Pennsic or Bust ’03

So the plan all along was for me to leave for Pennsic on Day 0, Friday. As time passed, it morphed into me leaving on Day 0, spending the night at Ari’s in King of Prussia, and then leaving before dawn on Saturday to arrive noontime on landgrab Saturday. I had also planned on borrowing the Pathfinder to drive down, as my car was having some problems that left me with doubt as to whether it would make the trip to Pennsic or not.

The day before I left, my mother informed me that she would need the Pathfinder while I was away, and would not let me drive it to Pennsic. So, in a mad rush, I managed to rent this sweet little Grand Am with automatic everything and a CD player. I was in heaven just with the knowledge that I could avoid switching radio stations every ten minutes due to crappy signals.

On Day 0, I got a later start than the expected 11am, thanks to my mother demanding all manner of things from me. In reality, I managed to get out the door at 2pm. I filled up the gas tank and was on my way. I made pretty good time up until New York when I hit three hours of traffic right before the George Washington Bridge.

After I got through that, it was smooth sailing. I stopped once more for gas and then drove straight to Ari’s house. I was too excited to stop for food. Pennsic took over my body.

I arrived around 8 or 9pm to warm welcomes from James, Anna, and Ari’s older sister Robin and Robin’s boyfriend (whose name alludes me at the moment). Ari had not gotten home from the LARP camp she had been at in Mass for two weeks, so we all sat around and I had time to catch up with James. I also was in heaven when I discovered that there were ten kittens frequenting the house at the time… Ten kittens just old enough to have their eyes open and wander about, mewling with their heartbreakingly adorable kitten voices. I was just content with the kitty love I was subject to.

While Robin and her boyfriend cooked dinner, James, Anna, and I had our own drug-less trip by turning off the living room lights and waving around a red LED light that flashed in a strobe-like manner. And that’s what we were doing when Ari walked in the door around 11pm or so.

It was a joyous homecoming. I couldn’t help but be surprised at how much Ari had changed. I mean, Ari had always been pretty… but int he year since I last saw her, she seemed to blossom… I could see how much she had matured. She had outgrown me by a few inches, and I swear she had lost some weight, though she had never been overweight in the first place. She was beautiful, and I was happy for her. She was also beautiful inside.. she seemed happier than how I remembered her, and that was good.

Since dinner wasn’t ready, we decided to drive to some store called Wawa (odd name for a store, isn’t it?). So I got in the car and drove the four of us to Wawa. Definitely a weird store… I think it had practically anything you could want in it. And it’s just like a gas station store in size. I wound up buying cigarettes, Altoids, some chips and a cookie. Yum.

Since there were some odd little teenyboppers in the parking lot, we drove to a nearby park to hangout and eat our goodies. While James went to his house (for whatever reason), Anna, Ari and I found a swingset and were swinging for awhile. When James came back, we headed to Ari’s for dinner.

Anna, Ari and I all slept in the basement that night. Originally, I tried sleeping in the computer chair with my feet propped on the computer desk, but after a few hours, with my legs asleep, I moved to the floor and just passed out. When we woke up at ten the next morning (a far cry from the before-dawn I had hoped for), I was well-rested and eager to get going.

We helped Ari’s mom pack their car and then, around one, we were on our way. Anna rode with Ari’s mom while Ari rode with me. We listened to Rent and Chicago and Pink and.. everything.. on our way. We sang at the tops of our lungs. We stopped at a rest stop and had ice cream. Life was good.

Yet this bliss could not last. As I entered a work zone (where no one was working, by the way), I had been going 80. I started to apply the brake when Ari said “cop!” But it was too late. The antlers turned on and I was caught, along with the car behind me. That little stint cost me $162. I was a wreck, and panicked for awhile, as I lacked sufficient funds to pay for the ticket. Luckily, a call to Cory saved me.. he told me to send him the ticket and he’d pay for it. I’d pay him back when I could.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. When we were within ten miles of Pennsic, we screamed at the top of our lungs at every mile marker. The whole way up Currie Road, we were screaming. I had to concentrate just to keep my hands on the wheel instead of throwing them up in happiness.

I was home.