Category: Cross Country Page 1 of 7

As before, by the numbers:

• 4326.4 mi on 140.25 gallons of gas, for an avg 30.84 mpg
• 18 states (NH MA CT NY NJ PA OH IN IL WI MN SD NE CO UT AZ (briefly, spent no $) NV and finally CA
• 15 days
• five moose
• 400+ buffalo
• one five foot rattlesnake
• 287 MIT nerds in Vegas
• 15,000 foot skydive
• and two badass new room-mates

Flying back to Boston tonight finish up at the lab, so my west coast residence isn’t quite permanent yet, but I’ll leave my heart (and all my stuff) in Berkeley.

Jumped out of a perfectly good airplane this morning. My instructor, Leonard, was also a former aero engineering student, so we had a nice relaxing technical talk about the safety systems and the aircraft capabilities on the way up. Before we slid out the door he said: “whatever happens, I’m coming down with you.” True to his word, we landed safely. Checked another item one off the lifelong to-do list.

Following my foolish tradition of traveling to the desert every summer, I somehow convinced Ruth to hike 15 miles in the 100 degree heat. Because we only had one sturdy pack, I carried the majority of the weight. By the last mile, I acknowledged the justice of her skepticism. Still, the photos speak for themselves.

Finally got to the mountains!