The Early Bird Wants to Go Back to Bed

I woke up at a horrendous 3:20 AM this morning, in time to meet the rest of my cohort at El Cerrito High School by 3:40 AM. It was drizzly and dark, but luckily Don had brought pop-up tents. While sometimes it feels like Don is over-prepared, Don does foresee many potential obstacles and knows how to avoid them. Don then weighed most people's bags, but he said that he didn't even need to check mine because it was so light. I was surprised; I felt like I had overpacked hideously. Don next checked our IDs and medical cards, took a few pictures, and waited for the shuttle.

The trip feels like a roller-coaster. For the last few days it has been steadily inching up towards the top. We said goodbye to our parents and hopped on the shuttle. The roller-coaster began its first descent. The shuttle had enough room; every seat was filled by people or luggage, but the aisles were clear. When we arrived at the airport, we had to wait outside (luckily under an awning) in a long line to check our bags. After we made it through various lines to get through security, we grabbed a bite to eat at a local shop and hopped on the plane.

On the plane ride to Chicago, I sat next to other members of the cohort. We then had a layover in Chicago, during which we had lunch. On the flight from Chicago to Philadelphia, however, we agreed to sit next to strangers. The person I sat next to was a man from Chicago on a business trip to Philadelphia. He works selling printing presses. He said that that industry was in decline, perhaps noticing that I had my e-reader out. While I do think that fewer things will be printed over time, I don't believe that we will ever completely stop using printed paper. Printed information doesn't need a battery. Legal documents are usually signed by hand. That said, I do think that e-books are extremely useful; I'm carrying around nearly 300 right now.

After we arrived in Philadelphia, we picked up our bags and waited for the vehicle to pick us up from the airport. The driver must have played Tetris in his youth; he was able to squeeze more bags than I thought possible in the trunk. Despite his skills, we still had to pile bags on the seats and in the aisles. The trunk was just too small. It was extremely interesting to look out the window during the ride to the hotel. We passed a massive mound of trash right by the road; in the Bay Area trash seems much more hidden from view. The city also had many parks. I loved much of the architecture we passed. There was a lot of brick, but the whole city felt old and full of history. In the grand scheme of things, El Cerrito or even San Francisco have very young buildings. In Philadelphia we passed churches with ornate stonework that could be a hundred years old.

Eventually, we arrived at the hotel. While there were some slight difficulties in figuring out the room situation, the woman at the desk was helpful and got it figured out. We relaxed in the hotel room for an hour before dinner. The hotel room was fairly nice. The Wi-Fi worked great and there was enough counter space in the bathroom for some basic toiletries. Unfortunately, there were only two beds, so we spun a pencil to decide who would get a bed to himself. I won. The room, while it could have been more spacious, was large enough for our needs.

After idling in the room for a bit, we went out for dinner. I had a pizza. I ordered a small one, but it would only be small in comparison to a walrus. I can't imagine how enormous a 'large' pizza would be. After dinner, which I ate half of, it was time for blogging and bed. I was quite tired from the plane ride; getting up early has its price.