8/28 and 8/29 - Pushing forward with pain

I felt awful physically after coming back from the baseball game last night. I had a high spirit, but it was no longer sufficient to make me forget the physical problem. I had a terrible back pain, something really hard to explain, but very likely due to the extended hours I sit and drove. Actually, I could barely sit up straight during the last few innings at the ballpark.

Luckily the almighty Priceline.com granted me a nice hotel room for tonight. The bed is firm, and the bath tube is large. So I could submerge myself completely in hot water, and lied flat for the night. It helped, but within a limit.

Originally I planned to visit the gateway arch this morning. But I had to call it off due to physical condition. The original hope to save a day here and go from St. Louis to Antlanta, GA in one day was also given up. With this back condition, I didn't think it is a good thing to attempt.

So I got the whole day to go from St. Louis to Nashville, TN. This was an easy 300-mile drive, so I tried to get myself in better shape by taking more rest until noon. In retrospect, I regret that I had been to St. Louis but didn't visit the Gateway Arch. However, I had to do what I must on that day.

Nothing much else is note-worthy for the day, but it was amazing that my body naturally reacted to the pain. It seemed to find a better position for driving, as I mention in this suggestion. Sometimes, when you are extremely tired, you naturally find a way to finish the jobs in a more efficient way. As it says, life finds its own way.

At this point I was a bit tired of sight-seeing. All I wanted is to reach my destination safely and timely. With no detour at all, I reached Nashville before sunset. As I must put the all remaining strength together on getting to the destination, I stayed put in the hotel for the rest of the day.

At some point that evening, I recalled what had happened in the trip from day one. There were so many nice bits of memory that I wished to share with people. Families, friends, even strangers. I thought I had a great trip, and a bunch of stories to tell. It would be a shame to keep all that to myself, as I believe this is too good to be kept unknown. I made a small list of facts and thoughts related to this trip, and it turned out to be the outline of this blog you are reading.

The next day I drove further south. The weather was getting hotter for every state I passed, and I knew I was getting close. I traveled across four states in these two days to reach Atlanta, the last major city I would visit on the way.

As I headed to Atlanta on I-75 South, I saw the first traffic jam after I left LA 14 days ago.

I visited my friends at Atlanta. After being alone on the road for 14 days, it was really nice to see someone I know in person. I first walked around Georgia Tech, one of the schools I wanted to get in very much when I applied. Here are a few shots for the campus.

The symbol for GIT.

The steam engine at GIT.

The Tech.

That night I had my last supper on the road trip with friends at a Chinese restaurant in Atlanta. It was a very nice meal with friends, and being on the road for so many days, I really missed Chinese food. I stayed at a friend's place for the night. I thought a lot about the trip before I went to bed, as I knew it was going to the end on the next day. I was really, really happy that I took this opportunity and made a cross-country driving trip out of it. I had a great experience on the road, something I could really savor with a sense of satisfaction in the future. With that thought, I went to sleep with a big smile on my face.