Spring Break
The Daily OrangeHit the open road: Students recount their summer roadtrip experiences
By Abram Brown
Posted: 4/28/09, 6:47 AM EST Section: Feature
Case Wayne also decided that last summer seemed like the perfect time for a road trip. So Wayne recruited three friends, packed up his Cadillac Catera and left their hometown on Long Island.
The key to Wayne's road trip was lots and lots of planning.
A sophomore entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises major, Wayne started planning potential pit stops over Christmas Break. He and his friends had their entire route planned out: Indianapolis, Chicago, Mount Rushmore, Colorado, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland would be the main stops.
The group ran into an adventure in Wyoming when their TomTom failed them. The GPS told them to turn off the main highway, but the road they wound up on was an old highway used years before and it was badly in need of repair.
They kept driving down the road further and further. Wayne nearly missed two antelopes crossing in front of them. Then things went from bad to worse: the car ended up slipping down a steep embankment and getting stuck.
When they couldn't get the car out themselves, they tried to call AAA, but couldn't get any service. They left the car, hiked past rattlesnakes and spent shotgun shells until they reached high ground where they could get a signal.
"When they finally found us they had to tow us out," Wanye said. "And we drove back from Wyoming with my rear bumper bungee-corded to my car."
Despite all the adventures and hours spent in the car, both Wayne and Rabinak said they would plan another road trip in a heartbeat.
"It's nothing you could possibly understand until you've done it yourself," Wayne said.
adbrow03@syr.edu
The key to Wayne's road trip was lots and lots of planning.
A sophomore entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises major, Wayne started planning potential pit stops over Christmas Break. He and his friends had their entire route planned out: Indianapolis, Chicago, Mount Rushmore, Colorado, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland would be the main stops.
The group ran into an adventure in Wyoming when their TomTom failed them. The GPS told them to turn off the main highway, but the road they wound up on was an old highway used years before and it was badly in need of repair.
They kept driving down the road further and further. Wayne nearly missed two antelopes crossing in front of them. Then things went from bad to worse: the car ended up slipping down a steep embankment and getting stuck.
When they couldn't get the car out themselves, they tried to call AAA, but couldn't get any service. They left the car, hiked past rattlesnakes and spent shotgun shells until they reached high ground where they could get a signal.
"When they finally found us they had to tow us out," Wanye said. "And we drove back from Wyoming with my rear bumper bungee-corded to my car."
Despite all the adventures and hours spent in the car, both Wayne and Rabinak said they would plan another road trip in a heartbeat.
"It's nothing you could possibly understand until you've done it yourself," Wayne said.
adbrow03@syr.edu
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