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It was the end of an amazing road trip/vacation, and I’d seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens three times in theaters when I posted the following on Instagram:
However, things had not begun on such a nice note. Days before I was sick and had a fever. College finals were upon me. I was dreading my multi-hour long Russian language and European Federalism/Multi-Level Governance exams. A day later on Dec. 12th I was so many hours into studying after pulling an all-nighter I’d lost count. BUT!! I was happy because I knew in a few short days I would be watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens with my friends in Texas!
On Wednesday the 16th me, my brother Riley, and my friend Steve took off from just south of Atlanta, GA, to head to Austin, TX, and we took C-3PO with us. For parts of the road trip we had lots of fun using the Star Wars version of the Waze road navigation app, the largest community based traffic and navigation app, which currently has available C-3PO’s voice as your guide. Best part? It’s a great app that’s free! https://www.waze.com/download
On our way back from Texas, we also listened to some of The Force Awakens audio book, and The Force Awakens soundtrack (and also tons of Steve’s ’80s music). I also took Wicket the stuffed Ewok with me!
It was a road trip filled with Star Wars. My friends and I exchanged Star Wars gifts, saw The Force Awakens multiple times in 2D and 3D at the Alamo Drafthouse and other theaters, went shopping for Star Wars goodies, and recorded podcast episodes about the latest film. I was sad to leave Texas, but the time came for us to head back home, once again with our trusty, droid co-pilot. Some of my favorite moments with C-3PO as our guide were his overly fussy, worried, and perfectly in character directions. My four favorite quotes are:
Whenever there was a road hazard, 3PO would say in a panicked voice: “Hazard reported ahead; we’ll be destroyed for sure!”
Whenever there were police/an accident reported on the route he would say: “Police up ahead. Don’t blame me, I’m just the interpreter!”
I felt rather like Anakin or Luke whenever he would give directions because he’d call the driver ‘master’ saying things like: “Turn left, master.”
Whenever we arrived at our destination he’d say: “You have arrived. R2-D2 it is you, it is you!” and then he’d make me laugh by ending with: “What a desolate place this is.”
