Global Traveler

Part One: The Drive Home

I thought this might be a good time to recap our journey to CT since I have nothing to do here and that trip was unfortunately the most exciting thing to happen for me in a while. However, I know that I am long-winded, so I decided to break up the visit into digestable sections for your reading pleasure.

After a bet with Chris following a late night, Jed and I hurried to get out of the apartment by 4pm Sunday, March 28. It wasn't really too difficult, but we kept remembering things we wanted to bring. We left in plenty of time to win our $20 and fill up with a tank of gas.

Jed provides all the pictures on his website, so rather than repeat all that work you can just go there and have a look. We made it to Missoula, MT the first night. We had to smuggle the cat in since we chose a non pet friendly hotel. We had it down to a science though and it was no sweat. The cat was so good in the car and even better in the hotel.

Day two proved just as boring as Montana is huge and uneventful. We did, however, pass a sign for the Testicle Festival. I didn't get the details, but we laughed for a long time. The elevation changes proved difficult for our little angel to handle and he barfed in the back. We cleaned him up with a wet nap and gave him some lovin' and he slept the rest of the way. Then we saw what appeared to be a tornado. We aren't sure but that is what we would like to think. Then Jed got a ticket. Honestly, how can you NOT speed on the flattest roads on earth? We made it to Bismark, ND to another no pets allowed hotel.

Day three started really well because of the Starbucks located across the street from the hotel. It was very cold and snowing and windy though. We were ready to charge through and made it all the way to just outside the time zone change in South Bend, IN.

Day four sucked. It rained and my butt was really starting to hurt. We ended up in Clearfield, PA where our only food option was KFC, which made me sick. Pennsylvania remains my least favorite state. I have been to (I think) 41 states, so I believe I have a good basis for judging. I have never had fun in PA and the weather is never good and it is very boring and I just hate it. Oregon runs a close second for least favorite.

We arrived to CT on Wednesday and vowed not to do a road trip for a very long time.

Now.....a couple notes about the drive.

Let's discuss Jed's driving habits. For example, he likes to multitask. Our constant concern for the cat kept him partially turned towards him with one hand shoved back to pet him. Beautiful landscapes, sunsets and what we consider a tornado kept his other hand busy taking pictures. But regular pictures weren't good enough. Vidoes and 'artsy' photos that include thought and set up were his preference. You may wonder how he was able to drive. Simple. He used his legs. When one hand wasn't busy with the above tasks, he played with the iPod or the radio or thumbed through his CD collection to find the right music. But perhaps all these activities kept his speed down, because when he was fully focused on driving, he got a speeding ticket.

Now, before anyone accuses me of not helping, I want to explain my position during all this. Yes, I was the passenger. No, I didn't drive. Yes, I did sleep on occasion. Yes, I kept forgetting my one responsibility of locking all the doors when we got back in the car. Yes, I kept screwing up the directions. BUT, there are legitimate reasons for all these.

1) the car was packed so full that the seats were propping up all of our crap. Jed, having the height advantage, had the seat as far up as he could make it comfortable. The passenger seat accomodated my vertically challenged position in that it was almost as close to the dash as it could be. I could not reach the pedals in the drivers seat and Jed would not be able to fit in the passenger seat at all. Not to mention, we couldn't find a place for Jed's laptop bag or my suitcase sized purse, so they had to occupy the passenger floor which meant my feet couldn't go on the floor. I didn't mind but I would have put my feet on the dash anyway. I don't think Jed would have found it that comfortable.

2) Because Jed had to drive, he was exhausted by the time we got to the hotel. He had no problem acclamating to our new schedule. I, didn't have as easy of a time. I was often up until 3am reading or watching Nick at Nite. When we woke up at the god awful hour of 8am I was wiped out and needed sleep in the car. What else was I going to do? And to be fair, I didn't sleep that much.

3) I offered. I offered to do everything. I would pet the cat but he was stratigically placed so that I had to unbuckle to pet him. I wanted to take pictues but Jed insisted he do it. I offered to drive, but Jed was stubborn.

There was very little substance to this post, I realize. I tried to make it seem very exciting but it wasn't. Jed and I had a blast but I think it was because of the sheer insanity we experienced from about an hour into the trip and on. It wouldn't make for good writing.

Hope you could stand this.....stay tuned for the next installment which will feature ugly Borrington, Patheticut.

Posted by karen at April 10, 2004 06:58 PM