Much later in the night, around 10 PM (we left at 4), we finally got to our hotel, but not before going to this insanely-priced Mexican restaurant, where I only had enough cash to get a hamburger, still amounting to $10. The dinner war relatively quiet, as the bothersome people were sitting at the other end of the table. After the uneventful dinner, we stopped by the hotel and crashed there for night, watching random shows on the television (including the movie Maverick). Sleep ensues, and we get up, getting ready for the beginning of the tournament.

The first day of the tournament was pure torture, as we got creamed by pretty much every team out there, being lucky to end up 4-9 on the day, a record we shared with the other DePauw team. Again, we go back to the hotel, and there the plan is to just be a team and go to a place that offers the online trivia service NTN, of which I wanted no part. I mean, honestly, how could these people not get tired of trivia after spending seven hours being squashed by better teams? Obviously, the differences between what I wanted to do on this trip and what they wanted to do were growing at an exponential rate, and I decided that a friend and I were going to take a cab over to the mall and spend some time chilling out there while they ate. The high point of the day came on the taxi ride there, as by sure luck we got the most interesting cabbie of all time, a college graduate who was going to Portland the next week to play for charity.

The mall itself was pretty pitiful, except for the groups of High School students coming into do a form of a scavenger run. Not very interesting in and of itself, but one group that came running in had a domo-kun doll! I mean, how freaking cool was that? We wait what seems to be eternity for another cab to take us back to the hotel, and get back to alternating between 3000 Miles to Graceland, Chris Rock show, and pro Hockey. We again go to bed and set out for the second part of the tournament, in which I do much better, as it is all forms of questions about popular culture. I get questions right pretty much about the websites I go to, including fark.com, homestar runner, as well as Ghost World (how could they ever start a question with "Written by Dan Clowes"?).

Having our stuff packed into the van already, we begin our trip at about 6 PM Sunday night from the University itself, a trip well started because of the leader of the team forced us to wait while he had to get a trophy for the most incorrect answers during the tournament. So, we were set to get into Greencastle about midnight, and we drive,drive,drive home, finally eating at a burger king at about 9 PM just after getting into Indiana. I left behind the rest of the group by walking out early to the van that we were taking the ride home in, and I started to feel weird. Not exactl7y sure of what, but just weird. We were going to switch drivers so this same person could sleep, but the other leaders of the team made him drive some more.

And then that's where the drama began. We were just above Marion, Indiana, and the leader of the team was continually switching lanes and still going a little over the speed limit in hard snowe. People are talking about how they aren't afraid to die, and that the road seemed to be clearing up. And, in the one of the bigger acts of avenging hubris I've seemed, we slide into the median, do a 360, and smack the back end of the van on the median again. We slide to a stop blocking both lanes of traffic, and we all run out of the van, as smoke started filling the cabin (we later learned it was the release for the air bag). Me and a few other of the team jump in the back of this pickup truck, where we are constantly buffeted by wind and snow, to be dropped off at the next exit.

A number of other accidents stranded people in the same gas station we were currently staying at, waiting for the other members of our team to show up. In small groups, they did, with luckily no serious injuries. Another group, a youth group from Indianapolis, was nice enough to rent us out some rooms. For whatever reason, some other members go out and are driven by an uncle of one of the leader's of the team to the kid's house, where we crash for the night. One note about the house, though, and this house was one of the largest and most beautifully done that I've ever seen.

We are lucky to get out of that aforementioned house so early, as I get into my class, which I cannot miss another day of, with like 20 minutes to spare. Mind you, I have wild hair, I haven't showed since Saturday night (it was Monday at the time), and I am tired beyond belief, as I finally get to bed about 3 in the morning. The results of the crash were really light on me : both legs still hurt, but only one has a visible bruise, and my neck and arms are the slightest bit sore. I don't think anything was permanently injured, so unless some new things happen to me, I won't need to go to a doctor. I also quit the team, not because of the crash, but of getting tired of being fed up with about half of the team's behavior and attitude towards me. What a fun weekend!


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