This past week I flew to New York with Ryan to embark on a cross-country drive back to the Bay Area. We were retrieving his things in storage to bring back to Cali (which he can now officially call home=). His truck proved to be quite the champ, despite sitting in a parking lot in NY for like four years. Under Ryan’s meticulous guidance, I was able to help drive the truck, towing a U-Haul trailer–and not crash into anything. (I point this out because this is a feat for someone who is used to only driving compact cars.)
Anyway, this was more of a get-from-point-A-to-point-B-by-day-X kind of road trip. Not much time for leisure sightseeing. However, we did stop to see the Niagara Falls at night. It was so cold, the spray from the powerful falls turned into snow bits that wanted very badly to get into my eyes. Unfortunately, we both forgot our cameras. Hence, actual snapshots of our trip are limited to camera phone quality. These are the Niagara Falls from my phone…
Ehh...see it?
Most of our trip was spent in the truck driving by things. I suppose some baby highlights would be:
- Getting lost in Martinsville, Illinois (a lot like middle of nowhere) and successfully not sinking in a creek
- A Branson, Missouri radio ad about a show that includes a live gunfight and burning down a cabin
- Cuba, Missouri
- Lebanon, Missouri
- “Do Not Drive Into Smoke” signs in Oklahoma
- A full-blown dust storm near Oklahoma City, complete with airborne tumbleweeds (for more details, ask Ryan–I was asleep)
- Finding only one radio station when we first entered New Mexico (Tejano music, in case you are wondering)
I’m sure there were other things…I am now regretting not taking notes along the way. But I did utilize the My Maps Editor app on my G1 phone to document our travels.
We got back in one piece. Ha-mazing.
Oh, and if anyone knows of any good documentaries out there about truck drivers, please let me know. I’m very curious now, having seen so many on the road. I think it’s an interesting career choice, constantly being on the road like that and usually alone.
Congrats on safely getting across the country! Glad to see Branson and Cuba made it onto the highlight reel. 50 years from now you will appreciate Branson.
Comment by Reid — January 12, 2009 @ 1:10 am
Yes I was impressed by Misery(sp?) this time, St. Louis looked awesome at night driving through!
There was plenty of adventure going around: icy roads/snowstorm from Syracuse, NY to Columbus, OH; one of my supervisors calling me when I was driving a 8′ wide trailer through an 10′ wide construction lane with Jersey barriers; Char witnessing me tripping on energy drinks at a gas station; dust storm in Oaklahoma and Texas with tumbleweeds blowing head high, straight across the road at 50+ mph; Char halucinating from lack of sleep; a stop on the highway at 3 am so some guy could ask if I had apples or plants in my trailer; my truck blowing a fuse and having reduced trailer lights in dense fog at night in CA; and miles and miles of waiting for my spanish GPS to speak.
Comment by Ryan — January 12, 2009 @ 3:03 pm