One of the things I will remember from this year is that I drove a lot. I needed the car for some appointments 30 miles away from Olaf, and as a result I needed to spend the majority of my time up there (summer included) so to go to them regularly. Aside from getting used to driving on interstates and learning how to drive in both Minnesota and Illinois (the whole culture shock is still, well, shocking to me--people in Minnesota drive like people, people in Illinois drive like chickens with their heads cut off) I've had some interesting adventures on the road. Just over a week ago when I was on my way home, I popped my ears while driving down a steep hill in southeastern Minnesota (I was driving really fast; I had left late in the winter's day and wanted to minimize the amount of night driving I had to do by going fast while it was still daylight). What's amazing about it is that when I normally drive down (or up) said hill my ears never popped.
Aside from the long trips, I occasionally had the privilege of driving my friends around town and occasionally to the Twin Cities and back. And with these carpools I had a few funny incidents. One involved a return trip to Olaf from Target, when I stopped at a red light and asked Pat if that was one of my friends on the sidewalk to my left. After a couple seconds of deliberation he looked over and confirmed that it was. After remembering that the horn mysteriously had stopped working after I had taken it in the shop a month or so before, I realized the only way I was going to get Nolan (the guy standing on the corner)'s attention was to roll down my window and call out to him. Now it was dark inside my car in spite of the headlights being on and such, and I fumbled trying to find how to lower my window. The result involved locking the doors (for the umpteenth time) and rolling down all the other windows before finally hitting the right switch.
Another hilarious (or so Pat thinks, anyway) involved a trip the three of us took to Arby's for a late-night snack. While I was waiting to pick up everyone's orders I moved the car forward and backward so to make it easier for me or Nolan, who was sitting right behind the driver's seat, to pick up our respective food.
There have been other interesting events, like the time Pat and I were driving back from a White Sox-Twins game and saw red and green lightning (only to discover they were fireworks). Or the time I think a friend tried to drag-race me (I refused to take part in it). But mostly it was routine driving. I think the multiple 7-hour driving trips taught me something about patience and pacing myself, especially for the sake of the Jeep. I drove out to Wheaton to chill with Glen for a bit, and driving back this evening for some reason just mentally drained me. Something about remembering how selfish and "jackass" some of these drivers can be (all part of the culture shock; and this is supposed to be "home"!).
So driving and being one with the Jeep will be but one of several things I will remember about this year as I'm looking back. I think mostly I'm thankful it was in Chicago when the hailstorms pounded Northfield and other parts of southern Minnesota back in August. I'll be both glad and sad to not have it up at Olaf anymore. I'll be glad because I'm done with having to worry about driving for 7 mind-numbing hours, but at the same time I'll have to rely on someone else to drive me into town if I need something. Also my mom will be able to drive instead of having to rely entirely on the CTA and walking to get herself around.