I would do a review of 2010, but I don't really remember everything that happened.  Just trust me when I say it was a really super year. 

Instead of telling you about my year, which I've actually been doing all year, I'm going to tell you about my road trip.  And some other road trips.

For New Years, I decided to head up to CT to see Sarah, who just recently moved north from Atlanta, and then head to NYC to see my friend Courtney.  I left yesterday morning at a little after 8, planning to snag breakfast and coffee on the way, stop in NY to see my aunt, uncle, and cousins, and then continue to CT to see Sarah and Bruce.

Once I got on the road, and drove for about 2 hours through the middle of coffee nowhere, I got off in Scranton to go to a Starbucks and get some coffee.  When the barista lady asked if I needed room for cream, I said, like always, nope.  She then filled my cup to the BRIM (I think it was actually overflowing), and when I was back on the road, I proceeded to spill hot coffee all over my hand, arm, lap, cup holder, emergency break, and atlas.  I had to lean over the coffee in the middle of the car to drink it, which I'm pretty sure wasn't safe at all.  And I had no napkins. 

I got to NY without (other) incident, and had a great time visiting with my aunt, uncle, and cousins (they are so big!).  I left around 2, and told Sarah I'd be in CT in a little over an hour.  Lies, all lies.

First, I stopped to get gas and cream soda at Stewart's.  That went fine.  Then, I turned the wrong way to get to the highway, and drove two miles down the road before turning around.  Then, I stopped at the I84 diner to get apple turnovers, because they are delicious, and I could.  Then I proceeded to drive towards their house, miss a turn, not realize it for like 3 miles, get new directions to their house, drive in a big circle, turn the wrong way again, turn around, miss a turn, turn around again, go over a covered bridge, and drive slowly up to the last turn so I didn't miss another one, and park.  It took me over 2 hours.  Whoops.

I'll just consider it a navigational fail. 

Speaking of fail, I have a history of taking ill-advised road trips, or having unfortunate things happen while traveling.  I'll share a few examples.

• Sarah and I thought it wise to drive from Plains, GA to Philly, leaving Plains at about 3 in the afternoon, and stopping in NC for a couple hours and leaving there about 11pm.  We switched drivers every 50 miles, were incredibly grumpy, and saw a house completely engulfed in flames.
• My friend Chris and I thought it wise to try to ride 100 miles on our bikes on a 100 degree Sunday with no stores open to fill water bottles.  We got lost, ended up in Virginia, fought like siblings, and collapsed on the side of the road 15 miles from home when we hit 100 miles, and called his wife (aka "Search and Rescue" to come retrieve us.
• When traveling with a group of youth, I arrived in Mexico City where our travel agent had failed to arrange transportation to our lodging.  We nearly got ripped off by a criminal, were rescued by a cop, and stayed the night in a shady hotel in downtown Mexico City with multiple floral prints in each room, spiral stairs, a whirlpool, a vibrating bed, and a mirror on the ceiling.
• On a plane home from Seattle, Sarah and I had to stay awake on a redeye to do work, and could only use our laptops with the screens folded half down because the people in front of us were reclined and asleep.  We didn't sleep a wink, got to Charlotte, and promptly gave up our seats on the overbooked flight in exchange for two free tickets and time to finish our work. 
• On the way to a conference at Yale, my friends and I thought it wise to leave from NC at 5pm after we finished class, and drive the whole way to New Haven.  We drove around the DC beltway twice because we missed our exit in a hail storm, found the Xlerator hand dryers extraordinarily entertaining at 3am in Wawa, picked someone up at the airport in Newark, missed the George Washington bridge and instead took the Lincoln tunnel into Manhattan at 4am, drove through Time Square, and arrived at the hotel at 7am, enough time to shower and go to the first speaker, where we promptly fell asleep.

I'm driving into Manhattan tonight to see Courtney.  Based on my track record, I may not make it...  But I'm sure I'll come out with at least a good story!

Happy 2011!  May it be filled with new and unexpected adventures!

Kari