first things first, I must thank Chad, Jesse, and Nicole for letting me come and hang out with them while I meandered about. I had a great time hanging out with you, as well as Heather, who probably won't even read this, so thanking her becomes futile.
* Drove all day Saturday, stopped for the night in western West Virginia (can't remember the town, somewhere near Charleston I think).
* Met up with Chad Sunday afternoon, went out for steak, hung out with his friends watching Doggett's Happy Polish Sausage Fun Hour and mocking the current state of Fox television.
* Planned to drive through DC Sunday night and meet up with Heather the next morning, ended up finding it too difficult to get back onto the highway I wanted in the dark, so I just crashed at a motel and left the Monday morning.
* Got to Baltimore, spent Monday evening at the mall Heather works at while she worked; bought Michael Moore's "Stupid White Men" at a bookstore there.
* Met Heather's friends, generally hung out with people and just enjoyed living in someone else's world for a few days.
* Finished "Stupid White Men" after reading it eagerly for 2 days. Brilliant book. Everyone must buy it now. :)
* Drove on to Harrisburg, PA and hung out with Jesse and Nicole. Went to dinner at Red Lobster with them. Had a good time. Crashed on their futon for the evening (which, btw, was more comfortable than the motel I stayed at in Effingham, IL Saturday night).
I didn't come to any great epiphanies about myself or the universe while gone. I think the lesson of my journey was that daily life can be just as entertaining as planning all sorts of things to do. I had a greater time just enjoying the commonalities between my life and those of the people I visited than I probably would have if it had all been planned out ahead of time.
there's more to be said, but why force more upon you poor people? I've got about 2 hours worth of audio to sift through that I may just transcribe to my journal for those who are interested. then you can hear about the sad faced woman who followed me for 150 miles and whose saddened face and wave as she got off at here exit haunted me for the rest of the trip.