Nationals Day 1: A Journeyman's Prelude

Around midday Thursday March 28th, 13 of us congregated outside the rec and began the trek towards Columbus Ohio. Our first stop, Dallas. Once there we feasted on a meal courtesy of Ryan McManus’ mother. Bellies stuffed and hearts warmed we departed for the airport. This was my first (and ironically the shortest) flight that provided TV’s in every seat. You could even play games against other passengers! Prior to touchdown in Ohio, I soundly defeated Nolan Persyn in games including but not limited to: chess, battleship, and tic tac toe. For reasons above, he outperforms me in swimming 9 times of 10, so I take my dubs wherever I can. With my rival wholey demoralized, I was finally able to brave the cold midnight weather of the state I would be competing in with some of my closest friends. Nolan talked some smack about Lebron to an Ohio Uber driver and a healthy amount of late night Denny’s hijinx concluded the long day of travel. I rested my head on my A&M pillow and slumbered beneath the hotel sheets while the body beside me subconsciously twitched every few seconds. The looming pressure of the days to come lurking in the abstract beneath both of our dreams.