11/24

The ride to Michigan - Everything went off without a hitch. Mostly. Our ride picked us up, after we grabbed a handful of free pancakes from the hostel and, lucky us, one of the people our ride was supposed to pick up was ill, so Sav and I got the backseat of this spacious SUV to ourselves. The driver wound up actually being a man who I had met at Beaner's on several occasions! What a small world! The woman we picked up used to be a D.J. but now does music for movies and for radio commercials.
We were all set to go when the engine began to steam. Our driver had to borrow a pair of pliers to pull a tiny wire which would pop his hood, because the handle was gone. We just parked and let it cool down, and once all was well, we headed east.
It was a perfectly uneventful ride, filled with daydreans of NOLA and Nora and catching favorite songs on the radio interspersed with awful Christmas music (because awful is the only kind of Christmas music). We passed through Scranton as we faded in and out of sleep and I wished we could stop, but the two up front were too involved in conversation and I was ready for a real bed.
Then we were there. It was positively surreal. For years this was my home and almost nine months had passed since I'd seen this city's face. Sure, nine months isn't a long time, but when you've only been alive for 21 years, that's a good chunk of time.
Eva and Steve welcomed us with open arms and their miniature dogs welcomed us like two tiny car alarms. We spent a good three hours catching up and positively passed out. It feels good to be back.