12:00 am January 21, 2015

The drive to Valpo was uneventful and short. Kileigh and Dan finally got to see the wonderful state that they have heard so much about. At this point on the trip, not a single person that we have stayed with has made a positive or even neutral comment about the state of Indiana. Don’t get me wrong, I love Valpo, but it is one of Indiana’s only redeeming qualities.

Indiana State Line

We drove directly to campus and parked in a lot near the softball fields. It was evident just by the lack of available parking that there has been a significant increase in the student population in the last few years. It was also weird to see the massive new dorm building that went up across the street from Scheele in the last year. We started off our campus tour in the Union, mainly because it was time for our regularly scheduled bathroom break. We then headed over to Scheele to meet up with my friend, sorority sister, and junior civil engineering student, Dana Hinaman. Josh Young, another one of my remaining Valpo friends and fellow Hesse Scholar also met us there. Josh and Dana filled me in on the latest Valpo gossip and changes while we gave Dan and Kileigh a tour of campus. We started at Scheele, where they were amazed that I managed to spend three years living in the tiny cramped space that is a Valpo dorm room. Next we trekked across campus over to Gellersen, the engineering building. There were definitely some familiar faces around there still. We stopped and chatted with some seniors in the senior design lab area before continuing on to go meet up with Allie Pohl, my one and only little, at the Christopher Center.

Once we picked up Allie, we continued the campus tour and walked through the library and the chapel and ended up back in the union. It was a little surreal to sit in the café again and just hang out, but at the same time I really enjoyed it. We chatted about engineering, Valpo drama, and the future. As much as I wanted to just sit in the café for hours for old times sake, Dana, Josh and Allie had studying to get done and we ourselves were on a pretty tight schedule, so we said our goodbyes and well wishes and headed off to our dinner destination, Duffy’s. Duffy’s was our go to bar senior year. Mainly because it was the only one within walking distance to our apartment. It’s really just a smoky townie bar with cheap drinks, nothing too spectacular. But, they do have a great wings and you can’t go to Valpo and not at least stop at Duffy’s. After dinner, it was time to hit the road once again. That was my first trip back to Valpo since graduation and I’m glad to know that things are still well there and it’s been left in good hands.

The BEST Little ever :D

Just hanging with some of the coolest civil engineers around. 

Cheers to Valparaiso and Duffy's!

We were headed to Fort Wayne, to spend the night with a good friend of mine from High School, Casey Bresser. About ten minutes into the drive, Dan came up with a crazy idea. The idea came out of the fact that we were concerned about getting to New York at a decent hour the next day, as well as figuring out parking in the city. He suggested we just make Fort Wayne a pit stop/recovery location and drive through the night to New York. At first, I thought this was a dumb idea and I was not keen on another overnight drive. But after thinking about it some more, the idea grew on me and it really did seem like a good option. I called up Casey to see how she felt about the change of plans and she was totally cool with it. And as quick as that, the plan was changed.

We got to Casey’s place about 9pm. Kileigh and I decided to downsize the amount of luggage in our suitcases to make things easier in New York. So while Dan napped, we sorted through piles of clothes, shoes and toiletries. My suitcase was definitely lighter after repacking, but somehow Kileigh’s got heavier. Overall, we spent a few hours organizing, relaxing and chatting with Casey. She told us about her PA studies and let us page through some of her very large pathology (or something like that) books. I would call it a very educational stop.  We hit the road again around 11:30pm and stopped at a Wendy’s for Frosty’s on our way out of town. After the frosty, my voice regained some of its strength. It’s still not completely back though. 

Casey and I, both looking our finest.