I went home this past weekend and had a lovely time there. My wonderful cousin Merd was in town from college and my grandparents were in town as well, so we had a grand ole' time eating a feast, watching football, and shopping.
It was the picture perfect fall weekend, with that brisk weather and the gorgeous leaves, plus the football and food. Everything about the weekend was great... And I just did not want to leave home to come back to school.
So, let me tell you about my trip from home to school. It usually takes me a little bit less than 2 hours to get back. It's really not a bad trip at all! Yesterday I left home at 4:00 on the dot and got back to school at 8:11, with no time change.
And frankly, I don't even want to talk about everything in between. But that's why I'm blogging about it. Because I was so stupid, I feel like you might get a smile on your face because you are thankful that you didn't do this.
If I could put my thoughts from last night into pictures, it would look like this.
So here's the deal: I saw traffic ahead on the interstate right as I was pulling into Knoxville, and it looked really bad and I had to go to the restroom, like I realllly had to go and couldn't stand to sit in traffic. So I decided to get off on the wrong exit and find a way back to my apartment, which was about 20 minutes away usually. Some other cars were doing the same thing, so I thought I'd just follow them. Easy enough, right?
Negative.
I couldn't figure out which cars to follow, so I was just left following one car through the Oak Ridge National Lab (yes, that's the place where they like make bombs or something) and we come to a sign that says, UNAUTHORIZED VEHICLES NOT ALLOWED PAST THIS POINT, because that's where they make the bombs and they don't want us to get blown up, I guess?
So both the car and I turn around, and yes, it is a little bit embarrassing because the car knows that I am following him.
This time, I am leading the way for the other car and, mind you, I still haven't found a bathroom because apparently nothing is allowed to be around this lab and there are just woods everywhere. Plus, I'm low on gas and starving. But in about 20 minutes of aimlessly driving around, I made it out of the black forest and found a Krystal (yes, I love fast food when I'm frustrated.)
Leaving the Krystal, I thought I saw the interstate and began driving that way to find no interstate at all and just a few dark roads. At this point, I've been driving for about an hour not knowing where I am. So, I called my mother almost in tears because I remembered I had two homeworks due the next day which I hadn't started and still didn't know where I was.
My mom asked me where I was, and I had no idea, but she got on mapquest and tried to find the places of things I was passing. I told her I passed through Oak Ridge, Clinton, and Powell because I had seen churches named like, Oak Ridge Baptist or Clinton Presbyterian. After about ten minutes we figured out where I was and she told me to keep driving... For another thirty minutes until I found the interstate.
I finally arrived home after 4 hours and 11 minutes... A record time; And with 9 miles left to go on my car until it is out of gas.
So, my friends, that is what I get for being impatient in traffic: getting totally lost while driving somewhere that I've driven 3o times before, almost running out of gas, dinner at Krystal, bathrooms at Krystal (even better), and a 45% on my homework.
But guess what I learned?
It's better to face the trials at the beginning than to find an alternate route because the consequences aren't quite as bad the sooner you face them.
