Stacy Kairn

Dr. Cassel

Eng 1201-121

09 February 2019

A Rough Road Ahead

Halfway to our destination and the worst situation that could possibly happen during a

road trip, happened. It was a Friday afternoon and my girlfriend, Leanne, and I had our bags

packed for a miniature road trip three and a half hours away to Cleveland, Ohio to see Panic! At

the Disco in concert. We had our suitcases packed, our hotel reservations confirmed, and our gas

tank was filled and ready to go. Just like anyone who has ever attended a concert, you must listen

to the band or artist’ songs in the car, on the way to the concert. So we did just that, Leanne,

grabbed the aux cord, plugged my phone in, and put the album on replay. We began to drive

down the road for our first miniature road trip!

Our drive consisted of corn fields and rolled hay bales, even though it is not the greatest

sight, we have determination to make the best of it while jamming to Panic! At the Disco. The

song, Impossible Year, was soaring throughout the speakers and we heard an unfamiliar sound

during the song, but only to quickly realize it wasn’t the song. The left side of my car started to

drop, as if you were lowing an adjustable office chair. I instantly thought to myself, oh crap, we

have a flat. I turned the music down, and looked at Leanne to tell her that we need to pull over

because the tire has to be fixed. Her face turned as white as a ghost, and then said, “I don’t know

how to fix a tire, and we are halfway there, we won’t make it in time at this rate”. I responded,

“well lucky for us, my dad taught me how to change a tire”. We both laughed and was thankful

that we did not have to call for assistance. I got out of the car it smelled like burnt rubber and
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hay, from the fields surrounding the highway. As the cars drove by they created a gust of wind

blowing my hair in all directions. Changing the tire in record time, we continued our journey,

back on the road twenty minutes later.

Not letting that minor bump in the road get us down, the destination is in close proximity.

As the mile markers were getting lower and our exit getting closer, our anticipation grew. Finally

the exit, one mile ahead, we turned the music on high and masked any of the city noise with the

lead singer, Brendon Urie’s vocals. Unable to hear the directions on my phone, I was reading the

streets I needed to turn down to get to our hotel. Then there it was, our hotel. We drove around

looking for a parking spot for, at the time, seemed like it took hours. I pulled into a spot and

looked up, with the concert venue adjacent from the hotel. I already knew our hotel was very

close, but not this close! We both screamed in excitement, and started to unload the car. As we

did, we saw crowds waiting outside the door to get into the venue, and then both agreed we will

get over there as soon as we get settled into the hotel. Leanne and I strolled in, walking towards

the front desk, soaking in the beautiful artwork hanging on the walls and the waterfall in the

middle of the lobby. The front desk attendant ask for my name, and license along with my

license plate number. I gave her all my information, and looked at leanne with a smile. The

attendant then walked away for a moment bringing back a well dressed male. He had a suit on

and a tie that was blue with white diamond shapes throughout. He then said to me,

mispronouncing my last name, “Hi, I’m the manager of this Hotel and are you Stacy Kairn?”, I

replied, “Yes”.

“So you are the one who reserved a room?” He asked

As my heart sank into my gut, expecting the worst, I replied “Yes I am”.

“Well, there is an age restriction to get a room here and you do not meet the requirements”
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I replied, “I was surprised as well when the website allowed me to reserve a room, since I was

under twenty-one years old. I even called and they said if the computer let me, then I’m good to

go”. At this point, i’m thinking in my head, please, do not let another bad thing happen to us. I

didn’t want to have to drive almost four hours home after midnight, I was hoping for a miracle.

The manager then looked at my license and then me and asked, “are you going to the Panic! At

the Disco concert near by?” Before I could reply, he stated “I’ll let you stay here, since you are

young and I don’t want you to have a bad experience here in Cleveland.” I thanked him so many

times, as he continued to put my information into the computer, and then handed us our keys and

my stuff back. We got up to the hotel room, with a perfect view of the city. The buildings ranged

from tall to small, being able to see the pool rooftops of the fancier looking buildings. The sun

was setting and casted a light dimmed yellow and red effect throughout the streets and onto some

shorter street shops. We both smiled and agreed to not let another blockade in the road get us

down and got ready for our long night ahead of us.

Grabbing only our cash, tickets, room cards and cell phones we headed out the door.

Leanne and I got into the elevator along with some other Panic! At The Disco fans, it was

obvious because of their shirts. We mingled with them all the way until we got into the line, to

get into the venue. The weather here was horrid, the wind was blowing our hair all sorts of ways

and my weather app stated that it was thirty degrees outside, without the windchill. It felt like a

winter storm brewing. Then finally, it was like the gates opened to the heavens, they started to

allow people to go in. The line moved slowly but only took about twenty minutes to reach the

door and to the person who scans your ticket. I put our stuff into my pockets and we grabbed

hands and walked to get refreshments and souvenirs. Of course every concession stand or

merchandise table had an extremely long line, but with everything that we already went through,
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nothing could get us down. As we took turns holding our drinks, and putting our concert shirts,

that we just bought, over top of our clothes, we then headed on a mission to find our seats. When

we bought our tickets, the seats and area were randomly generated, and gave us the only

available seats that the venue had. So as we were searching for our section, we were growing

worry, until we were then stopped and asked for our tickets. He looked at them and said right this

way, as we followed him down the isles I looked back at Leanne. I did not think we were this

close to the stage, and both of our faces lit up and had smiles ear to ear. We reached our

destination and scooted to our seats. The show started shortly after, the band opened up with

Emperor's New Clothes,

“Welcome to the end of eras

Ice has melted back to life

Done my time and served my sentence…”

there were multiple colored light rays beaming throughout the venue, and the stage was almost

invisible because of all the fog covering it. We sang along to all the rest of the songs, and

occasionally taking pictures of the band who I’ve listened to since middle school. The whole

concert had been everything and more than what I expected it to be, and we created great

memories.

Although the trip up to Cleveland was not how we expected it to be, with the flat tire and

reservations for the hotel, it was a never forgettable lifetime experience with my best friend. We

both have great stories to tell, and laughable moments to cherish and look back at. I wouldn’t

change anything that night with Leanne by my side.