Graduate Road Trip

I went with the school up to University of Idaho and Washington STate University over this past weekend to meet with their graduate programs. It was so much fun hanging out and meeting new people. There were about 15 of us who went up. We left the school around 8 am on Thursday morning. I'm not sure how long it should take to drive up there, according to my dad it should only take about 7 hours, but it took us FOREVER! We didn't get up there until 6 pm! What is that, like 10 hours?! Not to mention the fact that the van I ended up in sucked. It shimmied from 0 to about 60. After that it was just a constant vibration. My butt went numb from the sensations. Not a pleasant feeling. I had my hands holding down as many things as I could because I can't STAND things rattling in the car. Anywhoo it was probably the longest drive EvEr. It might have something to do with the fact that we stopped every 100 miles or that our tire blew. It took us until 12:30 to get to Deer Lodge. It shouldn't take that long numbero uno. Secondly when we were done eating lunch one of the kids from the other van comes up to our driver and says, " It looks like your back tire is getting ready to separate from the car." To which the driver goes off on this long tangent of how the school takes such good care of their vehicles and the maintaince is top notch, blah blah blah. Within the next five minutes, no exaggeration, the tire blew. I was just lying down to take a power nap until we stopped AGAIN, when it happened. It sounded like someone was shooting at us. Now that thought didn't actually cross my mind, like oh crap! Someone is shooting at us! But if I had to describe the noise, that would be what it sounded like. The top of the tire had blown and it dented the entire wheel bed. It bent the exhaust pipe closed. We sat on the side of the road for about 30 minutes while the professors changed the tire. After that the vibrations miraculously stopped, major shocker there... Anywhoo five hours and multiple stops later we finally arrived. We had to stay up in Couer d'Alene because all the hotels were booked in moscow and pullman since it was homecoming week and there was a big football game. We got checked into our rooms and wanted to go find some good food. Jackie and April wanted Japanese food and since I have never had it I said I would give it a try. Unfortunately for us, the lady at the front desk was on drugs... She had no idea what she was talking about and we ended up walking about a mile into town before we found some gas station to ask directions. The man informed me that the only japanese place was three miles away downtown. Like I'm gonna walk three miles for food that I might not even like... yeah right. We find some chinese buffet (sounds scarier than it actually was) and end up with a semi-decent meal. We needed to go to Walmart later so we took a van and asked the front desk how to get there. Probably not our brightest moment taking directions from the same lady as before but they sounded pretty straight forward. No worries, we got lost. Dumb lady. She should be fired... We found it eventually after I made them pull over so I could ask someone else. The next morning we had to be in the foyer at 6 AM. Once we got to the U of I we went on a tour given by a pierced java junkie. He slipped in how much he loved coffee wherever he could. I think the entire tour was based on where all the coffee shops were located on campus. I don't think he realized what school we were from. lol. I got to meet with the wildlife and fisheries department and it was very informative. I actually get paid to go to graduate school. They pay for my tuition plus I get a yearly salary. Sounds good to me! Later we drove over the border to visit Washington State. This place is like it's own city. It's huge! Luck was with us when we decided to turn down a random road and found the student center. The man at the graduate help desk should also be fired. He sent all of us to the wrong buildings except Evan. I got good info about the vet program there, but only after I got sent to three different places. Nobody at the school knows were anything is! Jeez... Eric got sent to my zoology building which I never even got a chance to go see since it was on the other side of campus, but he got me some brochures so that helped a little. He never even got to his building. Matt got sent to the engineering building when he wanted the architecture building. But Evan and Jackie got the right one. But I'm guessing it's only because it was directly out the front doors of the student building. It was a very eventful and informative day. Well worth the swollen ankles from walking all day in uncomfortable shoes. The next morning we were supposed to leave around nine. But when Brother McBride took the van to get a spare tire just in case, he found out he had to have the brakes replaced. Yipee! So we had to wait around for the parts to come in. And then we got stuck with the same driver as before who decided it would be faster to go through Salmon to get home. I think that only works if you go the speed limit and you don't stop twenty times. We didn't get home until 8 pm! A crazy weekend but a lot of fun. I loved all the people that I got to meet and it was nice seeing the different schools and what they offer. Here's to finding one that wants me!!

P.S. Sorry it's such a long post. I had a lot to say :)