Day Four began with the Scarborough "Bronx" Expedition taking a badly needed rest. We went to visit Dad's cousin, Jean Keller. She prepared an amazing breakfast of biscuits and gravy for us and then we talked with her until about noon. We hopped in the Penske and commenced our journey again. The day was a light driving day; we only traveled about 250 miles. There actually isn't much to report. Dad and I split the driving evenly and we arrived at our hotel in Dubois, Pennsylvania early. We had a great dinner and went to bed, preparing for an exhausting 200 mile drive the next day ;)
The Penske Truck count dropped off rather drastically today. Apparently, people move over the weekend. We only saw 13 Penske Trucks, 9 U-Haul Trucks, and 3 Budget Trucks. Here are the top five things learned during the drive:
1. Apparently, July is turtle mating season.
2. Penske trucks have excellent brakes and Dad, believe it or not, still has a decent reaction time.
3. The scenery in the Eastern United States makes the West look like a desert . . . wait a minute! It is a desert!
4. After traveling with someone for 2,000 miles, you do eventually run out of things to talk about.
5. Nothing says I love you quite like a small, inexpensive, memorial pin from each state driven through.
Day Five began at the excruciatingly early hour of 8:00 a.m. We hurried as fast as we possibly could and managed to hit the road at the crack-of-dawn; 10:00 a.m. We then drove for an interminable 4 hours, traveling a mind boggling 210 miles. We then stopped in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania and rested for the final 81 mile push into the Bronx! Dad and I are excited, although the impending unloading of the truck is a dark cloud that casts its shadow over our sunny mood. Regardless, the journey will soon be over. The Penske Truck count was even lower today. We saw 7 Penske Trucks, 4 U-haul Trucks, and 3 Budget Trucks. Here are the top five things learned today:
1. You never get used to the smell of turtle crap.
2. The Appalachian Mountains, while beautiful, aren't really that big.
3. Growing a chin beard is an itchy, scratchy experience (this one is courtesy of Dad).
4. Pennsylvania drivers are really quite nice, particularly when compared to Utah drivers.
5. After taking five days to travel across the country we have come to the realization that our nation is freaking huge!
We plan on leaving tomorrow at 4:00 a.m. in order to punch into New York. Stay tuned for the final updates.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Go East, Young Man (Days Two and Three)!
The continuation of our journey saw us awake at the relatively late hour of 8:00 a.m. and ready to depart at around 9:00. We left Rawlins, Wyoming amid sunny skies and dispositions, eagerly anticipating a pleasant, if somewhat boring, drive across the plains. By Grand Island, Nebraska, however, dark clouds had gathered, both in the skies and in our souls; the weather had taken a turn for the worse and the rocking of the truck was rather severe at every bump. We still had not figured out the problem at this point. By the time we arrived in eastern Nebraska, however, the skies had cleared and both Dad, the turtles, Leo, and I were feeling better. We intended to spend the night in Council Bluffs, Iowa. There were no rooms available, though, and we were forced to drive to Des Moines, Iowa. We arrived there at about 1:00 a.m. and immediately went to sleep, hopeful that the next day would prove better. We did learn several new items of information. Here are the top five lessons learned on Day Two:
1. My damn father has to have his damn breakfast!
2. Turtles do not enjoy riding in a shaking Penske truck cab . . . at all.
3. When annoyed, turtles crap everywhere . . . a lot!
4. Ball pythons apparently have no problem with cross country moves.
5. Moving trucks must have weight distributed evenly or else they will violently rock back and forth at the slightest bump in the road.
The moving truck count has produced some rather remarkable information as well. Despite my previous claim that the ratio of Penske trucks to non-Penske trucks had to be at least 3 to 1, it is apparent that it is closer to 1 to 1. We saw 53 Penske trucks, 34 U-Haul trucks, and 18 Budget trucks, for a total of 105 moving vans.
Our third day began with Dad and I partially unloading the truck and redistributing the weight more evenly. The results were immediate and amazing. No longer did we rock back and forth violently at high speed. Needless to say, Dad and I were extremely relieved that the prospect of prematurely ending our journey with the truck on its side in the middle of the freeway was over. Other than that, the trip was rather uneventful. There's just only so much one can say about Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. We did drive by Notre Dame, with Dad fondly waving from the truck. We stopped for the night in Marion, Ohio, and will visit with some relatives tomorrow morning. The critters are still rather irate, but they seem to be doing fine otherwise.
The top five lessons from Day Three are:
1. Turtle crap stinks.
2. Marion, Ohio is in the middle of nowhere.
3. No matter how fast we try to drive, we can only average about fifty miles per hour in our Penske truck.
4. Semi-truck drivers are the self declared kings of the road. They do what they want and no one can stop them. I really want to drive a semi!
5. Trying to locate natural rocks from each state for a collection is really quite difficult when one can only look near the Interstate. Everything there is gravel.
The moving truck count produced results similar to yesterday. Penske had 69 trucks on the road, U-Haul had 50, and Budget had 16. Once again, Penske received more than half of all moving trucks observed. Stay tuned for more exciting news from the Scarborough "Bronx" Expedition.
1. My damn father has to have his damn breakfast!
2. Turtles do not enjoy riding in a shaking Penske truck cab . . . at all.
3. When annoyed, turtles crap everywhere . . . a lot!
4. Ball pythons apparently have no problem with cross country moves.
5. Moving trucks must have weight distributed evenly or else they will violently rock back and forth at the slightest bump in the road.
The moving truck count has produced some rather remarkable information as well. Despite my previous claim that the ratio of Penske trucks to non-Penske trucks had to be at least 3 to 1, it is apparent that it is closer to 1 to 1. We saw 53 Penske trucks, 34 U-Haul trucks, and 18 Budget trucks, for a total of 105 moving vans.
Our third day began with Dad and I partially unloading the truck and redistributing the weight more evenly. The results were immediate and amazing. No longer did we rock back and forth violently at high speed. Needless to say, Dad and I were extremely relieved that the prospect of prematurely ending our journey with the truck on its side in the middle of the freeway was over. Other than that, the trip was rather uneventful. There's just only so much one can say about Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. We did drive by Notre Dame, with Dad fondly waving from the truck. We stopped for the night in Marion, Ohio, and will visit with some relatives tomorrow morning. The critters are still rather irate, but they seem to be doing fine otherwise.
The top five lessons from Day Three are:
1. Turtle crap stinks.
2. Marion, Ohio is in the middle of nowhere.
3. No matter how fast we try to drive, we can only average about fifty miles per hour in our Penske truck.
4. Semi-truck drivers are the self declared kings of the road. They do what they want and no one can stop them. I really want to drive a semi!
5. Trying to locate natural rocks from each state for a collection is really quite difficult when one can only look near the Interstate. Everything there is gravel.
The moving truck count produced results similar to yesterday. Penske had 69 trucks on the road, U-Haul had 50, and Budget had 16. Once again, Penske received more than half of all moving trucks observed. Stay tuned for more exciting news from the Scarborough "Bronx" Expedition.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Go East, Young Man (Day One)!
This morning at the eye-blurring hour of 5:30 a.m. Julie and my exodus to the Bronx entered its final stage. At that time, my father and I loaded a rented SUV with baggage, soda, and four reptiles and left for Provo to begin the process of moving a family across the country. Arriving in Salt Lake City at approximately 8:30 a.m., we enlisted the help of my brother Daniel. The three of us then picked up the 16-foot Penske truck that I had reserved and convoyed over to the storage unit. The fun was about to begin.
The loading of the truck went remarkably well. I organized the packing inside the truck, while Dad and Dan brought boxes to me. We were done in a mere hour-and-a-half. We then transferred the pet snake and three pet turtles to their carrying cases, Dad took Dan back to Salt Lake City, and I traveled into Utah's nether regions to drop off my SKS rifle with my cousin Scott (honestly, Scott; you live in the boonies). Apparently, the rifle I have proudly owned for the past 12 years is illegal in New York; although I would most likely never even fire the gun, in order to avoid any annoying legal entanglements, I opted to leave it behind. After delivering the rifle, I returned the rental vehicle, joined Dad, picked up a couple of loaned textbooks, and, at 2:30 p.m. the journey began. It has been educational, to say the least. Here are the top five things I have learned so far:
1. There are an inordinate number of people moving in Penske trucks. I will start an official count tomorrow, but the ratio of Penske trucks to non-Penske trucks has to be at least 3 to 1.
2. When you are driving a slow cargo truck, other drivers tend to communicate their feelings by using sign language; it generally involves fist shaking and emphatic pointing with the middle finger.
3. The kitchen staff at the Little America restaurant in Wyoming apparently have
no concept of time as modern society understands it.
4. A loaded 16-foot Penske truck tends to rock from side to side if the driver hits bumps in the road at high speed. Needless to say this is disconcerting. Additionally, large bumps at more than 70 miles-per-hour cause the truck to launch into the air for a short distance; tired drivers and snoring passengers have been known to find the associated adrenaline rush the perfect cure for drowsy driving.
5. When one is tired after being awake since 4:00 a.m., even Rawlins, Wyoming looks inviting.
We camped for the night at the Best Western in Rawlins, Wyoming. While we seem to have made little progress, I would like to point out that my plans called for an initial departure of early Saturday morning. We are, therefore, ahead of schedule and ready to tackle another day of driving. Stay tuned for important updates and more nuggets of information as the journey continues...
P.S. - I really miss Julie.
The loading of the truck went remarkably well. I organized the packing inside the truck, while Dad and Dan brought boxes to me. We were done in a mere hour-and-a-half. We then transferred the pet snake and three pet turtles to their carrying cases, Dad took Dan back to Salt Lake City, and I traveled into Utah's nether regions to drop off my SKS rifle with my cousin Scott (honestly, Scott; you live in the boonies). Apparently, the rifle I have proudly owned for the past 12 years is illegal in New York; although I would most likely never even fire the gun, in order to avoid any annoying legal entanglements, I opted to leave it behind. After delivering the rifle, I returned the rental vehicle, joined Dad, picked up a couple of loaned textbooks, and, at 2:30 p.m. the journey began. It has been educational, to say the least. Here are the top five things I have learned so far:
1. There are an inordinate number of people moving in Penske trucks. I will start an official count tomorrow, but the ratio of Penske trucks to non-Penske trucks has to be at least 3 to 1.
2. When you are driving a slow cargo truck, other drivers tend to communicate their feelings by using sign language; it generally involves fist shaking and emphatic pointing with the middle finger.
3. The kitchen staff at the Little America restaurant in Wyoming apparently have
no concept of time as modern society understands it.
4. A loaded 16-foot Penske truck tends to rock from side to side if the driver hits bumps in the road at high speed. Needless to say this is disconcerting. Additionally, large bumps at more than 70 miles-per-hour cause the truck to launch into the air for a short distance; tired drivers and snoring passengers have been known to find the associated adrenaline rush the perfect cure for drowsy driving.
5. When one is tired after being awake since 4:00 a.m., even Rawlins, Wyoming looks inviting.
We camped for the night at the Best Western in Rawlins, Wyoming. While we seem to have made little progress, I would like to point out that my plans called for an initial departure of early Saturday morning. We are, therefore, ahead of schedule and ready to tackle another day of driving. Stay tuned for important updates and more nuggets of information as the journey continues...
P.S. - I really miss Julie.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Lack of Blogging Activity
Julie and I apologize for the recent lack of blogging activity. Our move, coupled with my research and the fact that I inadvertently packed the downloading cable for our camera has hampered our ability to post any pictures and accompanying stories. Rest assured, however, that as soon as we are in New York City the blogging will resume with a vengeance. Only a few more days until the cross-country trek begins!
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