4AM wake up alarm, tearful goodbyes, and by 5:30AM Annabel, her brother Jeffrey, and myself were on the road heading towards our first destination on our sustainability road trip: Indianapolis. Like every trip, and the promise of Murphy's Law, my gps almost immediately stopped working. Yet, the with the beauty of old fashioned road maps, we were able to make it to our destination only an hour late: 13 hours. The ride started off chatty, but with all long trips, eventually silence took over and we allowed our thoughts to envelop us. I studied all the farms along interstate 70 and couldn't help but notice that while one hears that the United States is being taken over by corn and soybeans, its an entirely different experience to actually witness 10 hours of nothing but corn, and yes, soy. I never thought I would imagine myself saying this, but I was actually excited when there was an advertisement along the highway for McDonalds or whatever other fast food chain, fireworks shop, or adult superstore. Regardless of this redundancy, it was enlivening looking at all the farms and knowing that I am about to embark on an important and useful adventure: to learn organic and sustainable farming techniques and to adapt these techniques to urban settings.
Aside from the long drive, remembering everything we forgot to take, thinking about everyone we left behind, day one has been uneventful, except for losing one driver due to the fact that they already got a ticket and their parent has requested that they no longer take the wheel.
Actually, perhaps not that uneventful, considering we have decided to bypass one of our booked campsites so that we can arrive in Utah earlier the following day. Instead of stopping at this campsite, we will drive until we can't drive anymore, and then we will HOPEFULLY find a place to sleep. If not, Utah's calling!
We arrived in Indianapolis with enough time to swim in a murky, yet insanely relieving, swimming pool at our KOA. Currently, our tents and beds are set and our coals won't light, guess I am eating a cold dinner until tomorrow when I go out and buy lighter fluid (anyone have experience grilling with coals?? I have no idea what I'm doing!). Considering I am sitting on a sink in the KOA bathroom using the only available electrical outlet while typing on my laptop and being forced to endure this Christian Rock station...I must call it a night. Anyone feel free to call or email me, my phone will be on this whole trip.
Ill update every time I have wifi. Thank you everyone who donated and who is following my cause. I appreciate all of your support and enthusiasm.
Natalie
