The trip to Lake Winnipesauke in New Hampshire was off to a bad start. Two of the five travelers were still sound asleep at 11 a.m., despite our previously planned departure time of 9 o'clock. But finally, after a much-needed trip to Dunkin' Donuts and several ATM stops, we were on the road for a day of sun-basking and craft-purchasing. We decided to take a voyage to this particular lake after one travel companion conducted an Internet search for New England events and came across this small-town craft fair.

Our expectations for the journey were scant-we merely wanted to drive to a pre-determined destination and make the most of our last weekend of little work.

Lake Winnipesauke, located in Alton Bay, N.H., is roughly two hours away from Brandeis. At 12:24, we were just passing Concord, Mass. Visions of wooden geese wearing bandanas and flags with inspirational sayings flew through our heads and hearts. The scan button on the radio had been engaged constantly since we had gotten into the car. By 1:40, the arguing over song choices had escalated into nearly unbearable screeches and aggressive dancing. Our spirits were dropping, and so was the needle in the gas gauge. The sounds of our grumbling stomachs were on the verge of settling any and all arguments about what to listen to. We decided to stop for lunch and gas in Gonic, N.H., at a place called Wild Willie's, which also has a location in Watertown. Having heard good things, I convinced the carload of day trippers to make the stop before we arrived at Lake Winnipesauke.

Burgers were ordered all around and ranged from the original Wild Burger to the more daring Wicked Burger, which included caramelized onions. The burgers ranged from $5 to $7 and were of decent quality. The onion rings were phenomenal, but the raspberry-lime Rickey was overpriced at $3. It resembled a glass full of Robitussin, and, despite being "freshly squeezed," it burned my tongue with its artificial flavors.

Signs advertising fake entities such as "U.S. Marshall Office" and "Big Horn Cattle Company" cluttered the walls alongside the likes of cowboy hats, cowbells and oversized wrought iron keys.

Despite the stunning decor, all I could focus on was the hollowed, rotting brown lime floating in my much-anticipated bummer of a Rickey. Too many dollars and one unwanted serving of mayonnaise later, we were back in the car and on our way to water and crafts.

About a half hour later, we passed a sign for the Lake. Cheers exploded throughout the car, and eventually we spotted the white tents of the craft fair.

After a stressful search we found a parking spot and fell out of the car in a fit of groans and stretches. The first craft I saw immediately upon standing on the sidewalk was a pot full of ceramic mushrooms. The smell of clam strips wafted into my nose, and I cursed my decision to stop at Willie's.

After a hard two days of reviewing new course syllabi, it was nice to lie out on the cement ledge above the lake and listen to the waves lap against the side.

One young lad holding a terrifyingly large iguana in what appeared to be some sort of leather holster was attracting a crowd. Passers-by stopped to ask him questions, and he divulged that the lizard's name was Piko, which I initially mistook for Teacup, and that he likes to eat salad.

After about 20 minutes of people- and lake-watching, we decided to drive to another spot on the lake to rest until it was time to go home. Already the cool breeze was starting to cause our teeth to chatter and our skin to prickle, but after driving for so long we were determined to stick it out. So we drove until we found a sign for Gilford Beach, where we split our time between swimming and preventing sand from invading our orifices.

Not long after, we were back on the road heading home. This trip wasn't as much about the destination as it was about the drive. So the next time you're desperate to get off campus for a day or two and don't really care where to, find a random event taking place a couple hours away and just drive. You may end up finding a mildly lame craft fair.

Lame or not, however, a day in the car with friends-arguing about music and playing unsuccessful games of you-say-an-actor-and-I'll-say-a-movie-he-was-in-and-you-say-another-actor-who-was-in-that- same-movie-fills any need for a change of scenery.