Cross country solo flight

The big day was here... well, one of them at least. There seems to be a lot of big events happening recently.
I arrived to the flight school a little early since the forecast wasn't too favorable for the afternoon. I completed my preflight planning which consists of filling out a form breaking down the trip into segments, so you can calculate distance, time, altitude, wind correction angles, magnetic variation, true course, true heading, estimated time enroute, fuel burn, etc. Not to forget radio frequencies, runway headings, any notices along the way, and so forth and so on. A little different than getting into a car and driving somewhere, but it's worth the time it takes to plan accordingly.

Once the planning portion was completed I was given the keys to the plane which had been topped off earlier that morning. Full tanks for solo = gooooooooooooood. :)
I did the preflight checklist and cranked up the engine (another checklist) and called weather and ground for clearance to taxi.
I completed the runup procedure (another checklist) and was cleared for takeoff to the northeast with a left turnout approved. Shortly after takeoff I was routed to the right instead as there was jet traffic to the left of me and proceeded with my climb out to 5500 feet (another checklist... starting to sound repetitive, isn't it).
I got up to my cruise altitude and proceeded with my cruise checklist, and began my flight out to Anderson, SC. I got a brief tutorial on how to use the GPS system the day before, so this time I had backup, just in case I needed it. I kept the GPS dialed into my destination and used it for verification just in case I needed to make sure I was still on course. Thankfully my preflight planning worked and I was on course the entire time.
I arrived at Anderson, SC and landed on runway 5. The first attempt for landing wasn't shaping up the way I liked it so I did a go around and came back again for a successfull landing. I taxied off the runway and got setup for my next leg of the journey to Gainesville, GA (Chicken capital of the world. You think I'm kidding don't you).
I got the weather report and lined up for an entry into the traffic pattern for runway 23 at Gainsville. The landing went a little better, but I landed a little flat. Still, no harm done. I taxied off the runway and parked the plane while entering in all my data needed to make the next leg back to home base at PDK airport.

This leg got a little interesting as I took off south I noticed the weather system that was forcasted was defiantely covering the area I was supposed to fly back to. I could see that the visibility was still pretty good considering the rain in the area so I made the call to proceed. I passed through some rain which cleared up a bit and I was able to continue my flight without much difficulty. The rain only posed a small issue with visibility, but wasn't enough to force me to turn back.
I radioed PDK for airspace clearance and permission to land and requested runway 27 as the alternate as it lined up with the winds better. They granted a right base entry onto 27 and cleared me for landing.
This was the first time I had ever done flying in rainy weather, much less landing in it, so I was in for an experience. The visibility stayed fairly decent and the rain was light, so the landing went well. I had my hand on the throttle in case I needed to apply full power for a go around, but thankfully that wasn't needed.
I cleared the runway and taxied back to the ramp and parked the plane. Mission accomplished!!

All in all a good flight, I was much more confident this time around than I had been for my local solo flight, so I was able to remember most of the things that I needed to and most important of all, I made it back safely.
Talking with the flight instructor afterwards he commeded me in my choices and choosing the alternate runway. I think they were a little worried as well as they called my cell phone and had the radio on listening for my return to the airport.

What's left?: 3.8 hours of flight time. So I'll probably do another cross country, then finish up whatever local solo time I have and then I'll start prepping for my checkride (Final test). Once I've completed that I'll have my license. Very much looking forward to that.