Visiting the Windy City for another Outdoor Event

So I told you that it came to be known that I was kind of down for hockey road trips, especially when of the outdoor variety. Well it just so happens the NHL was having multiple ones in 2014 with the Stadium Series games going down. Shortly after the excitement of my Canada and Detroit trip with Matt, my other assistant manager at the time, Gary; came to me with a trip idea. His brother and himself were going to Chicago to see the Penguins play the Blackhawks at Soldier Field on March 1st and was pushing the idea of me coming along pretty hard. Well I talked to my friend Chris Habazin who I already had a trip planned for Nashville with him in the middle of March, if he would want to swing this roadie and find some tickets. Thank god this fella is down for adventure almost as much as I am and we could both fit it in the budget. We ended up purchasing the cheapest decent tickets we could find that happened to be in the last or second to last row of the entire stadium but pretty much right at center ice... just a tad to the left! These seats were amazing even if they were a tad away from the action but you'll see soon enough!

So I'm not sure whose brilliant idea it was to leave in the middle of the night or awhile before midnight and drive there as the sun rose but it ended up backfiring on us a wee bit. I can't remember the exact timeframe but the trip was supposed to be about eight hours with stops here and there for food and fuel but the road wore on us. Since the vehicle we were driving in was Gary and his brothers parents Toyota Rav-4 they were the only ones allowed to drive it, which is totally understandable but neither of them were ready to drive four hours apiece. So along the way, a bit over half way, we rented a hotel room with two beds to crash in and recoup. Pretty much we ended up spending like $40 bucks a head to sleep in this room for about six hours hahaha. Did I mention it was cold? I thought outside Detroit in Ann Arbor was cold but wow this had the windchill and flurries attacking us that made it just as bad! But we prevailed on and eventually got to Chicago.

Gary ended up booking us a place on Hotwire I believe, where you get the best rate at a random hotel that meets your criteria without knowing what hotel it is before you pay. We were pretty fortunate to get into a Hyatt connected to the convention center and within walking distance of the stadium. Granted it was a little bit of a hike but we bought so much penguins gear at work and were layered up that we were totally up to the task.

Backtrack a little to our first day there though where we went to check out a couple things and enjoy ourselves before gameday came the next day. First off we had to check out the Bean! I knew so little about Chicago before going that I didn't even know what we should be trying to see when it came to sights and what not but this thing was quite intriguing. What a cool piece of art that you could interact with. We got some pictures there and then decided to head off to a pub to grab some grub and get the drinking going heading into the evening. I think it was Rudy's Bar and Grill we stopped into since it was so close to Millennium park but I could be wrong. It wasn't anything too out of the ordinary with myself ordering a buffalo chicken sandwich. Sadly though whatever Gary ended up ordering didn't agree with him and he decided to spend the rest of the night in and prepare for the big day coming up tomorrow. After going back to the hotel with him, Kevin (Gary's younger brother) Chris and I went out for a night on the town! Now Kevin was kind of leading us to a place I believe some of his friends were at so Chris and I just followed to at least start our night there. Well the bar we got to happened to have a deal going where you pay $20 or $30 and you can drink whatever you want till midnight. It was on.

Chris and I ponied up for some wristbands and started going hard to get our moneys worth haha Midnight came around and we hadn't left or even thought about stopping. We didn't interact a ton with randoms at the bar except a girl and her group of people we talked to for awhile, she happened to be from Ireland I think so that was entertaining for awhile and then we ended up moving to the end of the bar by the bouncer so I pretty much talked to him the whole time and heard his life story. At this point I was probably just talking non stop and he had to put up with it haha

One am came around and I'll tell ya, we were pretty darn lit. Somehow I was in contact with another buddy from Pittsburgh that Chris and I play hockey with that happened to be in Chicago for the game too and we decided to try and track him down. So we hail a cab and tell him some bar that our buddy Jimmy McKenzie is apparently at. Well we end up in some dark part of town and hop out of the cab to find no place fitting the description of where Jimmy is apparently at haha this would happen. I try and call him and figure things out while Chris is in dire need of a restroom and theres two buildings with lights on our block that are actually on. Stumbling into a shady convenience store Chris starts begging the guy behind the counter to use their restroom that doesn't happen to be a public restroom while I pace back and forth on the phone with Jimmy. We end up walking out and trying to decide what to do from here. It was getting late so we decided to head back but our bladders needed emptied before we embarked on that trip and no hope was in sight.... Chris saw a dumpster close to the end of the ally by our street and decided to take the plunge and relieve himself while I called Jimmy back up to tell him meeting up was a no go. Across the street there was some construction work going on so they had the sidewalk covered with a tarp roof or ceiling and then it wrapped down to the street to create a wall about four feet tall and windows to see out to the street while walking on the sidewalk. Well I started walking through this tunnel if you will while on the phone and had the brilliant idea of relieving myself there in this tunnel of sorts hahaha. No. I did not stop walking, that wouldn't sell the bit and I'd look suspicious. When I told my mother about this a year or so later she told me I'm just like my father because thats something he would do hahaha It wasn't a easy task while on the phone intoxicated but hey I didn't get arrested so I call it a win!!!

We get back to the hotel after a short cab drive and Chris walks in the door, mumbles to Gary whose still awake watching movies and literally falls face forward onto his side of the bed and immediately passes out with all of his clothes on and even his shoes haha! I'm pretty blitzed still and apparently tell Gary the whole story of what we did that night two times in a row. Eventually Kevin stumbled in and cuts me off, thank god since I'm sure I was annoying as heck.

The next day starts off slow. Hydration was the key word and boy did I come prepared. I had two things of coconut water, two vitamin waters, a sierra mist for my stomach if I needed it and a rockstar recovery energy drink, as well as powdered Biosteel... which is pretty much healthier gatorade. Even then my hangover was real and everyones else just as much. We opted to lay around and gather ourselves as well as order an authentic Chicago style deep dish pizza to get a little taste of the town and hopefully cure our hangovers. Something I probably left out in my New York post was I tried their thin crust pizza while I was there and fell in love. To this day I order the thinnest crust I can because it reminds me of that great pizza I had on Long Island. Wellllll Chicago was quite the opposite in their approach to the style of making it. We decided to get a large or XL since there was four of us and we didn't even finish that. This sucker was the biggest slab of a pizza I ever did see. It was like eating a cake. We ended up getting half pepperoni and half meat lovers and I don't think I finished two pieces. Now I attribute a lot of that to my hangover but wow was this a monster to behold!! I was pretty good though!

A few hours later we started layering up to walk about 20min to the stadium and dive into the main event. Since three of us worked at the same hockey store and got discounts, like the shmucks we are; we bought penguins colored hats and scarves even to wear to this and boy did we look... interesting...

Grabbed a few roadies and shoved off drinking along the way through the city to Soldier Field. At this point the snow was coming down in a nice flurry that luckily wasn't too windy. It set the scene for walking to the stadium and seeing the whole sky lit up and the snow reflecting from the stadiums lights with this inviting aura. Head towards the light. As well funneled closer to the stadium we were joining the masses of people walking there as well and it was a fun time just taking it all in and seeing the numbers of people in assorted jerseys, a lot of which happened to be Pittsburgh Penguins ones. Although the majority was surely Blackhawks. We arrived at the stadium and started taking in the antics around it with bands playing and people selling this and that and grabbed another beer before the prices skyrocketed once entering the stadium. At this point I was still having some trouble shaking off my hangover from the night before and sipping my beers at first but getting progressively better at putting them away.

A bit before the game was to start we decided to head in together and navigate to our seats with time to hit up concessions and room for error. Gary and Kevin were much more close to the rink/field than Chris and I but we happened to be on the same side and only two sections down/up apart. Chris and I, being so high up happened to be just under the shelter of a slight roof that came out of the back wall probably thirty feet and it helped us not get pelted by snow as much as those infant of us. This is where it hits me, every time. You sit down and you look around at the magnitude and the atmosphere and it hits you how amazing the situation is. The snow was coming as a constant rate in flurries that set the scene, the wind was harsh at times but you started to not even notice it and the show started to begin.

With the teams marching out side by side to the national anthem playing while fireworks shot from the tops of the stadium. The tone was set and everyone was incredibly excited for it to get underway. Now I don't know if you remember watching this game but the Penguins just did not come to play. They looked terrible, they weren't hustling and maybe were trying to get too fancy while the conditions of the ice hindered them. In this environment the ice conditions didn't give anyone a chance to be fancy and try and pull off risky plays from the snow adding a level of friction that they clearly weren't used to. The Blackhawks on the other hand either adjusted to the elements or went into it knowing it was going to be a straight forward kind of game or just pushing the puck forward and driving to the net because they capitalized, a lot.

The ending score came to be 1-5 in the favor of the Blackhawks while Pittsburgh's James Neal was the only one to find twine and keep it from being a shutout. I think because of the outcome of the game it was that atmosphere and sense of adventure that stuck out so much more to me than the actual game itself since it was riddled with broken plays and a lack of effort and adjustment by the Penguins. Didn't help their jerseys were kind of stupid looking too haha.

Luckily this trip home was uneventful but Chris and I surely want to go back to the Windy City and see a game indoors as well as spend a bit more time taking in the town itself, theres always next year.

The Great White North and the Classic that Went the Distance

About four months before the NHL Winter Classic 13/14 was set to take place in Michigan my dear friend Matthew Tempich, also my assistant manager at the time; came to me and told me that I was going to the game and would pay as much of the ticket price that I could. It wasn't a question but a order, one that he knew I was all aboot. You see it came to be known that I was down for seeing hockey live on almost any scale, and a outdoor game was even more enticing. He was my Canadian buddy/manager and we came to understand each other to the extent we trusted each other to hang the heck out and have a good time witnessing, (in all honesty the most amazing LIVE hockey game in my life) and be there to experience it with him and his buddies. Listen. You can see a game on tv and it can be great, you can see a regular season game in a normal barn and it can be amazing but an outdoor game is something to behold, given the weather. (playoffs is a whole different story). But a regular season game outdoors, with the right conditions, is just magical. Harry Potter himself would be in awe and straight bliss :). Anyway what I came to find out was we weren't going to just another outdoor game like the one I saw in Pittsburgh (When it rained and the Pens lost :| ) but I was going to the biggest attended hockey game in history.

HISTORY!

Hahahaha but seriously!! The stage was set in Ann Arbor Michigan and had the scale to hold over 100,000 people inside this here football stadium. And it ending up doing so, with even more people standing.

But lets go back a second. Because there was even more craziness to lead up to!

I met up with Matt New Years Eve at his house in Cranberry and stacked my bag in the back of his dads pick up that was ready to brave the elements and make our way up to Canada. Yup, not only was this my first visit out Detroit way but it was my first visit to Canada herself. Passport ready and Matt's grandma and cousin, Steven, and I settled in the F-150, we were off. The trip went as expected and we drove through the elements a good deal, snow was falling and there was more ice on the interstate than I ever encountered. I really was happy I wasn't driving. This whole trip I was happy I wasn't driving.

Anyway we got to the border and had to go through the normal procedures, I just did as I was told and all went right and wallah! The Great White North, Americas Hat, Canadeh. Well first thing was first that we needed to get grandma back home and so we did. Dropped the dear girl off at her apartment and shoved off for Matt's lifelong friend Lucas's place of work. I met him a year or so back when we played some puck together and made friends, good guy. Showed up at his parents restaurant in Leamington Ontario and nabbed his keys off him to his place. He had a couple hours left in his shift but it was cool for Matt to take Steven and I to Lucas's place and try and bring in the New Year a bit before the big day tomorrow.

This pretty much consisted of us playing NHL on Xbox360, boozing and blasting music till it was too late to cause a commotion and Matt and I went back to his Grandmas to sleep it off before the big game.

9am comes quick when you fall asleep around 3am. After some Timmy's coffee we got on the road and headed back towards the boarder in the F-150, Matt and I. Lucas and Steven were on our tail following us back from Leamington in Lucas's Jaguar that had a few years on it and happened to be RWD...... After a bit of a hold up at the border for no reason we hit traffic heading toward Ann Arbor, apparently people were rushing to get to a hockey game or something?

So we pretty much missed the entire first period, and by pretty much I mean we totally missed it. But before I get to the start of us walking up to the stadium let me fill you in on a bit why we were late, other than the hangover late wake up, border patrol and traffic. So you remember how Lucas's Jaguar is RWD? Yup, it got stuck on a side road in Ann Arbor with all the snow hahahaha So Matt and I are going up a side street dodging traffic and we look back and Lucas and Steven are tailwhiping like its their job. We were riding up a Slight Grade street. Literally it maybe rose ten feet at most on this block so it wasn't a steep incline or anything but with how much snow they got there it didn't matter.

Immediately when we got to the stop light at the top of the "hill" and saw they were struggling, Matt, whose a big guy and could probably partially lift that Jaguar on his own, orders me to get the heck out of the F-150 and go push that there Jaguar. Ps. I weight about 150 and Steven who jumps out to help push too might weigh 140 if that. We have the most frail guys we could find pushing this car up a hill in 11 degree weather haha.

Hey it worked out. Somehow.

So we find a lot to park in and start off walking, praying, we didn't miss anything amazing. Luckily we showed up as the first intermission was starting and the game was tied 0-0 after 1. So we really only missed the opening ceremonies and the teams testing the ice and testing the tempo in the first, the second would have to be entertaining. As we walked through the small college town we already saw people bailing from the low temperature. It was 11 degrees without the windchill and flurries were moving into the area. Now I won't go into too much detail but if you ask me there was some stuff going on before or during when we got in, but first thing was first lets grab a beer before getting to our seats!! Oh. Wait. You're out of Labatte and only have Coor's. Wait. They're frozen? How Frozen? Either way gimmie one. Hahaha it might have been my first beer slushy. This woman tried to crack a Coor's and a slushy icee substance started rising out of the can hole without her even trying to pour. Gosh what a let down... As I see a man fall on his face and get carried out by police. He got my Labatte. Hahaha anyway at this point I had to buy a hat, ps. I didn't have one and it was super cold. So after buying the only Toronto one I could since thats who we were rooting for, I made my way to our seats for the start of the second period...... WOW.

I've been to a couple hockey games that blew me away in my day, Pittsburgh vs. Washington in Heinz Field for instance; but this was different. This was real, this was bigger than real. I found my seat (a number on a icy metal bench) and joined the 105,000 people already in attendance. One Hundred and Five Thousand people, that loved hockey enough to sit in 11 degree weather and pay for a ticket over $200. I was in heaven. I kid you not.

I was shivering so bad trying to activate hand and feet warmers all through the second period hahaha as I sipped my beer that froze on the edges of the plastic cup I had slowly but surely. Detroit scored first to open it up in the second period. But shortly after JVR or James Van Riemsdyk scored to tie the event up. I was pumped let me tell you, I bought a JVR shirt like two weeks before cause that guys got some skill and had it on and just felt like a good luck charm giving the Leafs some life.

The Second Period ended with a 1-1 tie to make life interesting and the beer hunt even more valuable since all the stakes had risen. Everyone grabbed two and immediately went back to our seats because missing a second seemed like throwing money away. And the third took off with excitement. Little into the third Bozak found some twine and put the Leafs up 2-1. As a buddy of a Leafs fan and seeing the rivalry between the Pens and Wings I was ecstatic seeing Detroit go down!!! But little did anyone know that Detroit would happened to tie it up three fourths through the third, almost ten minutes later, to make it a nail biter.

OT- Some good chances but no results.

S/O- Results.

First up Det-
Det- Alfy with the miss
Tor- JVR stuffed
Det- The Magician... I mean Datsyuk... you guessed it, he scored Det 1-0
Tor- Lupul popping one past Howard making it 1-1 and keeping it alive.
Det- Tatar getting stuffed by Bernier
Tor- for all the marbles, Bozak putting it away

Toronto wins in a S/O 3-2 and boy were we pumped!!!!

But the most thrilling thing of the day, the trip, was yet to come.

As we pile out and head back to our cars we buy all kinds of cool stuff just to remember it by... But all goes as plans and its time, at like 4pm; to drive back to the Burgh. This four and a half to five hour trip ended up taking a tad longer.

So were traveling down a Michigan interstate headed south about a hour out of the gate from the game and Matt and I are cruising softly around 65 in the F-150 loving life while Lucas and Steven are in the Jag behind us. Well it just so happened Lucas wanted to pass Matt and I for laughs, so he got into the left lane and started gaining on us slowly until a snooty person came up on his ass and forced him into a rough spot of trying to speed up and pass us a little sooner than expected. This is where things turned for worst.

As Lucas and Steven came to pass us they themselves, the front side doors, got to about our front bumper and tragedy struck. They hit black ice. All of a sudden, without a notice or knowing, their Jaguar slid in front of our truck. We were ramming out friends car, my buddy was ramming his relative in the passenger seat of that car. I could see the fear in Stevens eyes when our left headlight was right on the other side of his passenger door window about a foot away right at face level, and its a image I will never forget ever. It happened so fast and so intensely but as if it were a stop in the frame I will never forget that scene and how I braced for myself and for them in that F-150. And then watching them spin off of our grill/bumper to the right, down a inline into a ditch where the woods began until a tree stopped them..... As Matt white knuckled the steering wheel and tested the breaks to their limits.

Before the F-150 stopped I found myself outside of the car running towards my friends friend and relative. I don't know to this day how I jumped to that action but I was running faster that I ever had before. It was real. I didn't know what I would find but I had to get there, time could matter! I hope these guys are alright! As I barrel through knee high snow down the hill to the car embedded in this tree I'm uttering words asking God to help them, to help us. I was freaking out lets be serious. And somehow, by the grace of God, they were both alright. Once they climbed out I immediately took pictures to document without even thinking until someone asked what I was doing and I realized I was doing it so the facts were there and that the insurance companies knew how severe it was.... and eventually Facebook knowing how severe things were haha but really it was proof. After about two or three hours of working with Triple A and getting Lucas's car to a garage we started up again for the Burgh. It was rough. Thinking about how lucky we were, what could have been. Lucas and Steven passed out soon enough but Matt had to keep driving no matter what and I needed to stay awake so he would stay awake. It was one for the roughest rides home either of us have ever experienced I'm sure. Even without the accident, afterwards our energy and focus was tested staying awake since the roads only got worse and our 4.5 hour trip that started at 4pm ended with us getting back to Cranberry at about 3am...

Matt's couch in his basement was calling my name..

Long Island and The Big Apple

As my birthday approached in the year of 2013 I didn't really expect to do anything out of the ordinary since birthdays tend to just remind you you're aging after your 21st. Well, other than that nice drop in car insurance at 26 of course... Haha anyway I can't seem to remember how the idea came to be, if I mentioned it as a possibility or one of my best friends from college, Deanna Cangelosi; had the idea to cross another NHL Arena off my list of to do's. Just so happens Deanna lived on Long Island at that time with her family with Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum not too far down the road that housed the Islanders. Once the idea came to be it was obvious this 25th Birthday of mine was going to be one to remember! Soon enough I was on a MegaBus for the first time in my life headed towards New Yawk in the hopes that my friend would be able to find me and drag me back to Long Island from the busy city where I would surely be confused and in awe of. Thank the heavens the trip there went as according to plan and Deanna was there waiting for me as I crawled out of the monstrous bus after so many hours of travel and directed me to the train where we would head back to her parents in Massapequa Park.

The terrible thing about creating this travel journal years later and trying to catch up is that I can't remember every detail from these adventures and even the stuff I look back on fondly I can't put into words sometimes. I can't express how amazing of a time I had the four days I had in New York state but I'm about to try to an extent.

First off, Deanna's parents are awesome! Haha I made good friends with them and still talk to them periodically I love it! Anne is such a dear, we bonded over watching Pitch Perfect one morning or afternoon and still joke about it from time to time. Tom and I talk hockey on the daily when playoffs come around but I'll send him a message here and there when I catch a Isles game and can catch up a little bit, plus I need to hit up Barclays Center with him next season if the planets align and I get out that way. Anyway the first night in town Deanna shows me around Massapequa's main strip and couple of bars before we head back and prepare for authentic New York Pizza the next day and heading to the Islanders game. I clearly remember the hype Anne and Tom were amping up for this pizza and I have to say, to this day; I don't know if I've had better. I am a full on convert to the New York thin crust and I love it to death!! I almost want to make a trip back just for that! Haha I always order thin crust now when I have the opportunity somewhat reminiscing what we got that day. But later that evening Tom, Deanna, her friend and I piled in the car and headed to Nassau for the good ol Isles game. I'm super happy I got to experience the old barn before they moved on. It showed some history from the brighter days in the franchise and was my first taste of a arena with a backstory. It might have been dated but it still gave off the great feeling the sport itself gives off and I was stoked to be there and explore it either way! I nabbed my official puck and Johnny Tavares t shirt and slipped it on instantly to fit in. That night the Isles took on the Tampa Bay Lightening and gave a honest effort but ended up falling in the end. It still was a great time and left a lasting impression, there was a section all the way up towards the rafters in a corner that was practically the only section up high filled with fans that were clearly die hards from the glory days. This section filled the entire arena with noise and led the chants every time, it was refreshing to see some real fans that stuck it through thick and thin and still found joy in their hometown team. Nothing against pittsburgh but after their slumping years and a rise to fame there has been a large increase in clueless "fans" and its nice to see the people that really live for it.

The next day Deanna was to show me around New York City since I was/am the definition of a tourist and help me see everything important. Little did I know till a couple weeks before I embarked on this trip, because Deanna couldn't contain the surprise :P; SHE BOUGHT US TICKETS TO THE PENS IN MSG!!! Not only did I get to cross the Isles home off my bucket list but also the Rangers at Madison Square Garden andddddd the Penguins were playing them! Two Days, Two Arenas. Crazy! Okay so we had a awesome time at the Isles game the night before and went out afterwards with Deanna's friends so today we were kind of taking our time and just taking in NYC on our own pace haha. It was sweet though, I got to see Grand Central Station like I had seen in movies before but it just felt surreal once there and seeing all the people scattering, bolting, to their next train. We got to see St. patrick Cathedral I believe it was, that was in the middle of reservation but the Altar was still breathtaking and a place I knew my Uncle Al whose a Deacon has told me about before. As well as the ice rink in Rockefeller square and Times Square. Probably the most lasting impression of the day (besides the hockey game of course) was heading to the top of The Empire State building. I know how everyone had talked about it and its importance but little did I know about the view I was about to take in. Deanna booked us a special tour to the top that we could stand almost to the edge of the roof with panes of glass fencing us in. It was surreal. It was scary. I had to stand there and just look in every direction a few times and take it in, take in all the buildings around me, all the people that could be in those buildings, all the business and work going on, crazy. We got to look off each side of the building for about twenty minutes before being ushered to head back down to ground level. But on our way to the elevator (which was the fastest most weird feeling elevator I've ever been in) I decided to kneel on a deep windowsill and look down to the streets below and immmmmmediatly felt nauseous hahaha. I knew I had some of my dads fear of heights in me but oh my God looking down there I nearly jumped backwards from the window in fear of tumbling through the clear stable glass to the distant streets below. I still get shivers. Anyway, it was off to MSG!

One of the coolest things I thought about Madison Square Garden is how its multi-layered. Our train into town was on one level and then a couple levels up there was a ice hockey arena that's arguably the most famous in the world. All it takes is money, as my father has always said. I happened to visit MSG a year or shortly after they had renovated it and I didn't realize how excessively nice an arena could be. For instance I remember there being LCD tv's in the most unnecessary places around the arena just because. In the second section of seating there was a front row of tv's because apparently people can't see the ice right in front of them... God. It was sickening to an extend haha but it was beautiful I can't deny. We had some great seats in my opinion, I don't know if I mentioned it before but my ideal seats are second section up on a blue line. These were a bit towards a corner but it didn't matter one bit, I love how at that height you can see a whole play come together and watch everything without missing a beat. People can pay extra to be on the glass and see the players up close and lose track of the puck, give me the cheaper seats and a great open view any day. Dressed in my Staal jersey I was representing and getting a few evil eyed looks but everyone was surprisingly kind, except for this lil guy a row in front of us! Haha he was probably about 7 and had a Nash jersey on and he and I were talking trash the whole game! Well, as well as any 7 year old can... it was awesome, his mom was watching the whole time making sure it was civil but we had a fun time telling each other that their team was going down! Anytime there was a crazy play he would turn around a make a face or shout something funny and Deanna and I played along which made the night that much more fun. Somehow we were treated to a nail biter that went to a shootout, and not any shootout but to one that went (if I remember correctly) 7 players per team. The beauty of it was that either Malkin or Crosby was out so it came down to some unsung heroes and Sutter was the name of the game. Not only did he score to force OT I think but he also was the deciding factor in the shootout, that I know for sure! Somehow he had King Hanks number that night! Our little friend in front of us was definitely down after the outcome but boy was he mature and shook my hand telling me it was a good game. Stay classy bud.

After a train home and a few hours of sleep it was rise and shine to head back to the big city to catch my MegaBus back home. Things started off smoothly and about half way through the trip when we stop at State College in PA our bus decided to give out on us. Yup I was stuck there for around three hours till a new bus from pittsburgh came to get us, and then drive that three hours back. Boy was that a ride back for the ages, its one thing to wander around Walmart for three hours on a boring night with nothing to do but when its your only option it gets old fast.

Would I do it again though? Hell yeah. Will I do it again though? Hell yeah.