Road Tripping

Every great road trip is fueled by three things: sugar, coffee, and good music (and good friends, but that's a given).

I love these things. They happen every day. Photo credit: Anna Nelson
(I was driving and commanded her to take a picture w/my camera.)

For this little summer adventure, Anna and I decided to head west to Omaha and Sioux Falls to visit our friends Zoë and Rebecca. We got going around eight on Friday, heading southwest with a beautifully distracting sunset in our eyes and Omaha on our GPS. Omaha is five-ish hours away from Saint Pete so our e.t.a. was one am, food stops and road construction notwithstanding.

I'd just come back from a relaxing weekend up north with Anna and some other friends currently in MN, but this trip was a great way to see some more "far away" college faces in the summertime (granted, Nebraska and South Dakota aren't too far away, but this definition varies inversely with gas prices. As gas prices increase, the amount of miles required to be "far away" decreases rapidly.).

Anyway, not many people were heading to Omaha on Friday night from the cities (SURPRISE!), so for most of the drive it seemed as if we were venturing into a black hole, having come from a black hole. One Oreo blizzard, root beer, bag of ritz chips, zebra cake, and peanut-butter chocolate chip cookie later, we arrived in Omaha. The next day we hit the town, wandering through some eclectic shops in the city and an area Zoë dubbed "hipster row". This block included an independent record label founded by Conor Oberst (of the indie rock band Bright Eyes), an independent coffee shop, Urban Outfitters, and a concert venue for smaller acts. Need I say more?

Act casual.

Downtown was filled with people for some sort of children's street party/festival, and just many humans in general - for good reason too; the weather was beautiful. Sunny and low 70's, a pretty mild day considering Nebraska's typical heat. We ended the day with some delicious late night sushi. The place was packed so we opted for the chilly outdoor seating. Being a bit cold even in my million-percent cotton sweatshirt, I didn't envy the bachelorette party we saw roaming the streets in short skirts and sleeveless tops. The next day we made a short trip down to Lincoln to visit Anna's friend Katie. She took us on a mini tour of the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, where we stopped at the Dairy Store to enjoy some freshly made ice cream.

The girl in question. Photo credit: Zoë May

We woke on a drizzly Monday determined to hit the famous Omaha Zoo. And so we did. Small children roamed everywhere, my favorite being a young girl who made it her mission to hug every goat in the Petting Zoo. She succeeded in adorable fashion. We spent most of the day at the zoo, seeing pretty much every single animal. My favorite parts were, predictably, the monkeys and gorillas. Later that evening we went to a bridge spanning two states, where you can have one foot in Nebraska and one foot in Iowa, befriended a segway security guard on said bridge, and ate some delicious 50¢ doughnuts.

On Tuesday, Anna and I hit the road bound for Sioux Falls. Rebecca was free for the afternoon and we'd already decided to hit up the local juice shop upon another friend's recommendation. Jamba Juice has nothing on this place. Seriously, look at the extensive MENU. In the face of so many options, I turned to Rebecca's expertise and ordered a Sticky Wicket (bananas, raspberries, strawberries, lime sherbet, and raspberry juice).

JUICE. Essentially a full meal.

The Juice Stop seems like mainly a Midwest thing, with stores in Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota. The next logical option is clearly Minnesota (hint hint). We wandered downtown for awhile with our massive smoothies until it was time for Rebecca to work. Anna and I then paid Anna's grandma a surprise visit, since she lives in Sioux Falls. She was delighted. It's amazing how small things, such as dropping by for a 20-minute conversation, can have such large effects on someone's day. The little things matter.

In other news, time has yet again slipped away to reveal a new month. I have some fairly average plans for August, but stay tuned for a new blog layout and/or website, maybe. Apparently my brother has been awesomely working on something for it.
 

Enjoy the last month of summer. 

I'm looking forward to the cool air of Autumn.

Potpourri

Yesterday night I was watching North and South, the BBC's awesome adaption of Elizabeth Gaskell's novel, and heard a small nagging voice in the back of my head. I know this place, I thought, as the female protagonist meandered her way through a field overlooking the fictitious industrial city of "Milton". I know those steps, I thought, as the male protagonist sprinted down a narrow dark alleyway filled with stairs.

Upon looking up filming locations, I was right. The grassy area was Calton Hill, which offers a spectacular view of Edinburgh on non-misty days. The production crew used CGI to dot the landscape with 19th century smokestacks to keep the city in character. The steps were Warriston's Close, which were just as creepy at night in real life as they were in the film (almost as creepy as the nearby "Fleshmarket Close"). I've been back from Edinburgh for only a month and a half, but the experience already seems half a world away (see, it's funny because Edinburgh IS half a- yeah.)

I came back on May 26th, and on May 27th went down to Gustavus to visit friends who were still suffering through taking finals. The moment I stepped onto campus, I caught sight of a student rushing lately across the sidewalk (someone whom I'd often seen running around), and instantly I knew nothing had changed. That realization can be either reassuring or frightening; I still haven't figured out which.

After a week at home, I moved down to Gustavus to start working full time for Tech Services. Coming back to a familiar job with friendly faces was a nice thing to have. There are so many things I love about this job, but honestly, one of the best parts is the time from 8:00 am to 8:15 am. It's our little 'free time' before our daily meeting, which I use to peruse news sites and stories from across the world. When you're at college or university, it's so easy to get caught up in your own bubble of life that you forget about the other ~195 countries in the world (not to mention the events happening in your own country). But in the summer, I find that fifteen minutes is all it takes. It's nice (and sometimes not so nice) to know what's going on in this crazy world.

This post was so random that it doesn't really deserve a title and it's almost time for our daily Jeopardy watching at work. Ben is on a mad winning streak of $150k+. If you were wondering. Bye.