ithaca trip part 1
21 April 2025
As I'm writing this, I'm in the middle of spring break, and I'm feeling that familiar buzz of tired-but-motivated I can only get after I've been away from work for a few days. I decided earlier this year that I would drive up to Ithaca to visit my brother and his wife, and I'm so glad I did--not only did I have fun with them, but I came home feeling really inspired. Amazing how only three days away can make such a difference!
Since they both had to work Friday, I decided to start driving up late in the morning so that I could meet them at their office. I spent the morning cleaning and packing, taking my time, then hit the road around 1000. Not even 20 minutes into my drive, a bent and coiled bit of iron rod bounced out from the semi-truck in front of me and wound up stuck under my car, immediately causing some very concerning sounds and scaring the shit out of me. I pulled over, told my brother I probably wouldn't be able to make it to see him, and tried not to scream. For better or wrose, the more hopeless a situation seems, the faster I shutdown emotionally, so I never actually got into freak-out mode. I called my mom (she was home, thankfully), called AAA, and tried reel-in the catastrophizing before it got out of control. Long-story short, to borrow a line from my mother, the universe really wanted me to go to Ithaca: the tow-truck came in record time, the mechanic wasn't busy, and, somehow, that twisted hunk of metal didn't cause any meaningful damage to my car. The girl at the front desk told me to play the lottery when I picked it up. Instead, I gambled with the interstate highway system.
I do not regeret hitting the road and resuming my trip as soon as I got the go-ahead from my mechanic; in hindsight, however, I kind of wish I had taken a second to get some food, or had gotten a coffee or something before I set out. Because of the whole emotional shutdown thing, whenever I go through something super stressful, I usually crash really hard a few hours later. Unfortunately, I knew this would happen while I was driving, and it did, resulting in me shoving granola bars in my mouth while feeling sick, having a headache, and driving up and down mountains. I managed to get to their house by 1730, only an hour later than I had originally planned. We got Japanese food, bopped around the local dead mall, and got dessert: ice cream for them, bubble tea for me. Then I slept for 9 hours.
Continued in part 2...
