Well, the day is finally here. My bags are packed, and I'm ready to hit the road. I left Norman yesterday, after saying goodbye to a lot of people. I left feeling good, but also sad. No need to repeat what has already been said though. On Friday, I had a last dinner at Pepe Delgados and hung out with my close friends one last time. The day before that I had a lunch with all of my crossroads buds. So that made me feel happy, like I had left on a good note.
Saturday, I woke up later than I wanted. Originally I planned on waking up at 8 am, so that way I could get to the bank on time in Ponca City before they closed at noon, and I would close my savings account there since I wouldn't be using it anymore. But instead, I woke up at 9, and it took me about an hour to put all the stuff in my car and get ready. I didn't even have time to tidy up the house, so now my brother has to do that. F**k the deposit is what I say. They never fixed the flooding problem, AND there are plants growing out of the corner of the wall. They changed managers every month, it seemed like, so we could never get anything done. No matter how many times we went to them, nothing got done. Sure, they were cheap, and close to the school, and there was free internet, but apartment number 11 was inexcusable. Keys West Apartments that is. Don't get apartment 11 everyone. They can clean the mess if they want.
So I left Norman at around 10:15, and as I got closer and closer to Ponca City, the time was getting nearer to 12 pm. I sped going about 85 towards the end. When finally I reached Ponca, I had about 10-15 minutes to get to the bank which was on the other side of town. So there I am, driving impatiently, behind slow drivers. I had about four minutes left, and I was about 1 mile away. Suddenly, and I'm driving down prospect, the railroad crossing begins to flash, and the stops come down! I'm just thinking "WHAT?" Of all the times, it had to be now! The cars ahead of me begin to slow down, so I have to also. I never made it on time. I got to the bank at 12:10, and they had already closed all the drive-up lanes.
LUCKILY, later that day, I went to my aunts house to say bye to her and my uncle. My dad met me there after he got off work at 2:30, and gave me some money. I asked what it was for, and he replied that 2 days ago he had closed my bank account. I was thinking "whathe, you could do that?" He said that the bank people were dumb and don't check that much into the name, and he and I share the same first name, just different middle names. So my account is closed, and I got my money after all. The morning stress was for naught.
At my aunts house, she cooked some lunch and we ate. It was a good feeling moment, as I have not seen them for a long time, and also back then I never talked that much. But now after I got some new experiences at college, I had stuff to talk about and the conversations didn't feel so one-sided. That's a moment I'll remember for a long time. We talked about driving in the weather, braceros, non-Mexican Latin Americans and their different Spanish accents, other peoples who look Mexican, and I showed them my macbook, which my aunt and dad helped pay for, and they were amazed. My dad and uncle liked the... I forgot the exact name, but it's the new world baseball championships, where different countries play against each other, I showed them the website and schedule for next year. I showed them Google Earth; they really liked that. They were amazed that they could see their hometown, and pictures of it even though it was a very small town (Mazapil, Zacatecas). We looked at my brother and my sister's birthplace (Moses Lake, and Monterrey), we couldn't find mine though, the exact hospital, that is. We looked at Matamoros, a stadium in Torreon, and I showed them where I lived in Norman. All in all, we had a good time, and I'm glad I saw them before I moved. Later on my cousin showed up, and his parents, and I had a long talk with my cousin, and then said bye. We're going to vacation in Mexico next year (hopefully, if I can find a job by then and have enough money by then).
After that, I went to my sister's and her boyfriend's place, and we exchanged Christmas gifts. I got a digital camera! Now I can document the trip in photo form! I'm excited about that, thanks Ixchel (if you read this). We got some dinner after that at a Mexican restaurant, and that was pretty good. After playing with her pets for a little bit, and our extended goodbyes, I finally went to my dad's house to sleep. So I slept, and now I'm ready to rearrange some stuff in my car, hopefully I can have more room in there, we'll see. It's about 8 am now.
Originally, I planned on taking the northern route, through Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc... But the weather has not been so good up there. I was still planning on going, but my mom and dad would rather me take another route. Now I'm going through I-40, which goes through Arkansas,and some other states, and passes through... drumroll please... the Appalachian Mountains! So I'm excited about seeing some mountains and sights along the way. My dad recommended another route yesterday evening, after talking to a friend about the snow around those areas. The other route would have me go around the mountains, and it would take some more time. I think I'll take the second route. I yearn for adventure. This route takes 24 hours, as opposed to the northern route which takes 22. Two hour difference, not bad.
Alright, I'm going to go get ready. By the way, my dad has no internet connection, so I have to wait until I get to a place with wifi. So by the time this gets posted, I'll be on the road already. Time to get out of bed and hit the road. I'll take pictures too, like I said.
-Leo
