I'm Here!

I didn't think we'd make it to Indianapolis today, but thankfully we are here safe and sound. I am currently sitting in the lobby of a super nice hotel (why is it that all the nice hotels restrict their free wi-fi to the lobby?) catching up on some school correspondence and relaxing a bit before this crazy week begins. It's been a long day, so I am looking forward to bedtime. I think it'll come soon for me tonight.

Let me back track a bit.

Last night (rather, morning) I didn't get to sleep until 1 a.m. and this morning began at 4 a.m. The girl I was riding with planned on picking me up at 5:30 a.m. this morning but 5:30 came and went. Then 6 came, then 7 and then 8. No Alyssa.

My mom texted me at 5:30 a.m. to see if we were on the road, and when I said "no," she said, "ok, I'm on my way." I would just like to publicly announce that I have the best mom in the world. It's because of her we made it here.

You see when I finally got a hold of Alyssa, I learned her morning didn't go as planned either. We both woke to rain, but Alyssa additionally woke to a flat tire. Her landlord helped her get a spare on, but there was no way we could drive a car with a donut anywhere further than a tire shop, and those don't open until 8 or 9 a.m. We could take my car, but I've been having trouble with the oil and brake fluid levels. After a consultation with Dad, we decided it wasn't worth taking the risk of blowing a gasket and ending up stranded on the side of I-70 somewhere.

Momma to the rescue! She pulled into my condo at 8:30, we loaded up the van and hit the road. She stayed awake the whole time and let Alyssa and I take naps so we'd be rested for our adventure. We'd already made the call to our supervisor, who was extremely understanding. All ended well.

When we got here, we got a glimpse into what we'll be doing this week. Alyssa's internship seems really awesome- she is doing photo essay stories, and then I'm doing a more traditional reporting internship. I'm on the career success beat, so I'll be spending a lot of time in the Career Expo looking for stories. It sounds like we'll have lots of opportunities to be published, so I'm looking forward to what's ahead. A little nervous, but definitely excited.

The only free internet is in the lobby, so I don't know that I'll be doing a lot of personal blogging but I'll try to let you know where my stories end up.