More lines from Closer (and, more importantly, travel insanity).

[hermionesviolin]

"I wasn't stalking, I was lurking. And when I wasn't there, you looked for me."
"How would you know if you weren't there?"
"Because I was there, lurking from a distance."

"Were you spying?"
"Lovingly observing -- with a telescope."


Booking a $700 flight from Boston to Charlottesville for March 16 to hear Ruth Graham speak at [Poll #452549]
Of course, someone would have to pick me up from the airport (Ari says she can't) and there's the question of how long i should stay....

Comments

[wisdomeagle]

I totally love the juxtaposition of the quotes and the poll. :p

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

*grins* I remembered that i wanted to post those quotes, and obviously this decision needs an LJ poll, and it occurred to me that it's quite a juxtaposition, and i decided i liked it.

[sigrun.livejournal.com]

It may turn out to be a trip you'd never forget. As long as you won't end up eating canned soup for the next year by spending all your money on the flight, I say that you're definitely not insane to go (or, at least if you're insane, it's the good kind of crazy).

[sk8eeyore.livejournal.com]

I just looked at trains, too, and that could cost under $200, and I would so pay for that, or a big chunk of it at least. I am guessing you wouldn't want to spend nearly 12 hours training from Boston to Charlottesville...still...

I would totally want to bring you back to Hollins with me and...then my dad and I could drop you off at Charlottesville when he's driving me home for spring break (not our usual route north, but not terribly out of the way)...and that way you could have roughly equal time between me and Ari and... gah.

[sk8eeyore.livejournal.com]

Or drop you off at MBC, rather... which isn't nearly as far as Charlottesville and even less out of our way...

[sk8eeyore.livejournal.com]

Crap, of course I neglected to click on "round trip," so it's actually closer to $400. Sorry. Taking a bus would be even more grueling, I imagine, but that actually *would* cost under $200.

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Ooh, cheapness. Hmm, there doesn't seem to be a direct overnight train (which would be ideal, 'cause then i could just sleep). The only overnight one in fact, has a 7am-1:005pm layover in DC and gets me to Charlottesville at almost the same time as if i had taken a 5:20am from Boston instead of a 9:45pm. Peter Pan bus service only goes as far as DC, though i could probably get a train from there -- but looking at the schedules, it doesn't seem much of an improvement (11:30pm-10:50am bus, and then there's a 1:50pm train getting me in to Charlottesville at 4pm, which is when the original train options get me in to Charlottesville).

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Hmm, given the unweildiness of trains/buses, it looks like plane would be the best bet. Would you or Jan be able to pick me up at Charlottesville airport? (There are flights that get me in at 1pm, 1:40, or 2:55 -- i imagine the one that lands me around 4:30 would be cutting it a bit close, but i have no idea when the lecture is or anything.)

(And what would the timing like if you took me back to Hollins and then back to Charlottesville? since i have to have a return date to book a flight)

[sk8eeyore.livejournal.com]

I think Charlottesville is about 45 minutes from Staunton/MBC. I don't know for sure what Jan's schedule is on Wed. afternoon, but if she's been planning on this trip, I'm guessing she hasn't made any commitments after her class that ends at 3:00, so we could leave at 3:00 and *probably* pick you up with just enough time left to make it to the program... but I will need to talk with her about it in the morning to make sure, obviously. We might be cutting it close.

We'd take you back to Hollins with us that evening, and I could deliver you back to Ari on Friday afternoon...

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the MBC website says Charlottesville Airport is 45 minutes away. If Jan has other commitments, i totally understand and i'm sure we'll meet sometime down the road.

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Sarah thinks Jan can airport me and will check with her. Sarah would take me back to Hollins with her that evening after the program and then return me to Charlottesville Friday evening, or to MBC if you wanted to hang out with me more. And i totally won't be offended if you have previous commitments or Papers of Doom or something and want me to just fly home Friday night.

[wisdomeagle]

*flails wildly*

That's... YAY! *notfreakingout,notfreakingout*

So yeah, like Sarah, I'd be totally willing to pay, and I'm almost sure I could rook the roommate into giving us a ride to the airport on Saturday if you wanted to hang out Friday night. Yes, I have papers of doom, but who cares? :p

The talk, iirc, is at 6:30 pm on Wed... and it's ~1 hour from C'ville to Staunton... so 4:30 might be cutting it a weeee bit close.

[sk8eeyore.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I need to go to bed, but I'll e-mail Jan first and hopefully have some answers and be able to think more clearly about all of this tomorrow. I'm also wondering about alternative means of getting you from the airport to MBC... Anyway, I'll see what I can figure out.

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, i'm waiting until Sarah confirms with Jan to think about this as a definite, but it's sounding actually workable.

I would love to hang out Friday night. And going home Saturday sounds good since i have to go back to school on Sunday (when am i gonna get any homework done this break? oh look at me not caring. P.S. Gotta love how all 3 of us are still up at 3:30 on a Friday morning :) )

[wisdomeagle]

Oh for yay! JanSarahElizabethSQUEE! Watch me not stop bouncing now till I see you off on Saturday. IF it's okay with Jan. *crosses fingers* *loves on you*

School. Thesis. AGH! :p

Gotta love how all 3 of us are still up at 3:30 on a Friday morning :)

Hee. Oh yeah. No sleep for the silly.

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

I'm also wondering about alternative means of getting you from the airport to MBC...

I was thinking taxi, but if it's a 45+ minute drive, that's gonna be one hell of a taxi fare i would imagine. Though maybe Jan has friends at MBC who could pick me up ;)

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Yup, i'm totally alternating refreshing e-mail with taking notes for the paper that's due in about 12 hours (i had already planned for an all-nighter, so 's all good -- and it's an easy paper anyway).

Even if this doesn't work out, it makes me happy that there are people who are so excited about the possibility of hanging out with me. And it sounds like we're all actually committed to making it work and planning and stuff, which, yayness.

[eard-stapa.livejournal.com]

i agree!

of course, i'm not necessarily the best to ask, since i have a history of making trips like this even when it does leave me eating stuff like canned soup for the next year. but i almost always have fun, and adventures in and of themselves are fun, and i'd rather have good memories/ramen than boring memories/restaurant food. that was a little awkward, but i think you both can get my point. :)

[sk8eeyore.livejournal.com]

I should have some definite info by midafternoon... Jan can't leave campus earlier than 3:00, but I think she'd be willing to come to C-ville if the time frame is doable... which I'm still not entirely sure about. I would of course be happy to help out with taxi fare, too, if that seemed the only smart way to go...

How do you feel about the whole scheme by the light of day? Still up for it? :)

[sk8eeyore.livejournal.com]

Okay...another thought. What if you flew into *Roanoke*? That would totally solve the picking-you-up problem, assuming you could book a flight that arrived before Jan and I are planning to leave for MBC (probably 4:30)! The only problem is that flying into Roanoke and out of C-ville would make things more expensive... You could just fly out of Roanoke, of course, but that would rob you of time with Ari and that makes me feel sad... Hmm...

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

There are flights that get me in to Roanoke around 2pm or 3:15pm. I can ask Ari if she thinks her roommate would mind driving all the way to Charlottesville (and again, chipping in for a taxi is always an option, though obviously not a particularly attractive one).

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

*pokes* (http://www.livejournal.com/users/hermionesviolin/494044.html?thread=1379292#t1379292)

[sk8eeyore.livejournal.com]

The Roanoke airport is literally 5-7 minutes away from campus, and it would be so easy for me and Jan to swing by and get you before driving to MBC. We would still get to MBC early enough that we'd have some extra time to hang out with Ari. It seems that would make a great deal more practical sense, except for that fact that you wouldn't get that extra night with Ari, since I don't know how you'd get back from MBC to the Roanoke airport if my dad and I still dropped you off there on Friday... I'm off to my Jan-meeting now and will look into some stuff.

er

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

and by "I can ask Ari if she thinks her roommate would mind driving all the way to Charlottesville" i meant "all the way to Roanoke," since she already said Charlottesville was probably okay *facepalm*

Re: er

[sk8eeyore.livejournal.com]

*grin* okay, I wondered if that's what you meant. It wouldn't hurt to ask.

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Mmm, this is looking like a good plan. (I totally hadn't realized you were so close to Roanoke or i would have mentioned it earlier, since the MBC website mentions both Roanoke [85 miles] and Charlottesville [85 miles] airports.)

You could drop me off at MBC Friday night as planned, and i could taxi or bum a ride from an Ari-friend to Roanoke on Saturday. (Or, if Ari thinks that's a bad plan, you could drop me at Roanoke Friday night and i could book my flight accordingly -- though looking at travelocity it's looking like there aren't many flights from Roanoke-Boston that evening.)

[sk8eeyore.livejournal.com]

Okay, this sounds great. Yeah, I can't believe I didn't think of you flying into Roanoke earlier... that was just plain dumb of me, but my sleep-deprived brain was fixated on Charlottesville for some reason. :P Anyway, I just got back from talking with Jan, and she's totally into it, thinks it's all very cool and a great opportunity. (She was all, "Ohhh! Liz Carr! She's a good friend!" but didn't elaborate.) We would pick you up on Wed. afternoon and head to MBC... and Jan said that the Ruth Graham thing, in her mind, has mainly been an excuse for me to meet Ruth Ellen all along, and she doesn't even care if the three of us come with her to the actual event, though we're certainly welcome to. I'd drop you off at MBC around midafternoon on Friday, probably, and Jan even suggested that on Saturday, she might be able to pick you up halfway ('cause Staunton really isn't THAT far from Hollins) if Ari's roommate or somebody drove you back, though I'm not sure if she was just "thinking out loud" or if her schedule would actually be clear enough to do that. At any rate, it does seem that all this could work out! :D

[wisdomeagle]

Okay, you guys. I was asleep all afternoon after our staying up too late talking to you guys, but here's my take:

All that sounds really, really nifty... especially the part where I have minimal work to do. I am slightly jealous that you guys would get to spend more time together, but it does sound more realistic, logistically! So I'd be perfectly happy if you went with that plan.

We would pick you up on Wed. afternoon and head to MBC... and Jan said that the Ruth Graham thing, in her mind, has mainly been an excuse for me to meet Ruth Ellen all along, and she doesn't even care if the three of us come with her to the actual event, though we're certainly welcome to. I'd drop you off at MBC around midafternoon on Friday, probably,

That does sound like it would work... but I think at this point the main question has been answered, and it will work. So, SQUEE!