Spring Break Memories...

This week is Penn State's Spring Break and since we are now members of the "real world," this is a luxury we no longer have the privilege of enjoying. In honor of the week though, I thought it would be fun to reminisce about the Spring Break trip that Jon and I took our Senior year. We knew we needed some sun and warmer temps, but we also didn't want to have to fly anywhere. To solve this problem, we chose to road-trip it down to Hilton Head, South Carolina. The trip was anything but uneventful-and some of the things that happened weren't necessarily ideal. BUT, looking back now, after four years, we can totally laugh at the whole thing, and now we have some fun stories to tell our kids someday.

I could rattle on forever about details of this trip, however, it would get lengthy (more than it already will be) and probably boring, so I will bullet them so you can get the drift of the adventures that ensued.

*The biggest mishap on the way down to S.C. was when my beloved car, the Subaru (may she rest in peace), started smoking like crazy...so much so that it started to come into the car from around the glove box! Jon and I, being anything but car savvy people, panicked at the prospect of having to buy a new car to get to S.C.-or even back home-a VERY scary thought for a college student. Since it was Sunday when this dilemma took place, a mechanic was not a likely solution, so we opted for one of those in-and-out type oil change places. We were so nervous as the quick change employee was checking under the hood to let us know what the verdict was. A short while after we entered the small, no frills waiting area, he waved for us to come out. We walked around the front of the car, and he promptly pointed to a little black cap sitting on the side of the hood area. He asked if we had placed this cap there. Jon and I let him know that we did not place it there and we were unsure of what this cap placement meant. He then informed us that this cap was the radiator cap, and that it being off was allowing antifreeze to splash all over the engine for about the past 9 hours. (I realized that this may have happened when I had gotten my oil changed and fluids filled a few days before the trip!) We could do nothing but show our relief at the fact that this problem could be easily solved with a good hosing off of the interior of the car workings, a refill of fluids, and a mere $5.00. THANK GOODNESS! We were back on our way...

*Another, maybe more minor happening took place after we did some grocery shopping soon after arriving. We had double parked the car in a handicapped spot (not nice, I know) with the hazard lights on. On the last trip down to the car for the remaining groceries, a rather large man began screaming at Jon for being inconsiderate to people who needed these spots (he was one who needed it, but unfortunately not necessarily for the right reasons). The man happened to be parked in the handicapped spot right next to the one we were occupying, so it wasn't as if he didn't have anywhere to park. Biting his lip, Jon apologized to the man, and promptly moved the car. We're not off to a great start, that's for sure.

*The next devastating event, although it's hilarious looking back now, was the hot tub mishap. We had a nice pool/hot tub area at the hotel we were staying at, so we had decided to spend an afternoon in this area. At the last minute I had asked Jon to bring his phone down with us so that we would know what time it was. Naturally, he tucked his phone into his swimsuit pocket and we went on our way. We decided, since it was a bit chilly, to hang out in the hot tub. We got in, and spent nearly a half hour just relaxing. When we got up to get out, Jon realized that his swimsuit felt heavy. It hit him right away-yes, he had spent the last half hour in the hot tub, with his cell phone in his pocket. Needless to say, it was not in full working order. Ironically though, he could still receive calls...

*One morning, as we went to begin another vacation day, we hopped in the car, turned the key-and nothing. No turn-over...nothing. Can you believe it!? In true trip fashion, we found ourselves desperately seeking someone else's assistance. A hotel employee kindly came out and checked under the hood...again. We discovered that a light had been left on overnight, so the battery was dead, AND the battery had been leaking acid. FANTASTIC. Jon and I were unaware of the magic of Coca-Cola and that it has the uncanny ability to remove battery acid. Sure enough, the hotel employee poured Coke on the battery and Wah-lah. All was good. Hmm...imagine what Coke could do to your stomach...

You may be wondering how we enjoyed-let alone made it back from this trip-but in reality we did have a really great time:

*Awesome restaurants

*Shopping

*Enjoying South Carolina's beautiful scenery

*Crocodile Rocks (Dueling piano bar in Myrtle Beach)

and come on...we were at the beach! How bad could it be. :)

Ok, enough rambling for the day...