The Road Part II

We took our time getting up on Tuesday morning, but we knew we had to leave soon if were were going to make it to New Jersey by this evening (we didn't). We packed up our stuff and the cat before heading outside. We took pictures with the Brooks' and our new ride. Hey, this is the kind of stuff we get a kick out of.

Our life in a box.

The boys.

Ha! I made Matt crack!

My new ride.

(This one must have been taken the day before.)

Here we go again!

After many goodbyes and secret plans were set in motion, we took to the road once more. Today would be the real test of my driving muscle. We weren't even to the interstate before we decided to stop and grab a bite to eat and a much needed coke. Let's be nice and say the service at the KFC/Pizza Hut was sub-par. It took us nearly twenty minutes to get back on the road. Have you ever tried driving a 16 foot truck and eat a personal pan pizza and bread sticks at the same time? It's not easy. After a few hours we had managed to roll through South Carolina and a bit of North Carolina. What awaited us around one bend in the road was breathtaking. The welcome sign to the state of Virginia greeted us as any state welcome sign would. The landscape of the state of Virginia welcomed us in a much different way. The flat land we had been driving through began to give way to rock terrain. We drove through a tunnel and came out next to a huge valley. It was quite nerve racking driving that beast of a truck through curve after mountain curve; up and down the mountain. At best I could manage fifty-five miles per hour up the incline. Going down the slopes my heart was in my throat. I could literally feel it residing there. Huge trucks would be bearing down behind me. The road would curve suicidally in front. Their was no shoulder. I have to say, i have never sweat it so much driving down the road. Those semi-truck wouldn't have appeared so big in my Tribute. I swear they wouldn't.

The funny thing about driving through Virginia towards New York is that it never ends. Ever. We spent nine hours driving through Virginia; a state that was some of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen; a state whose constant reminder of how close we are to death is sung by its interstate system; a state where the afternoon breaks and night falls; a state where multiple trips to Starbucks, the gas station, and restrooms are needed. I'll not miss Virginia soon.

After a brief stint spent in West Virginia, we entered Maryland. For the half an hour or so we were in Maryland, it was magical. It seems that as soon as we crossed the state line a billion of so fireflies came out of nowhere and flanked either side of the road. They would light up and blink through the darkness signaling us as we passed. Fields were full of them. Ditches filled with wildflowers and lightning bugs. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen driving down the road.

Somewhere a bit later we entered Pennsylvania. I like Pennsylvania. I liked Philadelphia when I went with Corey in February. Was that really a year ago? Driving through Pennsylvania in the middle of the night after being on the road for twelve hours is not something I like. This last stretch of this leg of our road trip was by far the most torturous. I was out of coffee, didn't want to stop, and every bit of the highway in that state was under construction. At times the quality of the road was so bad that we had to slow down to thirty miles per hour to stay upright. More than a few times the carriage of the truck bounced precariously from right to left, right to left. The noise was almost as unbearable as the vibrations of the tires on the road. We constantly had to slow for construction zones. The same story can be said about New Jersey.

When we finally arrived in Edison, New Jersey we were too tired to care about much anything other than sleeping. We missed out on our continental breakfast the next morning. 10:00 sure comes quickly after a day of driving and getting to bad past one.

The playlist for this leg of the trip:

Snow Patrol – Eyes Open
Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head
Rilo Kiley – More Adventurous
Fionn Regan – The End of History
Devendra Banhart – Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
Coldplay – Viva La Vida
Imogen Heap – I Megaphone
Dido – No Angel
Dido – White Flag

Somewhere between Coldplay and Rilo
Kiley was a smattering of random country and oldies care of Stephanie.

The Road Part I

We left Tallahassee before the dawn. The only audible sounds were that of the truck's engine and our heartbeats. It is a strange feeling to be driving this road for the last time. Every other time we've taken this trip up north we've eventually come back. This has been home for six years. That's the longest I've ever lived in one place. It is hard to move forward while thinking of what we're leaving behind. Family, friends, bandmates, co-workers, jobs. Tallahassee. It's funny. We couldn;t wait to get out, but parting is still such sweet sorrow. We hadn't even left the city limits when we had our "mishap" with the cat. He was scared and had an accident in his box. The smell was unbearable. We had to pull over in a gas station parking lot, but gallons of water, "borrow" bathroom paper towels and sponge him off. I held him to the asphalt. Stephanie scrubbed. It was not the way we wanted to start this trip.

The coffee slowly worked its way through my veins as I bacame more and more comfortable with driving this tank of a truck. We took 319 all the way up to I75 making our usual stop at the Hardees for breakfast, of course. From here on out we were to take a new route, one that would allow us to bypass the tangled and tragic knot that is Atlanta's interstate system. It was a beautiful drive. The whole time I was ascending and descending Georgia hills, passing cotton fields and open plaines, lakes and rivers I was wishing I was driving my car and not this truck. That would have been an awesome and fun drive in anything other than this vehicle. As it was, I found myself flinching at every downhill curve.

We arrived in Anderson shortly after noon. We only had to stop for gas once, and the pump cut us off at $99.00 - and we didn;t even fill up. I sure am glad I won't have to pay for gas after this trip. It has been a year and a half since we were up in South Carolina, but it feels like it has been longer. These boys are the closest to brothers that I have.

It was nice to see the Brooks if only for a day, and the break from driving was more than welcome. I think Indy was glad to be out of the box as well. I stayed up playing rock band far later than I should have, and have the blister on my thumb to prove it. I never did beat Matt in a head to head challenge.

Here is our first leg playlist:

Frou Frou – Details
Whiskeytown – Faithless Street
The Postal Service – Give Up
Jason Collett – Idols of Exile
Feist – The Reminder