- Worst Road Maintenance: Oklahoma Obama, please give them some stimulus money, it felt like we were riding on cobblestones for the whole state.
- Best Stretch of Road on Which to Drive: Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway Beautiful scenery, beautiful weather, no traffic, high speeds.
- Worst Stretch of Road on which to Drive: I-40 Memphis to Little Rock There were more trucks on the road than cars, they were all going slow, and with only 2 lanes, it put a serious damper on our average daily speed.
- Best Highway Scenery: I-40 in New Mexico See previous posts as to why, but it was gorgeous.
- Best Food Stop: Owl Cafe (Albuquerque, NM) which puts green chili on everything, and Mary's Cafe (Flagstaff, AZ) which served the best egg and chorizo tacos on earth.
- Top Speed: 86 MPH, reached by both of us at one time or another, mostly on accident.
- Best Road Name: Zzyzx Road (CA). We don't even know how to pronounce it but it is awesome. It is the first exit in CA on I-15 coming from Vegas and I think the one person who lives off this road, some 10 miles from the interstate, thought to himself "screw you, I'm not putting vowels in my road name."
- Best Rest Stop: New Mexico with its friendly staff, who insisted on having a conversation with everyone that walked in the door.
- Cheapest Gas: $2.49 in Oklahoma
- Most Expensive Gas: $3.55 in CA right before the Grapevine on the last stretch going into LA
- Coolest Cargo: Blade for a wind turbine (NM). There were three, each on their own truck, and they were so long that I'm not sure how they are able to make any turns on regular roads.
- Most Entertaining 5 Miles: Chasing a clown who was riding a motorcycle in full costume and makeup (we have picture evidence) on Hwy 99 outside Stockton, CA
- Least Entertaining 5 Miles: the first 5 miles on Hwy 50 in West Virginia, which included the accident
- Most Insects Killed in One Day: 376,028 on the 900 mile day. I think we could potentially be arrested for insecticide
A detailed account of our adventure being unemployed and moving West to the land of fruit and nuts.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Superlatives
One More Causality

Poor little honey bear.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Skillz That Killz

We've unpacked pretty much everything at this point and it seems that the only causalities were three small wine glasses. All of our framed paintings and pictures, dishes, glass lamps and tchotchkes made it in one piece. One small box with two wine glasses from the Darden School of Business at UVA and a third wine glass from an awful vineyard outside of Charlottesville were delivered in pieces. In truth, it was probably our packing job that was at fault as the box seemed to be in good shape. Considering this was the first real move for either of us, we're thrilled that all we lost was three wine glasses (all of which we actually got for free).
Our biggest concern was the dozen or so framed paintings and pictures. We bought (or acquired from our neighbors via the dumpster) real picture boxes, but did without any other protection, save bubble wrap, of which we used about 150 feet. But the contents of all four picture boxes arrived intact.
We've still got a few items left to put away and some furniture to buy, but the apartment is coming together nicely. Once we get everything in its place, we'll post updated pics.
P.S. Bonus points to the first person who can correctly ID the movie from which I stole the title to this post.
Friday, August 27, 2010
And we're back
I took a few pics of the place. Remember it's still a work in progress so please forgive the huge pile of boxes, but you will get the idea.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Our First Dinner
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
The Movers Are Here
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Monday, August 23, 2010
4500 Miles Later
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Change of Plans, Effective Immediately
I'm very excited that we are going to have a permanent address in less than 24 hours; being on the road has been a fun and unique experience, and I'm glad that we had the opportunity to do it, but it will be nice to be "home." And nice to unpack my suitcase that I've been using for the past 3 straight weeks.
Also, check out our new feature at the bottom of the main page - links to photo galleries, available to all to see, through Facebook. We'll keep adding more when we have time (and internet connections.)
Day 9-10: Rocklin, CA
Mileage:
Time:
Gas:
States visited: NV, CA
4000 Miles and Counting
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Day 8: Las Vegas
We stayed last night at the Excalibur right on the strip. Megan's favorite part of the hotel was the fact that we got to stay in a castle. But her favorite part of Vegas was definitely the Fountains of Bellagio (watch the end of Oceans 11 if you don't know what I'm talking about).
Mileage: 398.5 (cumulative - 3338.8)
Time: 7 hours, 30 minutes (cumulative - 51 hours, 13 minutes)
Gas: $34.50 (cumulative - $226.14)
States visited: AZ, NV
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Our Stuff
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
We Made It... Almost
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Random Thoughts from the Road
2. There were more people at the Grand Canyon that don't speak English than those that do. I had no idea that it was an international draw.
3. Mike and I have nothing else to talk about with each other. We've even discussed this fact with each other 3 or 4 times. Being together 24/7 for the past month, many of those hours in the car together, we've exhausted topics of conversation.
4. I packed two full bags of "things to keep us entertained in the car" and haven't used any of them. It is great to see our country and that is what we've been doing instead of reading.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Day 7: Flagstaff, AZ
Around mid-day, we arrived in Flagstaff and began our visit to the Grand Canyon. Before we even got to the Grand Canyon National Park, we had to drive through the Navajo Indian Reservation, which offered some amazing and humbling views. We'll post pics later (probably on Facebook), but the Little Colorado River Gorge provided some amazing views of a site that would be a major draw just about anywhere else in the world. Meanwhile, as you drive through the Navajo Reservation, you see Navajo Indians in little roadside stands selling trinkets. It's a sad reminder of our history and how little some people have.
When we eventually pulled into the Grand Canyon National Park, I was a little surprised that admission cost $25 per car. It only took, however, about 20 minutes to feel that it was money well spent. The Grand Canyon is truly amazing and awe-inspiring. I think Megan said it best when she commented that the views made her feel small.
Mileage: 525.7 (cumulative - 2940.3)
Time*: 5 hours, 8 minutes (cumulative - 43 hours, 43 minutes)
Gas: $37.77 (cumulative - $226.14)
States visited: NM, AZ
*We had to estimate time today because of all of our stops, which were tourist stops, not travel related stops.
At the Continental Divide
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
I 'Heart' New Mexico
As we got closer to Albuquerque, it became more mountainous. And again, they look very different from the Smoky Mountains I'm used to; they are craggy, grassy, and steep.
And finally, I think my favorite part of New Mexico so far is the Owl Cafe, a dive that we ate dinner at last night near our hotel that puts green chili on almost everything they make. And I love me some green chili. I had a roast beef sandwich in a tortilla with green chili inside. Yum. Maybe I like New Mexico because it is different than anywhere I've been before (which is part of the point of this whole trip) but regardless of why I've enjoyed it so far, I think it is on my list of places I want to live some day.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Day 6: Albuquerque, NM
Mileage: 881.6 (cumulative - 2414.6)
Time: 13 hours, 15 minutes (cumulative - 38 hours, 35 minutes)
Gas: $50.79 (cumulative - $188.37)
States visited: AR, OK, TX, NM
2000 Miles and Counting...
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Day 5, Little Rock, AR
We were even able to see a few friends on the way. Andrew Musashe, a former Davidson teammate of Mike's, let us stretch our legs at his house for a bit outside Memphis, and my good friend Melissa Bandy and her husband Calvin generously hosted us at their place for the night in Little Rock (thanks again!)
You may be able to tell that this update is coming from the road. Mike and I got up early and headed out. We have a big driving day today, trying to knock out almost 900 miles. More on that later.
Mileage: 663.1 (cumulative 1,533)
Time: 10 hours (cumulative 25 hours, 20 minutes)
Gas: $70.44 (cumulative $137.58)
States visited: OH, KY, TN, MO, AR
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Mighty Mississippi
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
1000 Miles
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Monday, August 16, 2010
Day 3/4: Mason, OH
One story that hasn't made it on to the blog yet is the story of Megan's cell phone. As we were leaving DC on Thursday, about 20 minutes after we turned in our keys and hit the road, Megan managed to drop in BlackBerry into a cup of water. She immediately pulled the sucker out, removed the battery and prayed for the best. After four days of drying (which included the use of a hair dryer and lots of sunlight), we decided that today would be the best day to see if her prayers had been answered and the phone still worked, or if we would be out a couple hundred bucks on a new phone. Luckily, about two seconds after Megan popped the battery back in, a red light came on and the phone started working. As far as we can tell, everything works just fine, so we are back to being a two cell phone enterprise.
We received another piece of good news today: my car is in good shape and she should be able to make it all the way to LA without the bumper falling off. Megan and I ran over to the local Honda dealership this morning and talked to Nick, some dude in the body shop. He came out and looked at the bumper and undercarriage and said that the bumped is still bolted to the body in a few places and that the undercarriage won't be going anywhere. Both will probably need to be replaced, along with the tip of my muffler, but that can wait until LA.
Lastly, we talked to our movers and the driver expects to be in LA on August 25, meaning that we can now officially plan the rest of our trip out. We'll be in Little Rock tomorrow night (the 17th), followed by Amarillo, Flagstaff, Vegas, Sacramento (for three nights) and show up in LA on the 24th, a day ahead of our stuff.
Mileage: 138.3 (cumulative - 864.3)
Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes (cumulative - 15 hours, 20 minutes)
Gas: $0 (cumulative - $67.14)
States visited: IN, OH
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Life out in the Country
I also got to see my grandma, uncle, and baby cousin. I'm so thankful that we were able to spend some time with my extended family. I don't get to see them too often, so it was a real treat to hang out with them for a few days and hear some of their stories about my grandfather, of growing up on the farm, and living out past the boonies.
Day 1/2: Vevay, IN
Mileage: 588.5 (cumulative - 726)
Time: 10 hours, 40 minutes (14 hours, 5 minutes)
Gas: $46.77 (cumulative - $67.14)
States visited: PA, MD, WV, OH, IN
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Friday, August 13, 2010
Screech.... BANG!
Like I said we're both fine and have continued our trip to the Cincinnati area. We're planning to spend a few days here anyways, so we'll have the car looked at to make sure its safe to drive another 3000 miles.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Day 0: Harrisburg, PA
We'll be using the same format for each of our upcoming travel updates, letting everyone know how far we've come, how long it took and how much we spent on gas. Here are our stats so far:
Mileage: 137.5 miles
Time: 3 hours, 25 minutes
Gas: $20.37
States visited: VA, MD, PA
Thursday, August 12, 2010
The Movers are Here!!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Ode to the District
So here's to you, DC and NoVa: may your monuments stand tall and your buildings always be 5-sided. May your Metro line expand West and your beltway always be under construction. May your traffic flow freely (or at least flow at all), your baseball always come second to the Braves, your cherries bloom every year, and the Mall be as green as the money you print.
Cheers, and thank you.
Monday, August 9, 2010
So Nice They Named It Twice
We got to New York on Friday afternoon and visited Jason at his summer job working at the Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture. Stone Barns used to be the Rockefeller's dairy farm, but a few years back they donated the 80 acres and it now operates as a sustainable teaching farm and restaurant.
On Saturday, we got into the city in the early afternoon and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to eat real, New York style pizza at Grimaldi's. Even though the wait was an hour long, it was definitely worth it. We had a thin crust sausage and black olive pizza that was fantastic. Had we not seen ice cream in the neighborhood, we probably would have had another pizza. After eating, we walked around Brooklyn Bridge Park, and then back over the bridge to go see Ground Zero. Unfortunately, we're not VIPs and couldn't really see anything at Ground Zero except a whole lot of construction.
We spent Saturday night hanging out with two more friends from Davidson, Garen and Will. (FYI, Garen recently finished in third place in the Block Island Triathalon - he's pretty awesome.) Besides the company, I think Meg's favorite part of the night was the drinks we had at this little dive bar. The first was a dark n' stormy which came in little tiki glass. The second was called a Rusty Knot (named after the bar) which was some frozen concoction that included basil.
Sunday was our travel day, so we took things easy and met up with Garen and another friend, JP, for brunch at a cool little spot called the Spotted Pig. After enjoying a burger with bleu cheese (for me) and strawberry french toast (for Meg), we hit the road.
All in all, we now have traveled about 2400 miles on our three-week victory lap. We've survived with each other thus far, so hopefully another two weeks and 3500 more miles won't be a problem.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Not on our Diet

(By the way, it is just me or does the guy sitting next to Obama kinda look like Hitler's son).
Oh, and Ray's is also the place that Obama and Biden went for a casual working lunch a couple of months after the inauguration.

(Yes Joe, I am going to eat that.)
Anyways, Ray's Hell Burger is an extension of the Ray's franchise, which includes Ray's The Steaks and Ray's The Classics. It's a simple burger joint, but with really good burgers. If you're ever in DC, I would definitely recommend stopping by.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
... And More Packing
On a positive note, a Korean family moved into our apartment complex earlier this week. It's positive not because I'm excited about meeting new neighbors (anyone who knows me well enough knows I'm not really the neighborly type); nope, it's positive because they dumped all of their boxes and packaging materials. We collected five boxes, including a picture box, and bunches (that's the scientific term) of paper and protective foamy paper (another scientific term).
We've still got a bit more packing to do. The kitchen is still almost full and there is always other junk that needs to find its way to a box. We're planning to spend all day tomorrow packing, but then taking the weekend off to go visit some friends in NYC. Hopefully we'll do something more exciting than packing.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Packing...
We've gotten a whole lot done, but it doesn't seem like we've finished anything yet. Everything is going into the second bedroom as we pack it. It's a complete an utter mess, as you can see here. We have nine (!!) days to go. We can do it!!! (At least that's what Mike keeps telling me.)
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Music for the road... Need some help
-Hip-Hop/Dance mix: something to get us pumped up as we drive past corn field after corn field and begin to feel the monotony of the trip. Includes songs like Forever (Chris Brown), Stronger (Kanye West), Just Dance (Lady GaGa), Tik Tok (Ke$ha).
-California mix: all songs related to CA. Includes Hotel California (Eagles), Hotel California (Gypsie Kings), California Girls (Katie Perry), California Love (2Pac), Should've Been a Cowboy (Toby Keith), I Love L.A. (Randy Newman) and a few others.
-80's mix: Nothing like big hair and ridiculous songs to sing at the top of your lungs. Includes To Be With You (Mr. Big), Love is a Battlefield (Pat Benatar), Every Rose Has Its Thorn (Poison), Died In Your Arms Tonight (Cutting Crew), Centerfold (J. Geils Band), Sunglasses At Night (Corey Hart), and more.
-On the Road Again mix: just songs about driving. Inclues On the Road Again (Willie Nelson), Let's Go (The Cars), Take It Easy (Eagles), Little Deuce Coupe (Beach Boys), Pink Cadillac (Southern Pacific), Dead Man's Curve (Jan and Dean), One Headlight (The Wallflowers), Low Rider (War).
-Rock mix: all the best classic rock n roll. Includes Layla (Derek and the Dominoes), Baba O'Reilly (The Who), Stairway to Heaven (Led Zepplin).
What we need help with is filling out the mixes we've already created and ideas for new ones. If you can think of any good songs or themes, please let us know in the comments section. We're open to all ideas, no matter how ridiculous (we did, after all, already create the 80's mix).