North Carolina arrival

I spent the night of the 25th at my cousin's in Champaign, IL after having spent some time at an outlet mall, ostensibly to shop for clothes for work in NC. I probably didn't really need to but it was fun. It was a short visit with my cousin but I'm glad I stopped in. From there, I took off for the long drive to Raleigh, NC. I drove through IL, IN, KY, WV, VA and into NC, traversing through various terrain and noticing that it became much more mountainous and green as I headed southeast. The roads also become more windy and it began to rain which made it more precarious. Driving along side of me were many 18 wheelers who should have not been driving so fast...combine that with the rain-slicked roads and it made for some white-knuckled driving.

I finally arrived at my friend's dorm at NCSU in Raleigh. It was a Friday night so, of course, she was ready to go out and party. I'm really getting old! All I wanted to do is relax and sleep...staying out late was the last thing on my mind. In addition, she had to get up early to go on a day trip to Wilmington and I wanted to get up and go at the same time. I needed my beauty sleep!

The next morning I got on the road about 745ish and arrived in Jacksonville about 2 hours later. I met the roomie and got moved in. I pretty much spent that day unpacking and trying to have some sort of organization to the room. It was pretty warm and humid but sunny. I slept well that night. The next day found me walking through the main thoroughfare in the city to find out how long it would take me to walk to work, if I chose to do that. Well, it would take me a good hour at a decent clip to get me there so on my way back home I stopped in some stores to find out how much a bike would cost. I figured it out and the cost of a bike and lock would be more than the cost of gas to get to/from work the entire 12 weeks I'm here. That's because work in about 4.5 miles from home and I work 4-10 hour days. So much for being green and healthy! I guess I'll just have to find another way to exercise and be earth-conscious. It'll also allow me to get more sleep in the morning. Remember I need my beauty sleep!