PART ONE of a three-part series.
PART II PART III

So for those of you who don’t know, DanielEllis is quite possibly the greatest guy ever.

He also happens to be as badass as they come.

This was not always the case, but a quick stint in West Africa followed by a semester in Athens, Ga. was enough to turn him from the nicest guy you’ve ever met into the nicest guy you’ve ever met who is also a total badass.

This transition is important because if you had told me four-and-a-half years ago…no scratch that. If you had told me last semester that of all the law-bending, debauchery-filled things that I’ve done in my college career, the one that would lead to my first police encounter would be because Daniel Ellis told me to do it, I would have told you that was as improbable as me getting cited for larceny and trespassing.

And I would have been right.

Anyway, to the story at hand: It’s a commonly-known secret (oxymoron, yes) that there is a labyrinth of steam tunnels below

Photo Courtesy Peggy Boone

N.C. State’s campus. There are various blogs that have chronicled exploits within the university’s netherworld  so I won’t take away from their adventures by discussing it further.

Daniel and I (and a number of others who I’ll mention if they’d like to be forever connected to this blog confession of wrongdoing) had already conquered the tunnels. Steam and graffiti and beer and the steam plant…all of that had been accomplished prior to Mr. E’s senior year, so it was time for a new challenge.

Daniel’s network of friends extends across all demographics and across the entire southeast, so it wasn’t long before he tapped into his sources and found a new place for us to explore.

The plans were made, the crowbars were purchased and a date was set.