I’m writing this from the comfort of my own home, and lord does it feel good. I love traveling and being on the road, but at a certain point, coming roughly at the two week mark when you realize that eating out for every meal and sleeping on couches every other night has wreaked havoc on your body and left you with the immune system of a fetus, you begin to appreciate the wonders of your own bed. At the same time, it’s hard not to look back with a little bit of awe. We traveled the length of the United States, saw just about every major metropolitan area in the Midwest, tracked changes in terrain through the never ending scroll of our van window, heard a dozen different accents and dialects that now all kind of meld together into a muddled collage, smelled the seafood and Creole seasoning scent that permeates New Orleans, witnessed firsthand the stupefying but always entertaining effects of sleep deprivation and endless travel on the human brain, visited countless alumni and friends of the college, and exchanged stories of our college days with people two generations our elder, all in the span of a little over three weeks. Just thinking about it all makes me want to take a nap.

The trip was fantastic. It ended basically as it began, with us surrounded by friends and family and with an odd combination of not wanting to leave and anxious for the next step. Our final event was a good one. The turnout was fantastic as we played host to several alumni and President F. Gregory Campbell. We feasted on a bevy of refreshments, including root beer floats and a dessert platter provided by Lauren’s grandparents, while the members of the road crew told stories garnered from our three weeks spent on the road and listened to a few good ones from alumni about their time on campus. All in all, it was the perfect ending to what has been a fantastic trip. We’d like to say thank you to all the alumni and parents and current students that attended our events, and we’d especially like to thank those brave and generous souls that were kind enough to offer up their homes and a place to sleep to the road crew. We were all blown away by the level of hospitality we encountered every single place we stayed. With any luck, we’ll be able to do this trip again and will see all of you in the future. This trip would not have been possible without you, and really most of the credit has to go to all of the people that have supported us as we tried to carry out this crazy idea. We on the road crew are just the beneficiaries of your generosity. Please, if you have any feedback about the trip, we’d be more than happy to hear it and invite you to send an email to roadtrip@carthage.edu. Thank you, everyone, for everything.

Isaac McQuistion ’11