Parking Lot Charles example essay topic

1,337 words
Between study group, debate, and chess tournaments there wasn't much of a social scene around Winchester University in Omaha, Nebraska. The school year at this college was year round, but the students were given a 30 day summer vacation in July. The majority of the students went back home to visit their families during this time. But as juniors at the University Charles, Fredrick, and Stanley, all childhood buddies, decided it was time for a change and that they needed a little more spice in their life.

Realizing that they were almost twenty-one and had never breached their comfort zone, they knew a road trip was in store. As June came to an end the nearly grown men finished exams and planned to leave for their escapade the first day of July, also being the 1st day of break. They made a pact to keep the trip a secret until their return, for the main reason that their parents wouldn't approve. If their families had any question as to why hey weren't coming home to visit, they would simply say they were staying at the University to get ahead on the following year.

This would be a reasonable lie, because no one would expect them to do any different. The morning of their departure they loaded all the luggage and food that they could into Fredrick's forest green Ford focus. Before they pulled out of the parking lot they had to lay some ground rules: ~ No school attire ~ No proper English ~ No acting like themselves, only the new "cool" young adults that they were. Freddy, as they called him, established one last rule.

They were to stop at four places and the rest of the time they were driving. This gave them a reasonable amount of time to live and get back to the University to start the New Year. And now... they were off... As Freddy peeled out of the parking lot Charles, sitting in the passenger seat, turned on 93.3 KNP modern rock...

The first 3 days of their trip were mainly getting out of the places they had seen time and time again. They didn't experience much except for driving and eating as they reminisced on the past. Stopping frequently for Stanley's immensely small bladder they reached about 50 miles the first few days. As they approached the evening on July 3rd they drove by a college, and decided to see if anyone would let them crash for the night. When the obviously preppy, geeky, education fees walked up the stairs to a dormitory they could hear loud music filing their ears.

Knocking simply didn't work so they just walked on in, thinking that they could go unnoticed with the amount of people swarming everywhere. Almost immediately upon entering they were attacked by a flock of screaming woman running down the halls on what seemed to be a mudslide and hearing guys "hooting" from nearly every direction. Unaware of what was going on, the guys started to look for an empty room, when Charles and Stanley soon ran into two bare hairy chests at eye level. After telling their story to the two much larger guys, they were told that they had been introduced to their first ever frat party. As the next two days passed they partied, only stopping to eat and sleep for a hour at a time.

They left the Frat house two days after they arrived feeling as though they had accomplished what they set out for, little did they know that there was more in store. The following two days were spent on the road, enjoying each others company and being free from the stress' of college life. They had traveled about 250 miles within two days when they passed by a huge shopping mall, they knew they had to stop. The girls at the Frat house had taught them a thing or two about fashion and they figured it was the time to splurge and get in touch with the latest trends. The enormous mall had a hotel right in it, and they all agreed that they would stay there for two days and check things out.

After maxing out their trust funds and parents credit cards for "Emergencies only" they packed up the Focus and headed out, with the new wardrobe they were so proud of. Stanley offered to drive but forgetting of his bladder problems had to stop every couple hours. This put them at a rate of 200 miles in three days. Charles and Freddy were sleeping when Stanley screeched the car to a halt in the middle of a four way intersection.

Being awoken by the shock the guys were forced to look directly at a billboard advertising "The World's Greatest Amusement park". Unanimously they agreed to go to the park. Upon arriving at the amusement park the guys were in awe of how packed the parking lots were. They soon found that if they wanted to experience a full out great time then they would need to stay for a while. They decided that it was worth it so all of them throwing money in for a hotel for ten days and tickets to the Park for unlimited use cost them almost everything they had left. After getting settled into their room, they went to explore the grounds for the rest of the day and planned on actually starting to do things the next day.

The guys recognized that there was an entire water park and beach included. They were wearing new outfits, looking sharp, and turning many heads. They felt on top of the world, like they were in paradise. They had never in their lives received so much attention before, the only thing that even came close was when they were being pushed around by bullies in high school. Then the call came... Their parents had found out...

All three young man's parents had gone to surprise them with a visit only to find out that they weren't there. Being the intelligent people that they are, they knew that their only supply of money was the credit cards. So they checked the accounts, coming across nothing, because they had maxed out EVERYTHING. After several hours of tracking the parents, found out that the last use of the card was used to pay for a ten day hotel room at "The World's Greatest Amusement Park". They contacted the Park and left a message for the guys, to contact them immediately and to come straight home. As they packed to head back they knew they were in for it, but also knew that they had finally became their own person and were not longer afraid to have fun.

Pulling out of the parking lot was as though they were leaving all their newfound glories behind. For awhile they were depressed and quiet on the return home, but then Charles spoke up. He said that they weren't realizing what they had just done, that they had just accomplished everything the set out on the trip for, so what if it was cut short, we still have our dignity and our pride! He continued on this pep talk for a hour or so. When they had been traveling for around four day and reached only 200 miles closer to home they decide to make one last stop with the 23 dollars in cash that they has left, and order drive-through food, which was a bid no-no before their adventure. They ate as they drove and saved some for later, so they could last the final two days and 400 miles of their Road trip.