Today I Had an Adventure
So, hey. Remember the last time I was a Joyful Girl?
Ever since I got here, college has taught me so much and offered me that much more. I think the offers I've learned to appreciate best are the spontaneous ones. Forget the class and the textbooks; college has taught me that sometimes - just every now and then - something will come along when you're least expecting it, and it will be something wonderful.
Sometimes it's the spontaneous decision to institute a family game night on your dorm floor, starting as soon as you think it up, and lasting way, way longer than the hour you promised everyone it would take.
Sometimes it's deciding to go see a free screening of Juno, only to wind up trapped with no where to go as you wait for a bus to come to pick you up while a drunk marine tries to sell you his puppies.
Sometimes it's simply deciding to order take out Chinese three times in a row in one week, and becoming friends with the delivery guy, enough so that he'll get the restaurant to put your order first priority over everyone else.
This morning it was deciding to drive up into the mountains to see the sun rise.
~
My sleeping pattern is hella messed up at the moment. So when I woke up around five this morning, and wandered out into the hall I was surprised to find Shannon up (my surprise lessened when I found out she hadn't been to bed yet). When she asked me if I wanted to go with her to see the sun rise in the mountains, well, surprised would be putting my reaction mildly.
I gawked at her for a bit, and then with the sort of intelligence you'd expect from a person who'd just woken up, questioned dubiously, "... The sun .... rises?"
She just laughed at me and told me she was going to drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway, and look for somewhere cool to park and watch and that I was welcome to come with her. But I had to hurry because she was going to leave in a little bit.
So I thought about it, and I thought to myself, "What the hell?" I couldn't think of a single reason why I shouldn't go. So I asked, "Is it cold out?" She nodded, saying that it did in fact get cold in the mountains in the morning before the sun had rose, and then - remembering where I was - I shrugged that piece of information off. "Whatever, I'm from New England. I'll just take a coat." So I grabbed my coat and threw it over my PJs and we were off.
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a creation of the Great Depression and FDR's New Deal. It came into existence for the sole purpose of giving people work again and I'm grateful for it because for whatever reason - appreciation for having the job in the first place, or just wanting to stretch out the paycheck it provided - the work put into it still shows today. More simply: it's really, really pretty looking. It's mostly, you know, the scenic nature of the, you know, nature, but it's also the way the road was built specifically to enhance your view. You know what else is cool about it?
Like a lot of things on the east coast, the Appalachian Trail goes through it.
Yeah. This morning? This morning I hiked a little of the Appalachian Trail.
As for the sun rise? My crappy camera phone didn't really quite catch the precise hues of "Miami Hot Pink" (as Shanon and I dubbed it) that were on display this morning, but trust me: somehow, when you purposefully set out to see it, it's a way better sight.
It was a good way to start a morning.
Ever since I got here, college has taught me so much and offered me that much more. I think the offers I've learned to appreciate best are the spontaneous ones. Forget the class and the textbooks; college has taught me that sometimes - just every now and then - something will come along when you're least expecting it, and it will be something wonderful.
Sometimes it's the spontaneous decision to institute a family game night on your dorm floor, starting as soon as you think it up, and lasting way, way longer than the hour you promised everyone it would take.
Sometimes it's deciding to go see a free screening of Juno, only to wind up trapped with no where to go as you wait for a bus to come to pick you up while a drunk marine tries to sell you his puppies.
Sometimes it's simply deciding to order take out Chinese three times in a row in one week, and becoming friends with the delivery guy, enough so that he'll get the restaurant to put your order first priority over everyone else.
This morning it was deciding to drive up into the mountains to see the sun rise.
~
My sleeping pattern is hella messed up at the moment. So when I woke up around five this morning, and wandered out into the hall I was surprised to find Shannon up (my surprise lessened when I found out she hadn't been to bed yet). When she asked me if I wanted to go with her to see the sun rise in the mountains, well, surprised would be putting my reaction mildly.
I gawked at her for a bit, and then with the sort of intelligence you'd expect from a person who'd just woken up, questioned dubiously, "... The sun .... rises?"
She just laughed at me and told me she was going to drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway, and look for somewhere cool to park and watch and that I was welcome to come with her. But I had to hurry because she was going to leave in a little bit.
So I thought about it, and I thought to myself, "What the hell?" I couldn't think of a single reason why I shouldn't go. So I asked, "Is it cold out?" She nodded, saying that it did in fact get cold in the mountains in the morning before the sun had rose, and then - remembering where I was - I shrugged that piece of information off. "Whatever, I'm from New England. I'll just take a coat." So I grabbed my coat and threw it over my PJs and we were off.
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a creation of the Great Depression and FDR's New Deal. It came into existence for the sole purpose of giving people work again and I'm grateful for it because for whatever reason - appreciation for having the job in the first place, or just wanting to stretch out the paycheck it provided - the work put into it still shows today. More simply: it's really, really pretty looking. It's mostly, you know, the scenic nature of the, you know, nature, but it's also the way the road was built specifically to enhance your view. You know what else is cool about it?
Like a lot of things on the east coast, the Appalachian Trail goes through it.
Yeah. This morning? This morning I hiked a little of the Appalachian Trail.
As for the sun rise? My crappy camera phone didn't really quite catch the precise hues of "Miami Hot Pink" (as Shanon and I dubbed it) that were on display this morning, but trust me: somehow, when you purposefully set out to see it, it's a way better sight.
It was a good way to start a morning.