Friday, July 8, 2011

Day 1: Eastern New York to Central Indiana


We got a slightly later start than I anticipated but by 11 am we were on our way. Passing by Albany, I didn't really feel like we had started the big trip yet. Allow me to say first that New York is a big state. I always knew this but I hadn't quite anticipated the size until we passed all the way through. Admittedly, not a lot to report for the very first leg of the trip. Just outside of Buffalo, we filled up for the first time. We were getting less mileage than I anticipated. Still, we trudged onward to PA.



Around Eire, we hit our first snag--road work and rush-hour traffic forced into a single lane. We sat around, boxed in by trucks for at least twenty minutes before finally getting some kind of momentum. On the plus side, it allowed us to slow down enough to get a good look at an old Pennsylvania Air Guard plane:


Ohio spelled much better luck, by the time I filled up again we were getting much better mileage, I had gotten into the swing of driving and we finally managed to stop for dinner. Allow me to say one thing about car GPS systems though: they demand you obey. While on I-90/80 in Western Ohio it kept tying to get me to swing up into Michigan, the problem being that it made more sense to go through Northern Indiana instead. For at least fifty miles whenever it would recalculate it would instruct me to hook north and even make a complete U-turn back several miles just to follow its directions. Ultimately I didn't "obey the machine." I hope that when the mechanical revolution comes I won't be tortured too painfully for insubordination.



Ultimately, we ended in Indiana, a little more than 100 miles east of Chicago. Mel and I are planning on stopping there for a little bit. We're going to check out the "Boring Store," the storefront for 826 Chicago. Mel and I are wearing our 826 Boston attire for the occasion. Afterward we'll continue onward: Wisconsin, Minesota, North Dakota and then Canada at last. We anticipate we won't be in Canada until tomorrow, but still, quite the drive awaits us.

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