The Great Drive - Winter 1999

7000 miles - 22 states - 41 days

Journal of The Great Drive

Tools: One 1994 Ford Thunderbird, laptop, digital camera, modem, navigation system, patience.

2/8/99 - It's 3:00 a.m. and the day before my first big trip. I've got to have my tires aligned and rotated; buy a digital camera; wash clothes; pack; and pick up a few things for the trip. I'm a little anxious. I've never left with no destination in mind. Will I find some cool places to see, or will I just get bored? I'm hoping for the former. My other dilemma is the issue of sleeping accommodations. Being out on the the road even for one week makes for a large lodging bill. I'm looking for alternatives to motels. I've put it in the back of my mind. My most intelligent solution so far has been to get a big comforter and pillow, pull over, and turn my alarm on while I sleep. Guess we'll see how that works out. Man, I've got to get some sleep.

2/9/99 - Day 1 - I've begun the big trip. This part was fairly boring. I've decided to go East, but in order to go East, I have to drive though Michigan. I have gone through Michigan so many times I could have slept through the drive. Still, there were some nice photos to take. Below, you'll find pictures of my vehicle (including the 'cockpit'). Also, pictures of the Mackinac Bridge - which connects the Lower Peninsula of Michigan to the Upper Peninsula. This is the first time I have used my camera, so bear with me if the photos look funny sometimes.

I left home quite late, so I couldn't go too far the first day. I decided to stop at a place in Ohio called Port Clinton; it looked more interesting than Toledo. As I was driving, I noted that it looked like it would be quite scenic during the day (it was about 12:00am as I drove through). Port Clinton is a very small town on the lake. I noticed quite a few trucks and flannel shirts which leads me to believe this is a very 'Hometown' kind of town. I don't think I'll take any pictures unless I find something really interesting. I had a heck of a time finding a motel last night. All the motel offices were closed. As I was driving out of town, I found a few chain motels and stopped at a Comfort Inn. Single for $38.95 plus 10% off. (Clerk didn't know what the 10% was for - guess I'm special.) Welp, the beds were rock hard and someone had used the toilet. I was too tired to leave, so I decided to stay. I was gonna get my money back, but as I'm typing this, I'm already 45 minutes past their check-out time. I'll call it even. Tonight, I may try roughing it in my car. I brought a big comforter and pillow and it really can't be any more uncomfortable than the bed I slept in last night.

I may look at going in the general direction of Cleveland (about 70-some miles from here). I kind of unofficially decided that I will travel up to Maine and go down the East side of the U.S. I'll see. Gotta go, already really late and still have to shower and dress. The adventure begins...

2/10/99 - Day 2 - I think I should rename my trip to the 'Hometown' trip. I just keep coming along these small towns. I can't really complain. I tend to like the smaller towns to the big cities. I did a little driving and a lot more looking today. My first destination after I left Clinton was Ashtabula, Ohio. My reason for picking this town to visit was based solely on its odd sounding name. Man, I love travelling on a whim. On the way to Ashtabula, I drove through Cleveland. I had no real desire to see Cleveland, so I didn't stop. There wasn't much in Ashtabula either. I drove around and looked at the local scenery. Also took a couple of pictures. I kept seeing these signs to Erie, PA while I was driving, so I made that my next stop. My stay there was brief as well - my stomach was wanting food. I managed to take a very good sunset photo at the dock. I looked at the Nav system for next town along the way. I chose Westfield, NY as my next stop.

I never got there. Hey, I told you I was hungry. I stopped in...hold on...North East - yea, just North East. A country town as the waitress just noted. The Country Cookin' Family Restaurant was my eatery of choice. Man, I felt like a New Yorker in Paris. I was by far, the youngest individual in this place. I didn't care - I was hungry. Food was alright, typical family restaurant fare. It also made a very good place to pop out the laptop and type my latest entry into my online journal.

One notable difference between my current home (the U.P. of MI) and Ohio and Pennsylvania has been the lack of snow. It's a nice change of scenery. And the air is just crisp enough to let you know it's winter, but not so cold that you can't occasionally open the window and let the air in. It got to 50 during one period today - that's really warm compared to where I live.

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