Brock's Road Trip: Day 1

Today, I embarked on the ten hour road trip that took me to Philadelphia to hear Jack Caputo and Richard Kearney talk about metaphysics, deconstruction, and postmodernism. I won't say much about the conference, because we only met for two hours tonight and I haven't had time to digest what was said.

But the trip is worthy of mentioning.

I began at 7AM with what seemed to be a noneventful road trip, driving my (now deceased) grandpa's old (and behemoth-like) Grand Marquis. As a way of saving gas, I bundled up in coat, hat, and gloves and refused to turn on the heat. Two hours later (and still cold), after a brief interruption with construction and traffic on the east side of Indianapolis and horrifically tight driving conditions near Dayton, I found myself racing into Bob Evans to relieve myself of the coffee I had made in the morning. There, I had breakfast with my brother, Bryce, while listening to “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” in the background.

From there, I was off to traverse the entire states of Ohio and Pennsylvania. As I drove, the sun pleasantly warmed my car so much so that I had to take off my coat and even roll down the window for a moment. From Columbus to the state line, I listened to Over the Rhine (“Hello Ohio/The back roads/I know Ohio/Like the back of my hand/Alone Ohio/Where the river bends/And it's strange to see your story end…”). Then came West Virginia – for about ten miles. But it was a gorgeous fifteen minutes (seriously!).

As I moved into Pennsylvania, I merged onto the Pennsylvania turnpike. Up into the mountains I climbed – and noticed the temperature in the car steadily decreasing. By the time my bladder needed emptying and my gas tank needed filling, I found myself at the height of the Blue Ridge Mountains – and in the middle of a snowstorm. On the ground had formed two-three inches of sludge, and when I stepped out of my car I was instantly blasted with a powerfully biting wind. I put the gas pump nozzle into the tank and jumped back into the car.

Then, I was back on the road (with the heater now turned on). The weather cleared bit by bit as I trekked down the mountain, swerving through turns and channeling through tunnels. Finally, several hours later, I was in Philadelphia.

As I got off the turnpike onto a local highway, I was relieved to find that my exit was directly before miles of backed up traffic (whew!). From there, I made my way to Eastern University only to find a gigantic tree across the road and numerous power lines on the very road that was to take me to the front entrance of the school. After driving around aimlessly for fifteen minutes, I finally humbled myself, stopped the car, and pulled out my map of Philadelphia (courtesy of my AAA membership – thanks grandma!). A few minutes later, I was on the campus.

And now, it’s late, I’m tired, and I need to go to bed.

Adieu.