was all excited to go to Sweet Papaya. It is the best frozen yogurt ever. Basically, think of God hand-making frozen yogurt Himself, and then placing it in a bowl embellished with scrumptious fruits, candies, granola, with a small colorful spoon. Yes. That is what it tastes like. I had Googled it the night before and it reported that they opened at 8:30 am. Perfect! Yogurt=milk product=perfect breakfast! Well we woke up that morning (late), got ready and headed to Sweet Papaya. I was stoked. We arrived and IT WAS CLOSED. THE INTERNET LIED TO ME!! I was crushed. I had been looking forward to this for a good 34,200 seconds. I hated my life at that moment of time. Sweet Papaya just so happened to be connected to a Starbucks so I had to settle for a blended Frappachino. I then had to say goodbye to Courtney (tear) and returned to Leigh's car.


I must introduce you to Serena. She is our GPS. She is not the brightest tool in the box, but she gets the job done (for the most part). She does happen to have a British accent which gives her some cool points, but over all she is a ditz and does not know what she is talking about. We continuously have to tell her to shut up (which she doesn't) and she can never make up her mind.


We were about 60 miles north of Medford, Oregon when Serena led us wrong. She told us to get off the interstate (Even I can read a map and knew that this was not right) onto this rinkydink highway. It would NEVER end.

She led us out to the middle of nowhere. Then we rolled into this rinky dink town called Merlin. There was a restaurant named the G-Spot. Are you freaking kidding me? The G-Spot?! Seriously. What is this world coming to. We turned on to Robertson Ridge Road for a lifetime. There happened to be a church out in the middle of no where. I wonder what their attendance is . . . There was also a river called "Limpy Creek." Wow. The G-Spot, Limpy Creek? I did not think that I could take anymore. As we began to descend into a valley, there was a huge billboard that said "Discover the Illinois Valley" or something to that nature. Ummmmm...Last time I checked we were in Oregon. Ten minutes later I started laughing. Leigh just looked at me with a confused look on her face and I exclaimed, "WHERE IN THE HECK IS THE ILLINOIS VALLEY? ARE THEY PROMOTING PEOPLE TO GO ILLINOIS?" That kept me entertained for the next few miles. We turned onto a different Robertson Ridge Road and then there was a river, church, grocery store, and restaurant all named Roberton Ridge. Real original people. Real original. We stopped at some grocery store for some grub. My cart was filled with beef jerky, a sandwich, an apple, and a snapple. Classic. I got the glass bottle just so I could get the Snapple Fact. Apparently a strawberry is not a berry, but a banana is. ?. I think the Snapple Company is on crack. This store was filled with white trash hick people.  . . everywhere. Granted, I live in hick town. BUT not white trash hick. There IS a difference. The worker at the deli was making our sandwiches and a lady asked Leigh what type of cheese she wanted. Leigh responded "American." "NO! WE DON"T HAVE AMERICAN." giggles. "Oooooo," she responded and then picked a cheese they did carry.

Our destination was the Redwood National Park in Crescent City and we were finally able to turn onto Highway 101. There was a booth that we had to go through and we were really confused as to what we were doing. Were we already at the park? Turns out it was border patrol and the Ranger was very nice. The first thing he asked was where we were from in Washington and in the back of my mind I was thinking "How does he know that we are from Washington?" "Creeper!!!!" (After we continued our drive, it clicked. Our license plate said Washington genius. Jeez. Sometimes I kill myself.) We then told him our travel plans and he gave us a California map. (It took Leigh 20 miles to find San Francisco on it. Chuckles.) He then asked us if we were bringing any fruit or vegetables into California. We suddenly pulled out our apples and cucumbers and he told us those were fine. We were all set to go and returned to the highway. About 45 minutes later, Leigh screamed, "Oh no! We forgot to tell him about our carrots!!"


Leigh got a bag of Skittles and as she placed the last one into her mouth, it popped out and she was quite disappointed. A while later I found it on the ground and gave it to her and she threw it away!! She never even looked at it! What a waste of a perfectly good grape skittle. . . . . I would have eaten it.



Leigh also got string cheese at the white trash grocery store. She had forgotten about it and found it later. She then decided to stick it out the window to cool it down. Brilliant? I believe so.



My 1st sign picture. Yessss.

As we continued on, we finally crossed the border. I was driving and it was raining. I saw the "Welcome to California" sign and looked at Leigh and said, "OH CAN WE STOP PLEASE!?!" I had never taken a picture at a state sign and was quite excited. I then proceeded to slam on my brakes and pull over to the side. Enough to say that the people driving behind us basically hate me. Considering that there is only two of us, throughout our entire trip, we became geniuses at propping a camera up. As Leigh was setting the timer on her camera, a car stopped and we were hoping that they were going to offer to take our picture. They went into reverse and asked us if we knew where the Oregon Caves were and then drove off. JERKS! Come on people! It is raining and you see two girls trying to set their camera up and you do not even ask them if you would like to take their picture? What is wrong with the world?



Pure Brilliance
As we were trying to figure out how to take the picture, Leigh whips out an umbrella from her purse! "Perfect!" I said. She then informed me that everyone who lives in Seattle carries an umbrella. She then proceeded to open the umbrella in the car. Even more brilliant. Chuckles.




TO BE CONTINUED

Seattle Bound

Well my morning began with my Grams waking me up at 6:28 am. Sick. I despise mornings. I laid in bed for those few precious minutes and then forced myself to get up and take a shower. I despise mornings.

I then proceeded to get ready and after blow drying my hair, I heard my Grandma talking about the weather. In long sentences. I thought that she was talking to herself and got mildly worried/curious. When she went into her bedroom, I took a peek into the kitchen to see if anyone was there. Andrew! He made it. His eyes were starting to glaze over from the lack of sleep but he was there! Kudos to him. Looks like Grams won't be leaving him. (Which is kind of sad because that could have been a fabulous story.)

We then began our voyage. On time! That is a huge accomplishment for my family. On average, we are usually 20 to 60 minutes late. Not even ten minutes into the drive, Andrew started singing "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" over and over and over again. I, of course, started chiming in. Over and over and over again. My Aunty Deb started to give us dirty looks through the rear view mirror. Andrew then recalled the song, "This is the Song That Never Ends." This became our new tune and I started adding variations to it. Yes, we are 21 and 22 years old. At this point, Aunty Deb said that she was going to pull over the car and drop us off if we did not shut our traps. (In more or less words) Silence.

I took a quick nap and woke up to Andrew complaining about the sun. He thought that it was SO hot and was having a temper tantrum because he was "dehydrated and his body did not have a way to cool itself down." Oh-my-Lanta. You are complaining about the sun and that is the way you choose to describe it? I was chuckling and gave him a "are you kidding me right now?" look. Then we both started giggling.

It was not long after that when we began rolling into the big city of Seattle. I was not in my party attire so I had to change behind a dumpster. That was fun. I can check that off my list of things I've always wanted to do.     Not.     The party then began. We surprised Uncle which was fun. 5 cups of sorbet punch, 1 piece of cake, some laughs, some twizzlers I found in my purse, and countless crackers later, it was time to go. Leigh and I left that party to attend another one in Tacoma at the restaurant Indochine. I got Pho Thai. I've had better . . .

Finally, around 8:30 (late of course), we embarked on our voyage South on I-5 toward Salem. Leigh has about a bagillion old cd's that we pulled out and we then started to warm our vocal chords. Some Backstreet Boys, Nelly, Shania, and Celine accompanied us and we arrived in Salem around 12:30 (late of course). COURTNEY TIME! Dropped off Leigh at Courtney's because she was tired, picked up Courtney, and headed to campus to visit my old Roomie. We had a lot of catching up to do. Once I was caught up on all the good ol' Corban gossip, some giggles, chuckles, and snickers later, it was my bedtime and Courtney and I headed back to her townhouse. We then fell asleep to an episode of Friends. It was awesome.

Pre-Departure to San Francisco

Disclosure: The words you are reading are NOT in real time nor are they recommended to the readers.

Pre-Departure.

I am not sure if you all knew this, but my grandma is the best grandma. Ever. There is no competition. I will be traveling across the Cascades to the “other” side of the state with my lovely grandma, aunt, and cousin. Our ETD is 7:30 am. I was not about to get up at 5:30, pack, and leave Pullman at 7:00 am. I would rather wrestle a grizzly bear than do that, so I decided to occupy the spare bedroom at my grandma’s house. It needs slept in once every couple weeks and it was in dire need. The night was spent flipping through channels on the worthless television and doing cross word puzzles until midnight rolled around. It was awesome. My grandma was very proud that she knew the answer to a Big Bang Theory question. The answer was polyglot and she informed me that it indeed is a real word. She then asked me a question about the show Rosanne which I am disappointed to report, I did not know. Sam had stayed the night last week and the next morning, I had noticed that she had left the television on with Rosanne playing. So I then whipped out my phone and called her to see if she knew the answer. The question was “Rosanne has many of these.” Sam failed at life. Sigh. (Which I must point out is worse than me because she actually watches that show) BUT good ol’ grams figured it out. Debts was the answer.

My cousin Andrew has the reputation of being late. He also hates mornings almost more than he hates poor grammar. My grandma told me to text him and say that if he is not here at 7:30, we are leaving him. She specifically requested that I use her name within the message. That puts a certain sense of authority within the text message. What grandma says is law.

Bah ha ha ha ha.

And she meant it too.

We’ll see if I am able to recline my seat tomorrow morning because the lack of a body behind me.

For our journey to the west side, grandma made sandwiches, packed tons of snacks, AND made cookies. Yes.

I did remember to pack an essential item. The Sound of Music soundtrack.

Good food. Good music. Fabulous first leg of my road trip ahead.   

The time has come, my little friends, to talk of other things. Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. And why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings. Calloo, Callay, come run away. With the cabbages and kings.

 

Anticipation. Longing. Thirst. Wonder. Excitement. Nervousness. Yearning

That is what I felt before my grand adventure. And now it has all past with the blink of my oval eye. I had been granted the privilege to experience new things, meet new people, launch new friendships, and see new things which some only read in books.

 After all of that, have I changed? Am I still the same girl who loves rootbeer, prefers plastic utensils to metal ones, obsessed with brushing her teeth, puts milk in her ice cream, and would rather live in a library (with a ginormous bathtub) than a castle? The answer is yes. She is still here. I can’t say I feel any different… tired maybe… nor do I feel any older or wiser. But I do know that my palate has absorbed the sweet flavors of gelato and my eyes have been opened. I have studied the world and how it turns from a historical and Biblical aspect; but sometimes, the mind can’t fully comprehend what it hasn’t experienced or seen. My 2,496 hours across the world revealed the world in which my eyes saw, my heart understood, and my mind comprehended. Through the many smiles and few tears, I don’t regret a single second.

The depravity of man and this world is clearer to me now. I have gained/re-gained a love for people, food, and cultures. I love all sorts of people and have always needed a variety in my life. My 149,760 seconds in Europe re-affirmed that. My food intake had been quite limited, but I am proud to say I have slightly broadened my horizons. I have taken on a greater appreciation for the different ways in which people live and why people do the things they do. I was shown a glimpse into the concept of “time” and the lack of it. Many questions were answered, but even more have risen.  

My mentality of the importance of friends and family strengthened during my stay. It seems to me that many are lacking in that department. That, within itself, saddens me. BUT, just because it seems to me it is lacking, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Which was encouraging. 

The Return

Our final, final day in Germany. Sad day in the neighborhood. Kelley was going to take us to the airport once again. Did we not do this before? Take 2.Woke up quite early to get ready and be packed with the goal of departing Kelley’s apartment at 7:00 a.m. Can we do it? Yes we can! Pft, mildly fail but not too horribly. Plus we had to make a pit stop at a bakery for some pastries, which of course was a necessity. We got caught in some mild traffic and we still had to stop at Katriona’s apartment to grab our luggage that we left before we went to Greece. We ascended the 130 stairs and descended the 130 with our ginormous bags that weighs about a bagillion pounds. Then we were off to the airport where Andrew and I still needed to re-pack our bags. I claimed that we were not late, we were right on time. We almost became late because we took a zillion years to sort everything and shove it all back into our luggage. I was sprawled out on the airport floor with my bag open and going through all my possessions. But that time was worth it (for me) cause after some re-packing, my bag was not over weight! Hooray! We once again said our goodbyes and started the first installment of security. Never in my life have I beeped going through those detector thing a majigs... But I did. Sigh. First time for everything I suppose. The lady had to extensively pat me down which I have to admit was mildly awkward. I was being frisked. But that was not as awkward as turning around to see this middle aged woman with her pants down. What in the world is this lady doing? But obviously nothing was wrong because no guards were tackling her or anything of that sort. Hmmm. Well at least I didn’t have to take my pants off….. I woulda mooned everyone! My feelings about leaving Germany were neutral. When in Greece and traveling back to Germany, I was definitely ready to return home. But during our last few days, I fell in love with it all over again. I was pondering these thoughts as we had to go through several other metal detectors and check points… I now realize why they want you go be there 3 hours prior to departure if you are going to the United States. I did find out why I beeped the first time. I had a bobbypin in my pocket. But when the first lady “hand metal detectored” me, she didn’t find it. The second time I went through the detectors, it did not beep, but everybody is hand mental detectored and she found the bobby pin… I believe there are some kinks in those systems. They probably just have them to irritate people. We made it to our gate just as they were boarding. Phew! Perfect timing.

We boarded the plane where I had an aisle seat and no one sitting to my left so I was able to stretch out which was fabulous. The best part about these international flights.. MOVIES! I first started Couple’s Retreat and Andrew started the Blind Side. Within 20 minutes of his movie, he tapped my shoulder and said he could have actually cried it he wanted to. I giggled. I finished my movie and started a second but then my tiredness hit me. I am not sure how long I slept but it must have been for quite some time. When I woke up, it hit me that we had really left Germany. I then started to watch the Blind Side. BAD IDEA. Man! That movie is really good but I too could have cried during the beginning! I was already semi-emotional because of the whole leaving Germany thing. I was mad because I was a bit emotional, which made me more emotional because deep down I’m a tad bit emotional when I’m angry. Emotional. Emotional. Emotional. I despise crying, and if I do… it makes me mad.. which makes me cry harder. Sigh. That movie was like adding gasoline to the fire. If I wanted to bawl in that airplane, I could have. But fortunately, I haven’t bawled for a very, very, very long time. Luckily, under normal circumstances, I can control these things so no mental breakdown occurred.. but it made me more tired. We began our descent which meant the movies turned off so I never got to finish my movie. It torked me off which just added to my brew of emotions. I tend to get very motion sickness and this was the worst episode I have ever had on an airplane. I began to feel the beads of sweat pouring and I became nauseous. I then had to start stripping my layers off. A few days before, I had watched the movie French Kiss. Meg Ryan is on a train and she ate a metric ton of cheese but she is lactose intolerant. Now, I realize that I am not lactose intolerant but the point is...we were both nauseous. In the movie, she starts screaming “MUCUS! MUCUS! It’s here. The mucus is coating the intestinal wall. Spasm! Spasm! Not the cow! I just ate that cow!” Off all the things, that is the only part of the movie I could think about. Which made ME think about MY mucus, which made me even more nauseous. Oohhhh boy. Andrew looked over and said, “Baby cuz are you ok?” That would be a negative. I leaned forward and rested my head on the hard screen. My eyes were squeezed shut to block out all the motion… I had to remind myself to breath. Alright its final, I really didn’t want to leave Germany. We landed in Philadelphia and did the whole customs thing. Yah! No longer a fugitive. All of those lines took 20 lifetimes and to top it off, our flight to Seattle was delayed cause they had to fix a seat, or that is what they claim they were doing. We were suppose to arrive in Seattle at 9:02 and Andrew and I still had to catch a flight from Seattle to Spokane. If I miss this flipping flight I am NOT going to be a happy camper. I do not know what is wrong with Philadelphia, but there airport is smoking hot! Holy cow! It’s the 21st century people.. AIR CONDITIONING! I was still nauseous, hot and irritated. After many moons of waiting we were finally able to board. This flight was PACKED. There was no more room so our carry-ons had to be stored with the other baggage. While sitting in my designated spot, I whipped out my German People and Place’s book and started the first part of my final. Productive with an attitude. The plane was late in boarding and it apparently was “rush hour” and we were 15th in line. Rush hour? This isn’t the city peoples, its an AIRPORT! I passed out and didn’t even stir during take off. I awoke, chatted with the gentlemen next to me, finished the first part of my final and was anxious to land in Washington. This flight was one of the longest flights of my life. I didn’t think we were ever going to land.

We finally did land, late as expected. We had 1 ½ hour to get our baggage, go check in, re-check in our baggage, go through security, and get to our plane. Now my mother told me to print my itinerary and I did like an obedient daughter. To bad I did not have the faintest idea as to where it was located. I tore apart my backpack and luggage with no luck. Oh man…. Nicole was NOT a happy camper. All I knew was that we were flying Delta. While I was riffling through my bag, I asked Andrew to go wait in line. As he was standing there, this lady asked him if she put him in that line and he said no. She said he would have to get out because her job is to place people in that line. She was quite nice about it but Andrew had an attitude and responded with a snide comment... which she didn't appreciate.  I just looked at him and almost said something.. but he eventually apologized to the lady and she attempted to help us. After a big, she said she was sorry but we had to get in the line she took us out of. Grrreat. We had to wait in line for what seemed like hours and the clock was ticking. During that wait in line Andrew kept complaining about the rule of 50 pounds in your baggage and I blew up. Yes, I did make a scene in an airport. And yes, people were staring. I was annoyed and wanted him to shut up. During our whole time in Europe we’ve had many minor hissy fits and one minor argument, but nothing ever huge. I had never complained about his crying and moaning about things, but that streak came to an end. Ooo this one was real. We were screaming at each other. I told Andrew to stop talking and he responded with he will say whatever he wanted to say. I then proceeded to tell him he can go talk over there (my finger was pointed to a place, far, far, away.) After more words were exchanged over the next few minutes, and as more people began to stare, Andrew basically told me to calm down and stop making a scene. I quietly told him that I was sorry (kind of), to please shut up, and I turned around with no intention of turning back. Silence.. thank the Lord! My nauseousness was coming back. I wanted to cry.. I did cry. Tears were streaming down my cheek. My face was red and I could feel my eyes beginning to puff. The lady (customer) in front of us at the counter heard the whole thing turned around and smiled at me, giving me a reassuring look. That was helpful.. I knew I was right.

After all that waiting it was finally our turn and we were told we had to go Alaskan Airlines. You’ve GOT to be kidding me. We then got there, and the attendant was like “You are going on the 11:00 p.m. flight!” Yes I know we are late, thank you captain obvious. She was not very nice. In the beginning she made it sound like she wasn’t going to let us board the plane. She decided to but said out baggage wouldn’t make it there until the following day. Fine with me, I just wanted to get to Spokane. Andrew’s bag was over weight by a couple pounds and he had an “episode”. Oh man that really torked her off. He made the argument that the same weight would be on the plane, whether or not he moved some stuff to his carry-on. She then told him that it the bag was over 50 pounds, 2 men would have to pick up the bag. He looked her in the eye, and picked up his bag with one hand. That was it, she started shaking her head at us, telling us she didn’t deserve this and she didn’t have to let us on the plane. For a second, I honestly thought she wasn’t going to let us get on. She just kept repeating that she didn't have to let us on while she fervently typed on her computer. I wanted to pretend like I didn’t know him but he was part of my ticket so I had to claim him. It's a good thing we had last names or else she probably would have thought we were married. He had to pay $50 extra dollars which made matters even worse. I was SOOO mad at him. I apologized for him and it turns out my bag was a couple of pounds over but she told ME she would let it slide. Haha. That is what you get for being NICE! I could have killed Andrew. I could feel the tears welling up but this time, I refused to let them loose. She told us we would have to run to catch the plane. Step 2: That went fairly quickly and then I sprinted to D7. I wasn’t going to wait for Andrew so I left him in my dust. Keep in mind that through security and looking for my itinerary, I tore apart all of my carry-ons and it was one big mess. The flight attendant wouldn’t let me board without fixing my stuff and combining it to "2 carry-ons". I tried to explain why it was a big mess and said it really did all fit but that was a no-go. That is where I lost it. I was out in the hall outside of the plane cramming my stuff back into my bag. I had some speck of thought that the plane would still leave me while I was standing right next to it. Andrew came and was nice enough to help and put some stuff in his laptop case. We don’t have to like each other but we still love each other. I then boarded the plane while giving a flight attendant a nasty look and showing him my TWO  Our seats had been next to each other but a couple wanted to sit by one another so Andrew sat in a different seat, which was probably good. Unfortunately, on the plane I lost my bearings and began to cry for the fourth time. Why? I do not know. I was on the plane heading to Spokane. All was well. My eyes turned to fountains. BLASTED! I freaking hate crying. Yes, hate is a strong word. Not only do I hate it, I entirely loathe it. The lady felt bad for taking his seat but I turned to her and said “Its ok, he is my cousin and I did NOT want to sit next to him.” Our 50 minute flight was a breeze compared to the rest of our trip and we landed in Spokane, Washington with my dad, mom, and aunty Deb outside the gate with their cameras. Once the hugs were exchanged Andrew gave me a hand-hug. All was well.

Fugitive Diaries: Day 12 & 13

I awoke in a room and not a train compartment. Bliss…Minus the fact that I woke up at 5:00 a.m. I was able to fall asleep for a short while longer but that didn’t last long. I knew Andrew wouldn’t even begin to stir until noon. Luckily, there were about a zillion movies which were alphabetically organized calling my name. It just so happens that I had previous knowledge of this little collection of movies and was quite excited to veg. All it took was tiptoeing through the kitchen to the door, opening the door, through the hall, another door, and BAM, there was the living room. Right when I walked through the arch way I looked to my left and the name Doris Day caught my attention. Old movies, splendid. Those movies consumed my morning. A picnic had been placed into the agenda for the evening which was accompanied by a bike ride. I had noticed that my glutemous maximus was a little tender.  The moment I sat down on the bike seat everything clicked. Blasted bikes from the previous day! Enough to say, the buns were soar. We went on a short ride to a location by a creek surrounded by trees and dirt roads. The one food product I had consumed the most was dill pickles. Not just any pickles, but Vlasic dill pickles. Yes, Sam. I thought of you the entire time.  We enjoyed our little picnic and packed up to return to the apartment. We were on bikes with baskets… which automatically triggers thoughts of the Sound of Music. A few bars were hummed and Andrew and I got to racing. Weird. We know. He was ahead of me and wouldn’t let me pass. Weird again. For a nano-second he wasn’t paying attention so I thought I would seize that opportunity. Unfortunately, he snapped back into reality and tried to cut me off. Keep in mind that we are on a dirt road. I had to swerve to the right so our tires wouldn’t collide. My tires skidded in the dirt and I ate it hard core in the field to the right of us. There was zero grace in this wreck. Zip. Zero. Nada. Ouch. The only positive thing that came out of this “accident” was that Andrew actually felt sorry and apologized. Whoa baby! An apology. Haha. Sucker. I probably should have been mad… but I wasn’t. Mildly torked…but not mad. At least my wounds drew blood. Battle wounds. I told him a little quote about payback in which he accepted. This payback has yet to be executed.. but the opportunity will present it self in the near future… We had extra bread in which we fed the mallards. Top favorite things to do: Feed Ducks. Why? I haven’t the faintest idea… I just enjoy it. When we got back, Kelley was a nurse and doctored my “owies.” I was a big girl and didn’t cry. I was rewarded with a gummy candy. Yes. I later did discover a bruise the size of Alabama on my thigh. Fantastic….

The next morning was basically a déjà vu of the previously morning…. Including Ms. Day and Mr. Hudson. Such a shame he is gay because he is SMOKIN. Quite unfortunate. I also observed dozens of photo albums within the book shelves. What is the purpose of photo albums if they are not looked at? Nothing. So I thought I would give them some attention. Chuckles. I love pictures.  Instead of a picnic, the consummation of ice cream and Italian food took place. Not any old Italian food, but the best calzone in the entire world! Before the calzone was ordered and digested, we played miniature golf. I have never, ever played mini-golf in my life. I normally despise participating in activities in which I am not good at. But even though I was quite horrible, it was actually fun. I did cheat once. Shhhh. The best part was watching Kelley beat Andrew. Muah ah ah ah ah. Later that night I had realized that I did not know anything about our flight from Seattle to Spokane since my mom had purchased the ticket. I gave her a little jingle and she sent me our itinerary. She demanded that I print it out and have it with me. I obeyed and did exactly what she told me to do. Gold star to me. Kelley was taking us to the airport the next day. No more trains, sweet. I had thought our flight left at 12:45. Wrong-o! Good thing I checked or else we really would have been super, super fugitives. That was our final night in Germany. On our journey from Greece to Germany, Drew and I were quite ready to return home to Whitman County life. But being back in Germany once again revived the feelings of not wanting to leave.

Fugitive Diaries: Day 11

Familiarity. The Muchen Bahnhof. Many memories were made here which I will never forget. Thank the Lord we made it in one piece. A multitude of problems could have occurred on our trip, in which they did not. And for that, I thank God. At that point, we only had to travel a short distance to Amberg, where I would fully be relieved. But, in the meantime, we had to purchase our tickets. We had 40 minutes until our train left. Perfect timing. We boarded a typical German train and re-traced our steps back through Regensburg and forward on to Amberg. The ticket we bought was the Bayern pass, which was the only ticket we had ever purchased for traveling within Bavaria. As the lady came around checking tickets, she brought to our attention that this ticket was no good. Blasted! We have heard this response before. I had completely forgotten that the ticket would not be effective until 9:00 a.m. She made us buy separate one-way tickets to Amberg which were quite pricy. To tell you the honest truth, I could have really cared less because I was so thrilled we were almost to our final destination. But Andrew was TORKED. We all know how Andrew’s moods go and it was a high degree. His moods are a zillion times worse than mine. He has anger issues. I at least try to be slightly courteous to others when I am in a mood. I become even more sarcastic than I already am. But oh man. I did not want to become an accelerant to his anger so I excused myself to use the restroom and returned at my own leisure. If that was the worst thing that had happened to us on our little jaunt south and back north, I was a-o-k with that. We went through Regensburg where Andrew and I both longingly stared out of the window at the station which we departed the train countless times. Regensburg had become our home, our group had become our family, and “Old School Sista” had become our Guardian Angel. Andrew really wanted to stop there or at least go back within the next couple of days. To be blunt, I did not. I knew it was never going to be the same and I wasn’t about to pretend that it would be. I did not want to re-visit the sadness of our last day, which would continue to haunt me. I developed a particular feeling in the pit of my stomach which is unsettling. As the train began to slowly accelerate toward Amberg, my heartbreak remained but a blanket of relief slowly sheathed me. Amberg. As Andrew and I would quote from Dumb and Dumber.. “We’re there!” 

We entered the station and slumped onto the bench. I hadn’t showered in 3-4 days, I was famished, and tired.. but I didn’t care because “WE WERE THERE!!” I looked straight forward and it was a sign from God: R-O-O-T-B-E-E-R. I couldn’t believe it. I marched my hiney straight into that store and bought myself a can. I noticed some computers and I figured I should probably check my e-mail to see if Kelley had said anything. German keyboards are stupid. At one point, I accidentally turned on the caps locks and hadn’t the faintest idea on how to take if off. I felt like an idiot. I finally resulted in beckoning Andrew for his help. I felt like I was just learning how to type. I had my two pointer fingers erected with the rest of my fingers formed in a fist. I stared at the keyboard and was searching for the letters and symbol I needed… typing at a record speed of 5 words per minutes. I not only felt like an idiot, but I looked like one too. I got the information I needed and let Andrew have his turn. I bee-lined for my seat at our bench and it wasn’t 2 seconds before Andrew came out asking where the “@” was. Chuckles.  I called Kelley and no answer. Andrew then whipped out his computer to play Free Cell and I retrieved my book for its second time through. It wasn’t after I had read a dozen pages and whhabang! Kelley appeared out of thin air. I just stared blankly at her because #1 I had never gotten a hold of her to tell her we arrived and 2. I hadn’t seen a person I recognized in ages. Yah! She then took us to her homey apartment where I took a shower and she made us a feast of FRENCH TOAST. Yes. I said French Toast! Not only French toast, but bacon, eggs, strawberries AND Nesquik chocolate milk (Which is the second next best thing next to Rootbeer). Holy Moly. We felt like royalty and ate like champs. We were basically exhausted and to top it off, now full. Andrew and I picked a movie to watch and got comfortable. I am notorious for falling asleep during movies and this situation wasn’t any different. I watched about 2 minutes of the movie before my eye lids fell down in exhaustion. Later that afternoon, we were introduced to Arthur and Emma (2 of the neighbor kids), rode bikes, played FIRE, and visited the coolest playground EVER. I haven’t ridden a bike in eons. I had a popsicle in one hand while attempting to steer with the other. I was getting awfully close to the fence and out of habit I started to peddle backwards because we were moving slowly. Well.. I had not yet discovered that peddling backwards is the brake. Wham! Fence! Whoopsie. Nicole apparently cannot ride a bike anymore. Chuckles. It was funny. 

I now must explain this game “FIRE”. From what I am told, this ridiculous game is derived straight from the imaginations of Kelley and her sister when they were children. You are riding a bike. Once a car comes, you need to maneuver your bike to a fence, hold onto the fence with one hand, stretch your other arm toward the sky, and stick your feet straight out. Other than your buns, no body part can touch the bike. If any part of your body is touching the bike while the car passes, you get burned… hence the name “FIRE.” Strike 1. 3 strikes and you are out! I do not know why, but for some reason putting my body in that position gives me a cramp in my hips!! Pain. But it entertained us for quite some time. And at this playground, Andrew and I had the same, if not more fun than the kids did. Emma and I took off our shoes and played in the water while Arthur and Andrew scooped dirt. And then at another stop, there was this giant pyramid shaped structure that is strung together. You are able to climb from the top and throughout this jungle gym, they have small platforms which resemble miniature trampolines. F.U.N. Shortly after return, we ate some BBQ at Orr Central with Jerry. Mmmm. BBQ & French Toast in the same day. My stomach was about to explode. The rest of the night was filled with relaxation and eventually sleep. The sleep part was exciting because I was in a bed where I didn’t have to worry about anyone jacking my stuff. Sweet dreams were sure to come.