30 dollars is what it cost to completely fill up my Toyota Highlander hybrid.

Seven of us squeezed uncomfortably into the SUV for the three-and-a-half-hour car ride to Illinois. Nick brought a suitcase on wheels which he placed in between the two people stuck in the third row. "Jesus man, we're only going to be gone for one day"
Will sitting in the front passenger seat and feeling overwhelmed by the amount of stuff in the car muttered to me, "I'm gonna toss it out the window" referring to his now empty movie theater popcorn container he had brought to share. Jokingly, he rolled the window up and down so the wind vibrated nauseatingly through the car. I laughed at the thought of him flinging it out onto the busy highway. Through the car stereo we blasted old FIFA tunes, the up-tempo world music filling the car with nostalgia. I thought of all the long weekend trips my parents and I made for tournaments and games, consistently driving four plus hours to watch me kick a rubber ball around for ninety minutes.

It was 2.48 for the starburst and Arnold Palmer when we stopped to stretch our legs.

And the plastic bags which the cashier placed our snacks in were free.

Grant was from Scotland and asked us if we had ever tried Irn Bru, a sweet, orange, super carbonated "bevvy". Nick who was more than happy to tell us about the many many times he had flown to Scotland and Australia to visit friends, said he wasn't a fan, "Irn Bru is gross it tastes like bubblegum". We arrived at the hotel a little past midnight, all quite groggy and not particularly looking forward to the 8am alarm which would need to be set in order to make it to our first game on time.

The two rooms which were provided for us by the University cost 41 dollars each.

Josh complained, "How are there only three outlets in this entire room, and none of them are near the beds?" The next day after a free complimentary breakfast of waffles and OJ served on plastic plates and in plastic cups we drove the few miles from the hotel to the artificial turf fields. There was not a single cloud in the sky, this was good news for me because I hadn't bothered to fix my broken windshield wipers which would leave us stranded on the highway if it did end up raining on the way back.
The fields were located right next to a row of frat houses. When we weren't playing, we watched the frat boys with their backwards hats and basketball jerseys enjoy the nice weather by climbing onto each other's shoulders and jousting with plastic tubes, cheering every time someone fell onto the grass. Their beer cans and cigarettes littered the lawn. In between our second and third game we walked a half mile to a local subway.

9 dollars for a footlong not 5 despite what your T.V. jingle filled mind may tell you.

We ended up winning three of our four games and decided to celebrate by having a team dinner at Portillos before driving back to Iowa City. "It's only 50 cents more for a large shake, you're wasting money if you don't get it" The food came wrapped in paper in brown paper bags on plastic trays. I was happy we hadn't asked for it to go as I didn't want to deal with emptying all of the trash from out of my car.

Fries, a large chocolate malt and a beef sandwich totaled to 13 dollars

At the gas station Gabe asked if he could use the car charger I had brought since his phone was dead.

There was no ethanol option at this station, a full tank was 36 dollars.

The two boys stuck in the third row dozed off right away. The rest of us filled the time talking. Grant told us he believed in the lochness monster, his accent making it hard to tell if he was joking or not. How could someone believe something so obviously untrue? Was there not plenty of evidence to prove that the famous picture of Nessy was just a stick floating in the lake? A bug smashed into the window and I couldn't wipe off its splattered guts. I told Will about my windshield wiper and how I hoped we wouldn't have to pull off the road if a drizzle began. He replied, "I wish we could just take a train". The stars in the sky were bright and filled the mostly empty highway with light. "You know most of those stars are already dead.. It takes light so long to travel and they're so far away that you're literally looking at the past". As everyone started to fall asleep tired from the sun filled day of soccer, I thought about our own star dying and the demise of the planets it fuels. Someday in the far distance, life on Earth will completely disappear, and there will be nothing left but an empty rock floating in darkness.

172.48 dollars