the drive to Clemson .

As per the usual plan, I began my drive down to Clemson around midnight. I slept from 5pm to 11pm or so, and finished up the last few items to pack and toss in my truck (more like carefully play Tetris with my luggage and numerous boxes). I was ready for the long haul. The day started well, with a Wawa hoagie to put in a little cooler and a quart of iced tea lemonade. I was making great time, flying through Pennsylvania on the PA Turnpike. The funny thing about the trip is that you think you're making lots of progress because you pass through a good number of states in a relatively short amount of time (You hit the NJ border, then through PA, then Maryland, West Virginia and into Virginia). Despite the fact that I consider Virginia to be the border of the south, what most don't realize is that once you hit that border, you are in Virginia for FOREVER. You go through the widest part, and so it takes forever and a day to get to North Carolina.


Now, normally, on this drive I stop a good number of times. Twice to eat, once to take a nap, more if I need restroom stops. Of course you have the usual stops for gas in there. But for whatever reason, I was feeling great. Around 6am I did get a little bit tired, but I pulled over to eat half of my Wawa sub and felt much better. Of course, around 530am I had stopped at Sheetz for gas and coffee (Fun fact; I had never been to a Sheetz before and wanted to try their coffee. It was mediocre. Wawa > Sheetz). So maybe the caffeine was kicking in a bit. Surprisingly, that cup of coffee was the only one I had on the whole trip.

I made unusually good time. The traffic was not bad at all, the weather was pristine (and even somewhat cool, which was great) and I didn't get lost at all. Everything went completely according to plan. I had left around 1230am, which was about when I left Wawa after going there from my house. So I sort of consider that the start of the trip. Several stops for gas, and one to eat something, and I was in Clemson (or Seneca, where I am living) at 1245pm. I was amazed it was that short. But, I was also thankful that I didn't run into any issues. I was happy my car did well to (with a trip that long, you never know).

Clemson is about 750 miles from my home in New Jersey. Almost on the dot. It's amazing you can cover that kind of ground in one day, in the same way that you can fly halfway around the world in a day. You can wake up one day in Europe, and that same morning, be back in the states. Between cars, trains and planes, it's truly amazing what you can do in a day!

With all that being said, I'm here down in Clemson for... dun dun dun... Senior year. The time has truly flown by. But I'm ready for the last one!