Departure: Ithaca
Freshman year was a trip and a half. I can’t believe it’s over already. To the friends I’ve made: I can’t wait to see you next semester. To the friends I’ll see soon, I can’t wait to spend the summer with you. This is it. We start loading the car around 10 a.m. Within the hour, my walls and furniture are blank. It’s an odd feeling standing in a room that you know you’ll never be so comfortable in again. I hugged my roommate goodbye (shout out to Meredith for not killing me this year) and began to drive south.
1 Hour: Spencer, New York
New York is filled with little towns like this — mom and pop shops, tiny diners, a few street lamps burning out. It’s wild to think that there are people who live in places like Spencer. I couldn’t imagine living in an area so tiny. The small town scenery doesn’t last long and we’re back in the valley before we know it with miles of trees ahead of us.
3 Hours: Sayre, Pennsylvania
The minute I get into Pennsylvania I want to leave. There are farms and weird Dandy gas stations every half a mile and ice cream shops everywhere. It’s freaking me out. It feels so "Children of the Corn" here.
4 Hours: Elmira, New York
We turned around. Pennsylvania is mad weird. We’re staying away. My dad and I stop at this '50s style diner called Classic Cafe. It’s quirky inside. I got the crispy chicken sandwich with french fries. If you’re ever over there, I recommend trying their chocolate chip cookies.
6 Hours: Halfway to Canada
Welp, we made a wrong turn. We’re on 390 when we’re supposed to be on 36 or something. My dad thinks we should stop in Canada, and I’d be all for it if we had our passports. We found a detour and we’re going to try to get back on 36, though. At this rate I wonder if we’ll ever even make it out of New York.
9 Hours: “Southern Tier Region” (I-80)
What is this place?
10 Hours: Cleveland, Ohio
We booked it to Ohio. It’s stale here. I’ve never been inside the city of Cleveland before, but we made a pit stop here and it seems really sketchy. The gas station is called, "The Road Kill Cafe," and that just epitomizes everything that is Ohio.
11 Hours: Toledo, Ohio
Holy Toledo, will we ever make it home? Probably not. I’m going to die on this highway. RIP.
13 Hours: Gary, Indiana
There is absolutely nothing here. I hate Indiana. Get me out of this state. It’s been pouring rain for a few hours now, off and on from little dribbles to ocean currents crashing into the windshield.
