Life is better when we’re having fun, relaxing. I wouldn’t want to work 365 days of the year. Vacations are awesome! One of my dreams is to travel across the US with a group of people, so I decided to write a story about it.   

“Wouldn’t it be nice if we could go somewhere out there?” Julie pointed at the sky, her neon nail polish was brighter than the pale stars.

“Where?” I stretched on the metal bench, with my brown hoodie acting as a semi-soft cushion. It was midnight, and it was just the two of us laying on a bench in the bare campus track. Julie was standing up and pointing, her long, thick red hair slightly eclipsing my view of the sky. I’ve known her since the first day of Freshman Orientation when we both found out we’ve never flown on a plane before during one of those “icebreaker” games. We’re both seniors now. Julie’s a History major; she says she’ll audition for “The Voice” after she graduates. I’m a Finance major, and I plan on working in New York City. The only thing we have in common is that we both hate math. I majored in Finance because I knew I would almost be guaranteed a job after I graduate.

“To California.” Julie’s answer surprised me. I expected her to say something less practical, like “Venus” or “Jedha”.

Then I remembered her post-graduation plans. “That’s where ‘The Voice’ is filmed, isn’t it?”

            “I’m not talking about L.A. I’m talking about California.” Julie shook her wild hair, turned around, and stared at me “You get what I’m talking about, right?”

            “Yeah, I do.” I understood Julie. She was the person I didn’t have the guts to be. “And how would we get to Cali?”

            “Don’t know. Maybe some hot guy will take us.” Julie shrugged. I laughed at Julie’s well thought out plan. Our college was in a remote town in upstate New York, eons from Mount Kisco, New York, where I grew up. Julie grew up in Purchase, New York, and claims she’s never been anywhere else, besides New York City. Julie’s dad was older- he retired the year after Julie was born. He was a pilot until his 52^nd birthday when he decided he had enough of working, and flying. He wanted stability, so he re-married (a college professor), settled down, and bought a house on Main Street.

           

            “My parents are weird. They have a normal life, but it doesn’t feel normal. It’s like I’m living in a laundry detergent commercial.” Julie groused during sophomore year when we were both living in Landon Hall. “My dad reads all the time, but he never talks about what he reads. He bought a golden retriever when I was 12 because he said ‘everyone has one’. Except no one in my neighborhood does. My mom’s the girl version of my dad. She makes a pot of coffee every morning, but hardly drinks it. Something’s bound to happen.”    

            It didn’t surprise me when Julie said right as we were leaving the track at 1 in the morning, “We’re going to California.” I didn’t respond because I was thinking of the ramen I was going to make when I got back to my dorm. And how nice a wooly blanket would feel wrapped around me…

            What surprised me was that 3 weeks later we were actually in California.

            Austin was in our “Intro to Psychology” class. He had green eyes, firm biceps, and claimed the first CD he ever owned was Justin Bieber’s “My World”. That was enough for me to like him…along with every other girl in our class. He’d have long, funny conversations with Julie at parties, among other things. I never came close to kissing him, but it didn’t bother me because…well, I’m still trying to figure out the reason.

            Julie mentioned we were going to California one day while the three of us were studying for our Psychology exam in Austin’s dorm. Austin asked how we were going to get there. Julie shrugged her shoulders, “Don’t know.”

            Then he said, “Well, I was supposed to go to a concert in Cali with my brother for spring break, but it got cancelled so we’re stuck with two airplane tickets that can’t be refunded. Dave’s Uncle said he’d pay for us to stay in Puerto Rico so my brother and I are going there instead. Where in California are you going?”

            Three weeks later, we’re on a plane to California for spring break. We’ve never flown before so we were kind of nervous, but it wasn’t as bad as we feared. It was a smooth ride, aside from two dips. As we stepped out of LAX, our dialogue from that night popped in my head. “And how would we get to Cali?” “Don’t know. Maybe some hot guy will take us.”

Austin wasn’t with us, but we had two free airplane tickets in our hands. And “The City of Angels” in front of us. We also had 2 debit cards, 2 suitcases, and not a clue where we were going to stay for the night. I had planned to map out a detailed travel plan, complete with hotel and restaurant options. My parents were glad when I told them I had planned everything out. What they didn’t know was that I had only planned to make a plan. Something stronger than procrastination prevented me from actually mapping it out, and it may have been influenced by Julie who claims she never planned to go to a college in upstate New York, that it sort of just happened.

Julie turned to me and grinned, “Where do you wanna go?”

“Starbucks.” I responded.

Julie gaped at me in disbelief “Seriously?”

            After calling our parents, we got in a taxi, and told the driver to take us to the nearest Starbucks. The March temperature was a warm 75, and the sun glittered on the avalanche of tall buildings. They weren’t as tall as the skyscrapers in New York City, and for some reason, they reminded me of sand castles.

            “I was thinking we should eat as many meals as possible at ‘In-N-Out Burger’ to save money. And then splurge on a nice hotel.” I said. “They have Wi-Fi in Starbucks so we can look through the hotels, and find one at a good price.”

            Julie didn’t respond; she was staring out the window. Traffic was heavy. It took around half an hour to get to Starbucks. The driver helped us with our suitcases after we paid him, and handed us his card, “You girls should call me if you want to go sight-seeing. Rodeo Drive is just around the corner.”

            “We’re not staying in LA.” Julie responded. The driver lifted his eyebrows.

            When we were waiting in line for our drinks, I told Julie that I thought she could have been nicer to the driver.

            Julie laughed “I wasn’t rude; I was honest. We’re not staying in LA.”

            “What? I thought-“ I shook my head in disbelief. “Where are we going then?”

            “Don’t know. Somewhere out there. Maybe to a beach or canyon or somewhere.” Julie bit her lip.

“Sure, some hot guy will probably take us there.” I meant to sound sarcastic, but my voice didn’t cooperate.

Julie said, “No, not this time. I think something else is going to happen.” She nudged me “It’s your turn.”

I ordered a Venti Strawberry Lemonade Iced Tea. All of a sudden I was really thirsty. The freckled barista asked for my name.

“Megan, with no h” I responded.

Julie ordered a Tall cappuccino. She told the barista “My name’s Julie with an h.” The barista looked as confused as I did.

Julie’s cup of coffee came back as “Jewelhe”. She showed it to me, “I just wanted to see how she would spell ‘Julie with an h’.”

Of course. We sat near the window on leather sofas, gulping our drinks. And yes, Julie actually gulps her coffee. She loves the heat. We sat talking about everything and nothing in particular. I tried to steer the conversation into “finding a hotel” territory, but Julie kept pushing it aside.

In the midst of debating “what Al Pacino’s favorite movie would be”, the door burst open emitting a group of sandy people. I say that because all of them had various amounts of sand on their clothing and, a few unfortunate ones, had sand in their hair. Most of them carried cameras and backpacks. One of them drank from an iron canteen. I couldn’t tell, from a distance, if they were men or women because they all wore baggy clothes and had giant goggles on their foreheads. 

Everyone stared at them as if they were part of a circus. The freckled barista frowned as the sand accumulated on the pristine Starbucks floor. This particular Starbucks happened to be twice the size of the one back home, so everyone fit.

They began chattering. I half-expected them to speak in a foreign tongue, but one of them said “Grande Strawberries and Cream” so I knew they couldn’t be that far removed.

Snippets of conversations “Tropicana juice, where you at?” “Camera lens completely shattered, beyond repair” “I can’t believe they didn’t ask for ID”…

            A barista behind the counter cleared his throat “Ahem, are you all going to order something?”

            “Yes, we are.” A female voice spoke. “18 Grande Strawberries and Cream please, with extra cream.”

            The barista forced a smile, and asked, “Sure, what’s your name?”

            “Cindy. But you can put ‘Joe’ on all the cups. That way, we’ll all know they belong to us.” The woman replied.

            The barista looked relieved, “Ok ma’am. And who’s paying for this?”

            “I am!” Cindy pulled a credit card from her sand speckled pockets. Her wavy brown hair was striped with sand, and she wore orange combat boots. She said loudly, “I don’t normally look like this. I’m actually a third grade teacher in Des Moines.”

            Julie said to me, “She kind of looks like Mrs. Frizzle from the Magic Schoolbus.”

            While they were waiting for their drinks, with everyone in Starbucks pretending not to notice them, Julie was devising a plan. I had no idea what she was thinking, but from the way her eyes were flickering, I knew she was conjuring something. So it didn’t surprise me when Julie walked up to the nearest sandy person and asked where she was from.

            “Toronto. We’re all part of a tour.” Julie beckoned me to get out of my seat. I reluctantly put my empty cup down, and walked towards her and the sandy person.

            “Where are you going?” She asked eagerly.

            “Candy Land.” The woman responded with a serious smile. Looking past the sand, I could tell she was in her 20’s.

            “Candy Land? Like the board game?” Julie frowned. “You’re joking.”

            “No, I’m not.” The woman didn’t say anything else. We expected her to continue, but she muttered, “I should’ve told Cindy to get one without cream. Damn.”

            “Where did you all go before this?” Julie asked.

            “We were in the Mojave Desert in Nevada.” The woman said. “I was supposed to go to Las Vegas with a couple of my girlfriends, but I’m glad I came here instead. So much fun. Way better.”

            “How many days is the tour?” Julie questioned.

            “8 Days. We’re on Day Number 2 now, so we have 6 left.”

            “And what state is Candy Land in?” I was curious.

            “South Dakota.” The woman replied.

            I found that a little hard to believe. Julie asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, how much did you pay for the trip?”

            “$400, we have a huge bus that acts as a hotel. It has water beds, and glow in the dark stars. We have very interesting conversations when it’s dark enough to see the stars. Meals are included, but they’re not that good. Today we had French Fries and bagels for breakfast.” 

            “That sounds fun!” Julie exclaimed. “I wanna go!”

            The woman laughed, “Talk to Cindy. She’s in charge.”

           

            As soon as she said those words, I knew we were going to Candy Land. Julie might as well as been a genie. Her powers only worked for spontaneous, fun things, like the time she put on a hilarious musical for Contemporary Literature, instead of giving a presentation. And less for the practical. Julie received a C- for that “presentation”, despite (or maybe because of) her team members’ colorful wigs and blue lipstick.

            And sure enough, half an hour later, Julie made a deal with Cindy. In exchange for letting us join the tour to Candy Land, we would be responsible for the group’s Starbucks intake. Cindy, who also organized the trip, was thankful she wouldn’t have to pay for Starbucks anyone. After making some calculations, I realized that we could pay for 4 trips to Starbucks before we’d go over the cost of the trip ($400), provided that everyone ordered a Grande Strawberries and Cream every single trip. Money wise, it made sense, because we’d be spending most of our trip in places that didn’t have Starbucks or restaurants. And South Dakota wasn’t that far from California. From listening, I realized we would still get back in time to catch our plane to New York.

            Julie was clapping her hands and shrieking like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory. I was quiet and contemplating. Not surprisingly, nothing came up when I Googled “Candy Land South Dakota” on my Android. But by that time, Julie was already on the bus, and there was nothing I could do, or say, to prevent this trip from happening.

            Anticipation should be a four letter word. Such as love. Or hate. I haven’t had this many butterflies in my stomach since the day Austin sat next to me in Psychology class.

Imagination was what helped me escape as a child. My past was very difficult, but I’m thankful I didn’t give up. My autobiography (Amazon Link below) “Fall and Rise: My Journey to Happiness” details my journey from severely depressed to finding happiness. Last time I read my book, I thought: wow I really went through this. It was painful, but everything happened for a reason. I know if I can find happiness, then so can anyone.

Amazon Book Link