"Dad, did you get the PowerPoint I e-mailed you?" Yes, my sister Jennifer made my dad a PowerPoint, and yes, it contained the sound of a car engine roaring.
The Urban family debate that culminated in this PowerPoint had begun a few weeks earlier when I packed up the contents of my first-year dorm room and headed north on I-29 toward home.
After I began a full-time internship that required a 45-minute commute to Falls Church, my sister was relegated to having our mom pick her up after school in the minivan and drive her to work. Not only did this cost my sister cool points, but it also meant my mom had to waste time in rush-hour traffic. So eventually, my dad gave in and graciously bought us another car, which of course meant that I would be lucky enough to bring my car to Charlottesville this year. What else could I do to celebrate this exponentially increased freedom but go for a joyride?
I still remember the first time I went for a joyride. After nine months of driving in parking lots and religiously following the speed limit with my parents in the passenger seat, the day I got my license I hit the open road - OK, well, as open as the congested Northern Virginia roads can be. "God Bless Texas" was blaring on the radio, and I felt more free and in control than ever before. Of course, the nervousness of being a new driver led me back home within 20 minutes, but I eventually overcame my initial fears.
Through the rest of high school, when my friends and I couldn't find something to do on a Friday night, we'd simply hop in a car, cruise down the winding roads of Thompson and Vale and talk about our futures. We'd scope out our future mansions in Great Falls. We would flip a coin to decide whether to go right or left and eventually wind up back where we started. We'd get lost out near Loudoun County and hope our parents didn't notice how long we had been gone - or how much gas we had used.
My not-so-environmentally-friendly Friday night rituals often took me down the back roads, but I spent my last night before leaving for college taking a joyride on my favorite road of all: the Fairfax County Parkway.
Although most people might categorize their favorite road as something more scenic, such as the Pacific Coast Highway, or more adventurous, such as the Autobahn, mine is a thoroughfare that makes most commuters cringe. But for me, it is the road that takes me to all my favorite spots in the place I call home.
Whether it was driving home in the dog days of summer with my moon roof open as the humidity subsided for the night, or listening to the same song on repeat a little too loud with my sister as we drove to Fair Lakes Shopping Center, the Parkway was my conduit. Two left turns and two right turns away from my house, it's a road on which I created a lot of memories.
Unlike other major thoroughfares, the Parkway is luscious and green with its grassy divider in the middle and tree lined sides. It doesn't have an annoying number of stoplights. And with a speed limit of 50 miles per hour, it doesn't take too long to get anywhere. It's the ideal road for a joyride - and the only road I considered for my last drive before I headed off to school.
Now fast forward back to this summer when I learned I would be getting to take my car to school. I immediately began planning my joyriding routes. Although I love the University, sometimes it's good just to explore greater Charlottesville and remind myself of the existence of the outside world. By the end of the first few weeks of school, I had taken a few rides to clear my head and even found a section of I-29 between Wal-Mart and Target that reminds me of my favorite road back home.
However, I soon discovered the clich
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