After my successes navigating public transportation in Manhattan, I hauled myself and my suitcases down five flights of stairs and proceeded confidently out onto the streets of New York. I proceeded to stand on a variety of street corners for the next THIRTY MINUTES in the pouring down rain and whipping wind, attempting to hail a cab. This endeavour was complicated by a) the weather, b) the fact that rush hour was in full force so cars were crawling by at a turtle's pace, and c) cab drivers are assholes. I eventually made it to Penn Station where I caught the train to Newark and realized that the AMAZING deal I'd gotten on a rental car was at a company located 15 minutes away from the airport. So, I sucked it up, accepted the $25 cancellation fee and got an AWFUL deal at a different company located at Newark.
Only two or so hours behind schedule, I got in my car, and with once again misplaced confidence, set off for the six hour drive from Newark to Stowe, Vermont. When four hours later, I had barely made it past Hartford, I had the sneaking suspicion it was going to take me a bit longer than expected to arrive at my destination. After ten hours in the car, eternally grateful for the fact that I'd stopped at Barnes & Noble for a book on cd, I finally arrived at the house a group of us had booked for the wedding weekend. Fortunately, I made it just in time to drop off my things, and hitch a ride over to the post-rehearsal dinner dinner! My lovely college pal, Melissa, had chosen the charmingly quaint Stowe for her destination wedding, and oh, Vermont, if it didn't get 12 inches of snow in October, I would move there in a heartbeat.
The morning of the wedding, we went out to hit the tourist spots and managed to feed ourselves on a multitude of samples consisting of chocolate, cheese, ice cream, cider donuts, maple fudge and wine. Does that not sound like heaven on earth?? On top of the culinary delights, the leaves were in fact as beautiful as everyone has ever sad they would be. Unfortunately, this dolt forgot to charge her one camera battery, so I wasn't able to capture the most vibrant examples of the Fall colors.
The wedding was positively beautiful, and though I started out not knowing a single other person there, by the end of my weekend I had met so many amazing people and had an incredible time both on and off the dance floor! The morning after the wedding, I dragged my hungover butt out of bed at the crack of dawn and once more began the epic journey through New England. Fortunately, it turned out that a huge reason the traffic was so miserable on my way up was that many roads had been closed and traffic diverted onto the interstate due to heavy rain and flooding. So, my trip back down only took seven hours. Only.
It was a long flipping day, starting out around 8 in the morning with my drive to Newark, a long wait at the airport, a connection in Charlotte, but I FINALLY made it back to Charleston at midnight. And had a flat tire.
Fortunately a knight in shining armor, in the form of roadside assistance, showed up after my mini-breakdown, and I spent the entire next day trying to get my tire and oil changed. Then I did a quick load of laundry, packed my bags one more time and hit the road the following day for the 13 hour drive home to Louisiana. I made it in time for my momsie's birthday and her Pink Party celebrating five years since her breast cancer diagnosis and raising money for breast cancer research. It was a wonderful week spent with family and friends, and I even managed to squeeze in some relaxation. My sister drove back to Charleston with me, and we spent the next few days hitting the highpoints of the lowcountry from the vodka distillery to the haunted jail tour.
When she left on Saturday, I entered into a definite post-whirlwind slump. After three weeks of near constant travel and entertainment, I wasn't entirely sure what to do myself. And then I remembered my DVR queue. And that's pretty much what I've been doing since. Phew! Now, onward!