Jennie's road trip part two has begun! Yesterday I said goodbye to Maine and all the amazing people there, loaded up my car again and started heading back west. I am taking a different route than on my way to Maine. I am currently visiting Kristene, a friend from Semester at Sea, in Vermont and then I plan to head up into Canada to see what those silly neighbors to the north are all about!
My last few days in Maine were bittersweet, but not for the normal reasons. It was great seeing everyone one more time before leaving, and I got to do a few more fun things, but sadly a friend of mine was also in an accident last Friday, causing some worry. But fortunately he survived and is now working on the long road of recovery. I was sad to leave him in that state, but I know he'll get through this. Besides the accident, though, I did get to go on a cocktail cruise around the Maine coast for an hour with Meg which was really fun! It was a great summer and I will miss Maine and everyone there dearly...but of course, I'll be back :-)
So after loading my car up to the point of, once again, riding rather low to the ground and moving the drivers seat forward to make room for stuff to fit in the back so that I am awkwardly close to the steering wheel, I took off and headed north/west to Vermont. This, folks, is where I made a strange and wonderful discovery. Boulder has a twin....and it's name is Burlington, VT! I'm not sure if any of you have ever experienced this strange phenomenon of entering a city and it looks and feels exactly like the city you grew up in...but let me tell you, it's kind of fun when you'd been away from that home city for 3 months! It was fun to see mountains and hills again as I drove further and further into Vermont. Maine does, as I have explained before, have mountains but they're very sneaky mountains that don't appear until you're RIGHT there in them...so as I drove through Vermont and saw gorgeous hills and mountains in the distance it already felt like home. But THEN.....I drove into Burlington and the first thing I saw was a college campus, young people wandering around, some skateboarders making an amateur video of their "skills", a guy riding by on a unicycle, a family riding bikes, and a town and architecture that was scarily similar to Boulder. I saw the equivalent to Mapleton road, and then I saw a street with the name of....that's right, Pearl St! :-) Needless to say I instantly decided I liked Burlington, and Vermont in general and everyone who says it's similar to Colorado is totally right. And I wonder, was anyone else aware that Burlington is just like Boulder? Im sure someone has discovered that too.
Well, now I get to hang out with Kristene for the day and either tomorrow or Thursday I will head up to Canada!!! This will be my first time in Canada and my first time driving through a border. But fear not, I've got my passport all ready! Although it sounds like it's really not necessary to get into Canada, it's coming back to the United States where I'll need to prove I'm American. Oh what a silly country we are...to say the least. In any case, I think it's going to be a fun trip west through Canada. That reminds me, I should start planning out where I'm going to stay while I'm there. I'm hoping to do some camping along the way as a cheaper and more adventurous alternative to hotels. I will also be visitng Montreal though, where I think I will try to get a room in a hostel or hotel.
Speaking of travels, my awesome friend Bethany, also from Semester at Sea, will be spending 10 months in China teaching english and she leaves Friday! So I wish her happy and safe travels, and lots of fun! Goodbye Bethany!!!!! You will be missed while you're gone! :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment