one of the first things jessica and i do when on any overnight trip is this--we relive every ridiculous thing we've ever done in the 90's. troy calls it appo (as in appomattox) night. we have to get appo night done so we can tackle every thing else in the subsequent days of the trip.
appo talk includes but is not limited to: boys, exxon, baseball, boys, the blazers, scraping together change for gas and meals, longwood, the exes, running the roads, and boys. it is our favorite thing to talk about. we haven't changed one bit in 35 years.
yesterday i was trying to think of how to write down some of our stories. just so happens she must have been thinking about ol' ames and i got a text from her. i mentioned the idea of writing down one of our most epic adventures to date. it was about a boy, tacos, and a trip to virginia tech. i could see and hear her laughing all the way in farmville. i got some facts straight in the story and filled in some holes. i thought on it some more and i think it's safe to say that i'm ready to share.....
Tacos, a boy, and a trip to Virginia Tech
a little background for you: i don't remember a time when jessica and i weren't boy crazy. it was the topic of discussion from the time we were in middle school to the current day. now we mainly talk about the husbands of course, but not without a sprinkle of old school appo boys. this time, it was an older boy, from somewhere not appo. *gasp*!! hell, i don't even remember where said boy was from, but i think jessica met him doing cattle shows or some shit. as i remember it, they talked here and there but in reality, it was never anything serious. 1994 us would having us believing otherwise, but i digress.
the other piece of background info to know is this: jessica and i were very resourceful. if we wanted to do something, we would find a way. if i didn't have gas to go somewhere, she drove and vice versa. if we needed food, whoever had money got the food. and it was hella cheap. we weren't the boojee girls then that we are now with our bottled aqua panna fancy water in atlantic city (another story for another day....). we could subsist on two tacos and water. or a cheeseburger and shared dr. pepper. or if we were really trifling, the $1 pb&j that macado's had on special in the mid 90's.
so, it happened that when we were either juniors or seniors in high school, she was talking to this boy who was a student at virginia tech. ooooooo!!!! a COLLEGE boy!!! we hatched a plan to go see him. we took advantage of the current trend of 'family dance night' at cattle annie's, the local club in lynchburg. she had gone there a bunch with her family. i had never been, but wanted to go. let's suffice it to say that i've never been 'family dance night' to this day. cattle annie's was our cover. we scrounged through the cars, figured we had enough change for gas, and hopped in the car to blacksburg. appo to blacksburg takes two hours. had we ever driven two hours anywhere by ourselves? nope. did we care? also nope. were we nervous? um, we were only nervous about seeing the boy or getting busted by the parentals.
we make the drive up to blacksburg. we use our precious quarters to dial up his dorm room. boy's roommate says he's at the library. like we have a clue where that even is. we promptly got pissy that our plan was foiled, but being the girls we are, we decide we need two things: gas and tacos. we prioritized gas, which was smart. we had just wasted at least two quarters calling the stupid boy, which would have bought us a taco. nevertheless, we took handfuls of change to the gas station and got us enough gas to get back to appo. then we took handfuls of pennies to taco bell. if i had to guess we each got one taco and some water. if that's not commitment i don't know what is.
the fact that we didn't get busted is a wonder to me. the fact that we didn't run out of gas was a blessing. the fact we didn't have nary the car problem was a miracle. the fact that we had enough change to make a call, feed us, and give us gas money was a testament to our dedication to the quest that was BOYS.
looking back, i am thankful i had times like that with jessica. youth is supposed to be spent doing dumb shit like that. luckily, i think that is the dumbest shit we ever did beyond being in relationships with boys that were for all intents and purposes stupid shits.
i tell my kiddo all of the time to have these experiences now--go do the dumb shit. go on adventures. live your life. if you're lucky enough to have a bestie to do it with, you're totally winning at life. i really hope that one day, he can come back to me and tell me a story that reminds me of tacos, boys, and a trip to virginia tech.
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