Graduation day. Getting up and having things semi sorted out, Ryan was cleaning himself up for graduation and I was trying to get things sorted out for our next road trip. Yea, over the past few days I had been talking to Vlady about trying to meet up in her hometown of Springfield, in Missouri. Whilst getting things sorted out, we had the door to his apartment open. Fixing up the sofa, that I had been sleeping on, there was a knock on the door and a lady walking on in. Ryan’s mum was followed by in a chap, who I had no idea to who he was. For Ryan’s graduation we had only been expecting to see his mum, but much to Ryan’s surprise his brother had come along too. I think his name was Michael, but one thing was guaranteed, the surprised look on Ryan’s face was one to remember.
We left for the graduation at a bit of a fine line in regards to final times. At the university, Ryan was one of the last in his group to get there but still with time to spare. Ryan’s family and I went about sitting in what we felt was the most appropriate place considering how full it was already. Slowly the people started coming in to the main playing field of the stadium. From the deans, to the lecturers then to those graduating. We could not exactly see where Ryan was sitting, but from seeing the way people were situated with the arrangement and the names were listed in the booklet we had received at the stadiums entrance, we were able to get an approximation of where he was sitting. The person prior to Ryan had been called, upon this we got the cameras ready and zoomed in as far as possible, both via the lens and via digital zoom. So, about 20 shots were taken. Ryan, once again, slowly disappeared into the wave of black gowns. After roasting for a short while, and a discussion on what we should do (stay longer or make a dash for it), we decided to go back to Ryan’s place.
After Ryan’s mum and brother meeting someone they knew, we got back to Ryan’s apartment. A short while afterwards Ryan came through the door. With barely a word said, I could feel something was not exactly right. Ryan mentioned something about the wording of his thesis not being precise in the various booklets and other information produced by the administration, except for the actual certificate. Ryan had done his thesis on writing in the Middle Ages that had a focus on the Old English writings (correct me where I am wrong). I could not remember the exact title, but I know there was definitely a big reason to be upset with what had happened. Within moments, Ryan had written an email to his aunt, as well as verifying what he had sent them was the correct title. Well, I would have been bloody p’ed off myself, so with whatever the outcome was, I hope it turned out the best.
It was now time to try and grab something to eat before the waves of people came from the graduation. We went to a place I had seen frequently, but had yet to dine at. Applebees was, I thought, a good place for a franchise. Sitting reasonably quick, and getting food reasonably quick we watched as the crowds rapidly grew after our arrival. By the time we left Applebees, the line for the people to be seated was already out of the door. It was not exactly a cool day.
Amanda had invited Ryan (and guests) along to where her family was staying. Here we were able to meet mother (again), father (again), sisters, aunts uncles, cousins, niece and grandma This time had to be cut short as Ryan’s family had to get back to their own things, and we had to start making a general way over to Springfield. Saying our goodbyes, and well wishes, Ryan and I were dropped back at his apartment to get his car. We started heading to a town that was renowned for having the yellow brick road. As we were heading that way, Ryan’s car managed to get a flat. Pulling over and checking the tyres, we had a flat due to a shard of metal being jabbed through both the wheel and the tyre. As Ryan was in the process of taking off the wheel a guy in a 4WD pulled over to see how we were handling the tyre change. I thought this was a remarkable thing, especially as this was also the first car to pass us. If in Melbourne, and two guys were pulled over with car issues, I doubt if anyone would even contemplate pulling over.
While starting to tighten the bolts to the tyre, Ryan received a call from his mum, telling her the situation we organised to meet at the town just before her home town of Iola. So, on the road again we met up with them at the corner of the two main roads in the town, this was also where the only gas station was and I think instead of a set of lights they had a four way stop. As soon as we had parked the car at the gas station, Ryan’s brother pulled up right alongside us. Switching the tyres, and getting a drink due to the weather beating down upon us, we ended up changing our original course of driving. Ryan’s and my first aim was to drive to a town with a yellow brick road, yes kind of ‘Wizard of Oz’ style, but this had to be changed to allow for the time needed to fix up the tyre properly and switching the tyres back again. This detour allowed for me to be able to see the sights of Iola, including the haunted theatre that Ryan had worked at, his house, various hang out spots and we also had the opportunity to wave to a couple of passing drivers; Iola, what a friendly town.
Getting the phone call, whilst at Ryan’s mum house, we ended up getting the tyre at Michael’s house, this was a fairly nice laid out piece of property with plenty of space for their two kids to play around on. Meeting the kids soccer mum and having a bit of a chat was delay enough for our adventure. The back way allowed for us to see sections that one probably would not want to spend too much time in. One section, apparently, was were the Mafia (of Kansas) would go about tying blocks to people’s feet, and dropping the bodies in water filled caverns that snaked along under the ground in tubular like tunnels.
Drive, drive, drive, the paths were kind of well tended to for the drivers of Kansas. The sign down the road was saying welcome to Oklahoma, here the road turned to mulch. The bitumen was poor quality, the roads edge had severely deteriorated and well, it really was not that pleasant to drive on. The aim was to at least say that I had been in Oklahoma, and this meant I had. We went down to the first main intersection, and went back in a North Easterly direction to Kansas. Just on the Kansas side of the border we had some huge dinner, I think I had some Okra.
Us having dinner, while still in Kansas, kind of made us understand that we needed to get a boogie on. So, after stuffing ourselves full, we got on the road again and soon enough were in Missouri. Driving along we saw some random signs in regards to certain XXX stores. Apparently there are a large number of XXX stores in the state of Missouri. When we first got into Springfield, I gave Vlady a ring to get the specifics on how to get to her place. Well, I kind of heard about 50% of what she said, with this limited knowledge we made it relatively close to her place. I think with the entire trip to Vlady’s place we only did one slightly incorrect turn, which was easily remedied.
So, finally at Vlady’s place we knocked on the door. Vlady opened the door and we oohed and aahed at each other, while hugging. The one thing that I really wanted to do was to meet Vlady’s boyfriend, Miro. Vlady was always saying that his humour was great to get to be a part of. So, Vlady gave us a run down of what she would like us to all do, while we were visiting for the weekend. After she had done this, Miro walked over to his little collection of hard alcohols and poured several glasses. Ryan and Vlady declined the opportunity, but I thought he couldn’t drink alone and this was a part of his culture. Feeling the burning texture going down the throat relatively smoothly was both over bearing but yet pleasing. We got Ryan’s and my bedding area sorted out, while getting ready to go to a Greek night out at an Irish bar (or something along those lines). Getting there I realised there were to be a battle. Ryan, Miro and I all tried to out do each other with buying the other people drinks. To make the others feel more appreciated I eventually declined in the battle. Vlady said that was a wiser thing to do, especially as Miro would feel offended by having the guest buying drinks. While at the bar we danced, drank and met some others who were originally from another country (Albania, Croatia nad several others). Oh yea, I forget his name, but the other person who shared with Miro and Vlady was the guy from Albania.
Several hours of frivolity led to the end of the night and us needing to get back. Sitting around at the apartment we chatted for a short while longer before retiring.
