June 4, 2006 – sometime after 11 pm
On arrival in Sacramento

The trip ALL the WAY across the country

Because I’m a bit lazy, I woke up early to pack which is extremely dangerous as many travelers know. After throwing a week’s worth of equipment, clothes and necessities into two suitcases, I said a quick prayer that I didn’t forget anything and then walked from East Quad to the Roost parking lot. It seemed like a 1,000 miles away. I was aided only by my Ipod blasting gospel (who blasts gospel?) and my excitement for the upcoming meet.

Although I’m 6’2′ 160lbs, I have the heart of a fit kid and was fiending for McDonalds. Since I’m without a car, after arriving at the Roost, I harassed half my teammates to see if they could pick me up a sausage egg McMuffin as one of America’s most guilty pleasures. Shay Shelton came through and for that my stomach said ‘thank you!’

I sat next to Shay on the bus ride from Columbia to Charlotte where we were flying out. With one headphone each we listened to music, until I woke up at the airport with the bus seat headrest imprinted on the side of my face. I was definitely sleeping hard. I wrestled with my luggage as I went into the airport only to stand in the longest United Airlines line of my life. Good things come to those who wait, so my performances at this upcoming meet better be good.

Our flight from Charlotte to Chicago was interesting to say the least. I sat next to Ronnetta Alexander for a rollercoaster ride that the pilot called a Flight #7603. The turbulence was ridiculous and my stomach was lodged under my brain at one point only to flirt with my toes the next. After getting to stable land in Chicago I braced myself for a 2 ½ hour layover. Keke Clarke and I walked around the airport and destroyed some Boneless Buffalo wings from Chili’s. (Keke was hungry 1.257 seconds later!) We had perfect timing, because when we got back to our gate it was time to board.

The flight from Chicago to Sacramento wasn’t bad at all, unlike our previous flight. I was sleep for most of the 4 hour flight after I finished my leisure reading. The time change got to me however, because I was extremely sleepy even though the sun was still up in California. The rest of the day gets blurry because fatigue does that to ya. We checked into a great hotel, I grabbed some food, and then buried myself in huge hotel sheets. The night was perfect until I remembered the 8:20 am shakeout the following morning. Guess I’ll have to deal with that tomorrow…