On The Write Path

Road Trip 1872 (plus 100 years) [ASR]

I was in deep anguish at a school in the Great Lakes. I will not mention it. I despised my roommate; the feeling was mutual. I couldn't drop out unless I wanted a one-way ticket to Viet Nam. My draft number was #49. I was a goner. I decided to switch schools.

I had been invited to visit Yale that January (my only stay in Connecticut) and I knew I wanted to move to a university that was a ... university. I voraciously consumed college brochures. Oh, how naive I was!

I told my father I was going to visit Kansas. My parents must've known how desperate I was. I had never been west of Ohio Rte 7.

My father changed his vacation to March and he drove there in the '68 Dodge Polara (a car I really liked). This was special because we weren't that close (my father tried; I was just unreachable).

So... first time: Indiana, flat as a pancake Illinnoy, Misery, to Dorothy's home where the highway signs were marked by sunflowers, then back through Oklahoma, Cotton Plant, ArKansas, loooong Taenihseeee, West VA and the cold cold Spring of the North.

I only got to visit U. Kansas. My father refused to stop when we drove right past U. Tennessee. So with no other option I chose to become a Jayhawk.

I showed up at Kansas University in August. Can't anyone say heat stroke? My family dropped me off while they continued to the Grand Canyon. I've never been there.

This road trip may have saved my life. I couldn't stay where I was in spite of how lovely the region was with it waterfalls and walnut trees, the lovely view of the Beautiful Valley.

My first semester as a Jayhawk was basking in the sun and healing in the warmth of the friendly people that called Kansas their home.

~310 words
Posted in "Blogville " 

2874