About Us


The Open Road Project exists to spread kindness and meet the needs of strangers. We travel in a 1979 GMC Vanguard named Lily. These are our stories.

Friday, July 6, 2012

More Than A Feeling

One of the main reasons we wanted to go through the States was to see the city of Boston. When Lily pulled into town, we drove around to get a feel for the city. Well, we drove around looking for a parking space, but due to Harvard convocation, the streets were packed. So instead we got to use a quarter tank of gas, in traffic, looking out the window. Although this sounds annoying, we love watching people check out Lily, and we're always happy to be in good company with each other.

What was incredibly surprising to us was the number of post-secondary learning institutions in Boston. As we looked at our map, nearly every block had a school.

We couldn't have picked a better day to check out Harvard since most building were open due to the graduation ceremonies.

We felt like the classy members of society that we are when we used the ritzy facilities and drank Harvard water, supposedly the best water in all the land. Naturally, security caught up with us and asked us what we were doing. Since campus tours weren't being offered, we were asked to leave the premises. We did have a nice time at Harvard though, ask one of us about it in person sometime.

This was when Jordan, Dylan and I remembered that we have some friends who go to school in Boston, and they would still be around since they are varsity rowers. We called up Ryan and Steve, and caught them just as they were about to go out to practice. What luck! They told us when practice would be over and where to meet them. After using some free Dunkin Doughnuts WIFI, we headed to their residence and waited.

It wasn't long before we were greeted by our friends. It was awesome to see them in the city they have called home for the past few years. We also met their rowing buddies, and we all looked puny in comparison to these dudes. Colossal human specimens these guys are. Since it was around dinner time, we all went to the cafeteria and had an experience none of us were prepared for.

Not only were we in America, but we were with varsity rowers. We were informed that the meal cards we were given allowed us to eat unlimited everything. We were shown what it means to eat.

We're talking: fine sandwiches, gourmet pizza, burgers, stir fry, chicken fingers, sushi, MILK!!!, juice, soda pop, CHOCOLATE MILK!!, waffles, ice cream, COFFEE!

This list is by no means complete, and we delighted in the largest smorgasbord we have ever experienced.  We were also super thankful for their generosity, as they had to scrounge some extra cards for us.

We had a bed to sleep in!

We had showers!

We even chopped Dylan's flow into a mullet!

Ryan has one of the best mullets man has ever seen, and it was magical seeing someone with a mullet give another person a mullet. These guys took good care of us.

The next day we woke up and did some touring of the town while the guys were at practice. We saw a free organ concert at an old church, checked out the market and hung out by the famous reflecting pool.

We did some more touring and catching up when Steve and Ry finished practice. We also ate some more meals at the caf. We definitely left the city weighing more. Boston is a great place and it was so nice to see these dudes. Both parties to got a little taste of home, something we all were happy to have.

As the trip was winding down, we decided that we still had time to hit NYC, so we began the last leg of the journey that night!