My Poor Little Red Car

My poor little red car has served me well. I drove it to high school. Two sisters after me drove it to high school. Then, one day, I bought it from my parents. Now, it takes me places. Like Ohio.

When we left my sister's college, the GPS lead us a different way than we expected -- rather than back to the interstate, it took us to Main Street. And told us to stay there for 41 miles. We had a few moments of confusion, during which we determined that yes, the GPS was taking us to the right place, and well, we might as well follow it. So we took Main Street as it became a state route. Then we hit something I should have, but hadn't, anticipated.

Mountains.

My poor little red car does not like hills. It does not like to accelerate up them. I do not like hills. I do not like the way they curve in the dark and pick-up trucks behind me get upset because I am not going fast enough around them. As I rounded curve after curve, as I climbed hill after hill, I was so grateful that I had chosen a road-trip companion over an official tour of campus.

After the 41 miles on Main Street, I hoped we would make it onto an interstate. No such luck. We spent most of the trip going up and around and down hills and curves and reading all sorts of warning signs for trucks. Having almost no experience in driving hills, the downs were as bad as the ups. Eventually we made it onto a highway! Other than a brief moment when Percy thought he lost our toll ticket (what do you do if that happens?) it was smooth sailing from the highway to the small PA town. Our turn off the highway led us up and down some roads... and into a tiny town that, even in the dark, seemed a shell of what it once had been. A few more turns and we stood outside a door labeled "The Orchard."

Percy's friend had left the door unlocked so we could slip in without disturbing anyone. After way too many hours on the road, we had finally arrived. "The Orchard" is a non-denominational church that bought its building from a Catholic parish. Percy and I were staying in the rectory portion; the sanctuary was still used for church services. After I dropped my stuff in one of the bedrooms, I got a tour of the building. We wound through a labyrinth of stairs and basements and I got royally lost. The whole place was a combination of homey and office-like, with rooms ranging from offices and libraries, to a family-style kitchen and bedrooms, to a vast array of storage rooms and the sanctuary. I spent a few moments imagining having the run of the building for a year. Not that I would trade my convent and my Six Pack for the world.

We tried to get into the youth center next door, but Percy couldn't remember the code. So we ended up in the library laughing at books and testing our knowledge of Bible trivia (basically, we fail). At way too late an hour, we headed up to bed. One of Percy's friends had prepared for us -- a teddy bear greeted me from my pillow.