Home, Sweet Home

We did it!  3,250 miles.  50 driving hours.  19 States.  Six driving days.  One speeding ticket.  When asked for a quote, Wifey said, “Woo to the hoo.”

It’s suddenly hard to believe but we, in fact, have relocated to San Francisco, CA.  Does that make us Californians?

The last day of driving was bitter-sweet.  Ali and I had WAY more fun driving cross-country than expected.  Upon arrival we (almost) didn’t want it to end.  Seeing the country certainly gave us a bit of perspective.  Before this trip, the Coastal Plains, Great Plains, Prairies, Mississippi River, Rockies, Great Basin, and Sierra Nevada weren’t much more than a geography lesson.  The pictures, videos, and memories will make a much more lasting impression.  Our favorite driving states were West Virginia (best scenery) and Nebraska (best roadside attractions).  Our favorite overnight was MD (duh) – beyond MD, it was Laramie, WY (best food, landscapes, and highway access).

By the time Friday rolled around, we were kinda feeling like this sign.  This was another along one of the many 75-100 mile straight-aways that are deceptively long.  …will we ever get to California?   yes!

We stopped to see Last Chance Joe in Reno, NV and, at long last, were happy to see this one.

Our last roadside attraction was the giant Coke Cup in Sacramento, CA.  You can click over to here
to see some of our relocation pics.  You’ll notice that we were more likely to stop the car, get out, and pose for a picture while we were east of the Mississippi.  By the time we crossed the Mississippi, we were almost assuredly practicing drive-by photography.

We were welcomed into our temporary housing with a friendly staff and an awesome view of the city (compliment of floor to ceiling bedroom windows).  Here’s our view from the bedroom.

The only thing left to do is...watch the 1p EST football games at 10a PST!  Now, if only I could find a place that plays the Pats (or Redskins) game.

San Franboston Migration: Stage 5

The coyotes woke us up in the middle of the night and the snakes kept us from straying far from the car.  Other than that, game on!  Did you know that this is rattlesnake mating season?  ...we were surprised too.

We've been trying to keep our bodies on the Eastern timezone schedule.  We were up at 3a and out the door at 4a.  We had been on the road for a couple of hours before the sun caught up with us over western Wyoming.

I've concluded that Southwestern Wyoming would be the absolutely worst place to be stranded.  The temps were in the high 30's in the early morning hours and there isn't a soul for dozens of miles.

Todays highlights included the Rocky Mountains, Wendover Will, and the Bonneville International Raceway.  Keep a close eye on the sign during this video.  It'll blow your mind.

We've been on the same road (I-80) for some 1,200 miles and will ride this puppy all the way into SF.  The portion through the Bonneville Salt Flats is the longest and straightest portion of road that I've ever driven.  It's decieving because the mountains along the Nevada border look like they're only a few miles away.  For nearly 100 miles, I repeatedly told Ali that we should be in Nevada in just a few minutes.

Cali-chusetts Voyage: Stage 4

When heading west, the time zones work in your favor.  In a sense, today will serve up 25 hours because we’re crossing into MST.  We’re also excited about today because it is the shortest of all the segments.  We’re only scheduled to be on the road for 7.5 hours (500 miles).  We were instantly greeted with a nice surprise: 75 MPH speed limits!  Hooray Nebraska & Wyoming!!  …finally, we can go 82 without fear of fine, detention, or worse.  Actually, we’ve agreed that 4 miles over the limit is our maximum speed.  It’s worked well for the past two days.

We traveled from Lincoln, NE to Laramie, WY today.  Nebraska must be the center of the roadside attraction universe.  We saw all kinds of goofy stuff: statues, sculptures, huts, and towns.  My favorite stop must’ve been Buford, Wyoming.  With a population that barely exceeds zero, it is America’s smallest town.  Unfortunately, the lone resident was nowhere to be found. 

Wifey and I like Wyoming a lot.  We’ve left the Great Plains and just begun our approach to the Rocky Mountains.  The difference in landscapes make for much needed visual stimulation.  We can even see the small but distinct rising mountains from our hotel room.  We’re staying near historic Laramie and the University of Wyoming. 

Needless to say, the three of us have been spending a lot of time together in a confined space.
Things are starting to get weird.  I’ve started a collection of University magnets on Bowey’s bumper.  Currently I only have a Nebraska Corn Huskers and Wyoming Pokes (a.k.a. Cowboys, Cowgirls, or Cowpokes) magnet but am optimistic about the remaining two days.  Further, I scored these awesome new shades.

Some notes about Laramie:

> this looks like a seriously fun town

> Ali’s favorite memory thus far was sitting in front of the Turtle Rock Café and having lunch

> the grass here is in incredible condition – WAY better than even my college soccer field

> dinner might have been the best Mexican I’ve ever had

Ali arrived in crazy town before me.  Since we left MD, she’s been giving (and changing) Jake’s and my CB radio ID’s at will.  It's total chaos. Some of the names floating around the cabin are “Donkey,” “Big Bear,” and “Bambi.”  I’m confused and don’t know when I’m supposed to talk.

Massa-fornia: Stage 3

Whoa.  Indianapolis, IN to Lincoln, NE represent the most grueling of the six leg Massa-Fornia Challenge.  We were on the road before 5:30a Eastern and happy to start using the time zones to our advantage.  Today was far less eventful than yesterday (thank you, Officer Dudley).

We traversed over 650 miles today including stretches in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska.  I shutter to think how much corn we saw.  Here are my general remarks:

1. I knew I was going to see a lot of corn fields.  ...didn't think I was going to see this many!  Illinois seemed to be the most technologically forward.  The corn farms that we saw in Illinois looked like the Bugatti of corn producers.
2. Every road is exactly the same: long, flat, and surrounded by corn fields with hardly any traffic at all.  At some point today, we started celebrating curves and hills.  It's entirely possible that we started making roller coaster noises and waving our arms in the air.
3. I was beyond excited to get BBQ in Missouri (just north of Kansas City, nonetheless).  We researched places along our route and decided to stop in at Boogaloo's in St. Joseph for lunch.  Despite being advertised as open, it was closed.  So was our second choice, Pinzino's!  I was furious.  I had McDonald's snack wraps instead.  Therefore, Missouri is awful.
4. I want a corn field so that I can buy a John Deere combine and a harvester.
5. Crossing the Mississippi was cool.  When viewed from a bridge, you have to resign to the fact that you won't see it in all of it's glory.  Why?  Because the cheapest way to make a bridge is to make it as short as possible.  ...we crossed the Mississippi at one of it's more narrow points.  ...not quite the image the paint in Geography class and on NatGeo.

Here's my favorite picture of the day.  This is I-72 in Illinois (I believe).  No one seemed to care that there was a Deere going 40 MPH in a 70 zone.  I've been living in a different world for the past 8 years...

Tomorrow is the shortest Stage of the entire trip.  We're really looking forward to it.  Jake is too.  It was over 100 degrees in Lincoln, NE today so we refrained from throwing the ball with Jake.  Hopefully the temps will be lower tomorrow and we won't have to worry about overheating.

Massa-fornia: Stage 2

We headed west and began the day under the cover of darkness and mountain fog.  Many thanks to Mom & Hollie for waking up with us at 4a and wishing us well.  So here we are; innocent, unaware, and full of confidence.  Onward!

Today’s route took us from Damascus, MD to Indianapolis, IN covering approximately 550 miles along routes 70, 68, 79, and 70 (again).  We passed through Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio before arriving in Indiana.  By far, West Virginia is the most pleasant drive.  Speed limits are 65 and 70, the road is interesting to drive, traffic is low, and the tree covered mountains make for fantastic scenery.

Ohio became the least favorite state of the day during our encounter with Officer R. Dudley.  We’re pretty sure Dudley is a Richard.  An alleged 82 in a 65 is the State's assertion.  Damn the heat.

We’re not sure how much this one is going to cost us yet.  I suppose we have the option of just avoiding Ohio for the rest of our days!

Once we arrived in Indy, we made a beeline for Lucas Oil Stadium.  Here I am sticking the landing on a gnarly rail slide.

Afterwards, we got Jacob out to a nice soccer field for some well deserved excercise.  Now it's time to rest.  Tomorrow is the longest day of the Mass-Cali Challenge: Indy to Lincoln, NE.

Massa-Cali Challenge: Stage 1

Rut-ro.  It has arrived.  Today is moving day.  There’s very little we can do at this point besides cross our fingers and hope that we haven’t overlooked anything material.

Perhaps the most unsettling detail is our direction from the moving company: don’t pack anything.
Seriously?  Don’t pack anything??  Yep!  The insurance ONLY covers our property if the moving company does the packing.  What a blessing in disguise?!  …but at the same time, it’s terrifying to wake up and look around at the APT knowing that we’re leaving for DC in eight hours.

The stress levels increased from there.  The phone rings twice and I’m instantly connected to the Movers:

> Movers: “Hi, I’m sorry that we’re late.  We’ve been stuck in traffic for the past 90 minutes.  We’re going to miss our 9a arrival window.“

> David: “That’s OK.  Thanks for notifying me.  Where are you and when do you think you’ll arrive?”

> Movers: “We’ve been within 10 miles for a while.  There must be an accident or something.  We’re headed north into the city on 93.  The exit looks so close from here.  If traffic clears, we should be there in 15 minutes, say…9:30.”

> David: “Did you say 93 north into the city?”

> Movers: “Yeah.”

> David: “I have some bad news…  You’ve never been to Boston before, have you?”

> Movers: “…No.  I live in San Diego.”

Despite arriving hours late and cutting the crew (from five to three), the Movers hit a homerun.  They
packed everything, loaded everything, and were gone in a couple of hours.  Truly impressive.  This is the only way to move.

I left the APT and headed for Avis with the wind in my sails.  Expecting a Buick Enclave or a
Chevy Traverse, they handed me the keys to a Ford Explorer.  Bad times: this cut our storage space by a significant amount which, in turn, cut into Jake’s space.  Long story short, I headed back to home with the Ford hoping that we could exchange the Ford for the Buick or Chevy in Maryland.

Once we were all packed, we headed south for MD.  We hit 30 minutes worth of stand-still traffic at the GW Bridge but otherwise made good time.  Getting out of Boston and into MD at a reasonable hour was enough to make us happy.  We were fortunate enough to exchange for a Buick Enclave on Sunday.  All is well.  We’ve named our chariot Bowey Buick.  All of the pieces are in place.  We’re ready to go!