How do you make a best friend in a week? Drive across the country... then move to an island together! That's exactly what Morgan and I just did! I first met Morgan when I visited her in Massachusetts and our personalities just clicked. We toured Amesbury with Christy (another wonderful fellow volunteer) and then had a girls night where we stayed up late learning each other's life stories—the ups, downs, and boy drama of course. The whole time I couldn't help but think "this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." One night I was texting Morgan when she mentioned how she was driving from Colorado to Massachusetts. She kinda jokingly/kinda seriously asked if I wanted to join... it was 2am and I said "hell yeah!" I booked a flight to Denver and that was that. Many of my best life decisions have been made spur of the moment at 2am. February 22nd was my last day of work... very bittersweet because a great chapter of my life was ending as a new one was beginning. On the 23rd I went to Philadelphia to meet up with two other volunteers David & Jen. We toured Independence Hall and visited the Liberty Bell which seemed very fitting as we prepare to embark on our service in Peace Corps. Then on the 24th I hopped a plane to Denver. Morgan picked me up from the airport holding a sign that read "Welkam tu Denver Katie!" —written in Bislama the language of Vanuatu! Then she said "Surprise! We're going to brunch right now with Lindsey, another fellow volunteer!" Next thing I knew the three of us were sipping mimosas while talking about moving across the globe. Saturday was a day of goodbyes for Morgan and I'm glad I was able to be there for her. We spent the night at her brother's house in Boulder and began our trek the next morning. Kansas was flat and boring. At one point we stopped a gas station (I guess you could call it that) and as we pulled up we watched an old man change the sign on the door from closed to open. It was about 1pm and we must have been his first and only customer of the day. He had a shop full of knickknacks and an old farm dog named Abby. When we asked which pump to use he simply said "the one to the west." Not the one on the left... silly us for not being in tune with our cardinal directions. We spent the night in Kansas City Missouri staying with two medical students in their apartment covered with anatomy posters. We arrived to a crock pot full of delicious chicken and rice which we both inhaled before we even introduced ourselves. Then we went out to a jazz club. I am typically not one for jazz music but there was something about the atmosphere of the Green Lady Lounge that drew me in. It was dimly lit with walls painted velvet red and covered in vintage oil paintings. The quartet that night featured some groovy female jazz artists that I took in while sipping on a local beer. On Monday we were off to Kentucky. This time the drive was not as flat or boring. Mountains and green fields welcomed us into the Bluegrass state. We were staying with a friend of a friend... so basically a stranger. He greeted us with a southern accent and had an adorable black lab named Chelsea. We had a much needed night in watching Netflix to recharge for the rest of the drive. My Spotify Premium was our saving grace during the drive. We also took three hour driving shifts which broke up the time nicely. We discovered that we have a similar taste in music (basically anything and everything) and our road trip playlist ranged from The Clash, to the Spice Girls, to Avril Lavigne, and of course the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song. (If you're curious what I listen to you can follow my Spotify here.) Most days we ate PB&J for lunch which we made while driving... this is a highly technical skill. Of course we caved and stopped for fast food a couple times. "We're millennials, if there's one thing we're good at it's eating fast food while driving." During the drive we talked about well... everything! We essentially learned each other's life stories from childhood to present. We both agreed there's some people and habits in our lives now that would be better left in the past. But that's the awesome part of moving to a remote island... it feels like a fresh start. At one point we pulled over at a scenic overlook and took in the beautiful mountains and valley. We also decided it was going to be a scenic pee stop. It was a pretty damn majestic place to pee... sunshine, mountain air, and blue birds flying by. (Yes.. my name is Katie and I'm a bit of a crazy hippie) On Tuesday we arrived in Charlottesville where we stayed in a beautiful old farmhouse with floor to ceiling windows and lady bugs in every nook and cranny. We went for a little afternoon hike and saw the first spring daffodils popping up. We spent the evening sipping wine by the fireplace, taking in the peaceful night. We decided to spend an extra day in Charlottesville on Wednesday and went to a little coffee shop called the Mudhouse. I spent the day working on my final paper for my last college course and Morgan worked on her blog and Peace Corps stuff. (that's debatable... I think she just watched Netflix) We went out to dinner at an amazing little spot called the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar. We were greeted with the smell of sweet incense and tea. It had a warm and cozy Bohemian atmosphere so we took off our shoes and enjoyed some falafel at one of the comfy tea tables. After dinner we played Boggle which I am admittedly really bad at but it was still a lot of fun. We drove back to Allentown on Thursday. It was the same drive I did when I left my old college. It felt good to reflect on how much I have grown since I packed up my dorm, transferred to Penn State, and changed my major. Back then I had no clue what I was doing with my life but now I have an incredible path in front of me and some amazing people by my side. On Friday David (another awesome volunteer) drove up from Philly to visit. While Morgan and him talked about Peace Corps stuff, I locked myself away in my basement to finish up my last college course. It felt so surreal to hit submit one last time. But then I was done. Our road trip had come to an end and so had my four years of college. I ran upstairs yelling "I'm done! I'm done!" Damn did that feel good! We all went to dinner with Rob (another equally awesome volunteer) and had Cali Burrito in true Lehigh Valley style. Then we went to a Phantoms hockey game... and what a game it was! They were losing 5-1 and came back to win it 7-6! By the end of it we were all standing up screaming our lungs out! ...I'm really gonna miss hockey when I'm in Vanuatu. So that concludes my road trip. I couldn’t have wished for a better adventure before leaving for Peace Corps. I feel so blessed to be moving to an island with my new best friend and I can’t wait to meet everyone in a few short weeks! Moving across the globe is a bit scary, but the beautiful thing about going with so many amazing people is that we can all support one another. I’ll leave ya with this conversation I had with Morgan the other day... “we’ve got this!”
5 Comments
Donna Lee
3/7/2018 11:21:49 pm
Hi Katie!!
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ian guignet
3/8/2018 07:01:40 am
Good luck Katie! Keep blogging and insta-ing your doing an honourable thing with your trip! Try and find some bicycles out there to shred.
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Debbie Lyons- Fogel
3/8/2018 08:01:04 am
I enjoyed hearing about your trip! Looking forward to more of your blog soon.
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Marylyn Roberts
4/18/2018 11:46:04 am
Thanks so much for this journal of your road trip with Morgan, Katie! I was incredibly thankful that Morgan didn't have to make that trip alone! You are truly an amazingly kind and caring friend!
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