#GONM_2019 The First Day - We leave

Why is it that the second I sit down in a car for a long trip, bam!, I am starving? I feel like I haven’t eaten in days. Even though we just had lunch? 

Is it because of (choose one):

A: an irrational fear that we won’t find kosher food on our trip?

B. I am thinking of all the yummy food in the giant cooler as well as the smaller cooler in the car, both packed to the gills? (Not to mention the soft sided cooler on the floor in front of me conveniently placed for easy access. Or of all the snacks that don’t require refrigeration.)

C. I associate sitting in a car with eating, like Pavlov’s dog (the bell was just a translation error from the Russian)?  

D. all of the above?

We leave at 2:10 pm on Tuesday April 30^th. Pesach was over motzei Shabbos. 2 ½ days ago.  

Car odometer is at 880 miles. Trip odometer, 0.

We are apparently taking everything we own. The car seemed so big when we got it.

Sprinkler is set up to water the front lawn. We do not know that it is going to rain the entire month of May in NJ. (June apparently also, but we will be home by then.)

Waze directs us to the NJ turnpike S to the PA turnpike W.

Everything is so green. Picturesque farms with picturesque cows.

I follow along with a map on my lap. We have already gone 2 ½ inches!

I collect travel info I don’t need at each stop. I can’t help myself.

Hit 1000 miles on the new car at mile 120 on the trip odometer.

I love the Susquehanna River!

At 4 hrs we have gone 250 miles.

Logged the first one or two stops with great precision - name of rest area, time and odometer at stop, length of stop.  After a few stops, who cares.

Lighting changes from sunshine and blue skies to rainstorms and fog.

Am expecting Ohio after we pass south of Pittsburgh. Suddenly we are in West Virginia. Huh? Examine the map closely.  Who knew there was a 5-15 mile wide tentacle of West Virginia between Pennsylvania and Ohio?

We stop for the night at the Comfort Inn Triadelphia, WV. Mostly pickup trucks in the parking lot.

We have already driven thru 3 folds of the map and are starting the 4^th.

1^st day Edison, NJ to Tridelphia, WV. 389 miles. 6 hours 15 minutes.

Tuesday April 20th - On the Road Again!

We are off on another adventure! Our immediate plan is to be in Denver for Shabbos, then a 10 day flatwater canoe trip on the Colorado River through Canyonlands National Park, Utah. Followed by a few days in Canyonlands this time on land, and Shavuot in Phoenix. After that, who knows?

But for the next few days we are going to be spending most of our time driving.

The past week had been extremely stressful due to a family medical issue and even though we continued preparing for this trip, we were not even sure we would be able to go until about 17 hours before we left.

Once we started driving, however, we started unwinding. We enthusiastically sang Simon and Garfunkel’s “Looking for America,” off key and settled in for the long haul.

This first day, we drove from home to John Bryan State Park, just east of Dayton, Ohio. 9 1/4 hours driving, 587 miles. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. We could see redbuds and something(s?) with white flowers blooming along the highways most of the way!

By the time we got to the campground, the adrenaline that had been fueling our drive along with plain old gasoline, had just about run out. This was not the nicest campground, but we were very glad to be here.

We walked around a bit just to stretch our legs. Tons of spring wildflowers! Perfect end to the day.

On Which Side Would YOU Pass, Right or Left?

Deciduous Cell Phone Tower

Who knew cell phone towers could drop their leaves in the winter?

Or maybe the loss of leaves was just from an infestation of some very stupid insects.  


Here is another cell tower,  
of the "Palmaceae Turrim Cellulam" species.

It's Important to Coordinate

My umbrella:

I took the picture of this cute family from under my umbrella:

My umbrella also happens to coordinate well with these:

Just sayin' ...

Not a Good Combination

Not such a good idea...

Rise of the Supermoon Over Las Vegas Bay Campground Tues 2/19/2019

Moonrise 5:50 PM 

Supermoon Over Las Vegas Bay Campground Mon 2/18/2019

Moonrise 4:36 PM

 

We Invite You To Spend Your Entire Paycheck For A FREE Drink!

You gotta love Vegas.

Bike Permanently Chained to Pole on North 8th

Too bad they didn't chain it to the tree behind it instead!

When Your Car MUST Match Your House (and more from New Castle DE)