road trip, condensed version.
I guess I should start with the road trip that ended summer, seeing as that is where I somewhat left off.
Going into great detail would take forever since we did so many things so Ill try and make it shorter.
Day one, we left urbana at about 6:30am and set out for Niagara Falls. We stopped at a candle store that had a 50ft remake of a candle in front of it- and the nicest bathrooms Ive ever seen. We made it to the Falls by almost sunset- therefore we got to see them during the day and when they were lit up at night.
Toronto has a much better view. They must be laughing at us across the border everyday.
We camped out in the parking lot, looking semi-homeless, eating bagels and other things we brought with us. Then we had to figure out where we wanted to sleep- meaning what town and what parking lot. The nearest big town was Corning, PA. For about 2hours we drove through empty roads and stopped occasionally to get out and look at the stars. Walmart lets cars and campers park in their parking lot overnight so we picked a spot and tried to get as decent of a sleep that you can get in a car carrying four people.
Day two we woke up from what was probably only 3 or 4 hours sleep each and felt surprisingly refreshed. Scranton, PA was only about 2 and a half hours away and we wanted to stop there for the only reason anyone should even go to Scranton- to see the Office stuff. Really it was only the mall, the tower and sign in the opening credits, along with Poor Richards Pub. We found them all but after a long time of googling addresses, asking for directions and turning back around 5 or 6 times.
Note to anyone looking for Poor Richards: Its inside the bowling alley & its very much still there.
After wasting time there we finally set out for New York. We took the tunnel in (dont remember which one since we kind of winged our way in) and within seconds hit traffic. Somewhere near greenwich village and downtown we were stopped at a light. I was staring out the window watching the people pass near the sidewalk when a bike went by us. It was going semislow since the person on it was saying hi to a passerby and then it registered. It was Blake Schwarzenbach from Jawbreaker and Jets to Brazil. All I could do was lean my entire top half out the window and yell "FUCK ME ARE YOU KIDDING?" I literally was out of it for a full 20minutes afterwards. Not only are these my two favorite bands and I fall alseep with the live jets to brazil dvd on almost everynight- but the first couple minutes I am in New York- I see him go by on a bike. What are the chances of that?
First afternoon/night in NYC we just did all the touristy things. Times Square is too much. It was interesting to see, but I would never want to go back there. Too much.We ended up staying with sarah's friend who lives in Long Island for the night. Drank beer, slept on a couch, then got bagels in the morning. Pretty good stay.
Third day we headed back into New York for our second day there. Parking the car was the better idea since driving around wouldnt do much justice. About 14miles was the total walking we did that day/evening- from places like the world trade site, chinatown, little italy, soho, greenwich village, the alphabet streets, then back to the car. So many free things that we swindled our way and sometimes stopping at beauty stores to use their stuff because we looked and smelled pretty bad.
That night we drove out to New Jersey to stay with alex at his friends house for the night. It was interesting. Lots of drunk high school kids in that area- wandering the streets half dressed.
Fourth day-woke up new jersey so we figured we'd find the Kevin Smith Quick Stop from Clerks. It looks exactly like it did in the movie- inside and out. There were other people taking pictures too- one couple from Ohio and one from downstate jersey.
Then back in the car again.
Next was Philly to see Dan since Beth and I havent seen him since he left Chicago. We picked up Dan and headed into the city but all of us were so beat that we just sat around the buildings and talked. We really just came to see Dan so- back to his house to just lay low. His parents bought us pizza (ive never missed chicago pizza more in my life hah, no offense philly) and we drank 40s while watching movies. It felt like anyother night Dan and I would hang out. I had such a great time it was ridiculous, and now a miss him even more.
Fifth day- Slept in, which was weird, but then dragged ourselves back into the car. DC was our last destination and we started in Virginia at Arlington Cemetery. Walked a bit there and then ate in the parking lot again.
At this point we were really running low on food. I couldnt eat bagels or jelly for weeks after we got home.
Same thing with DC, we just walked around and checked out all the sites there. Took some pictures and sat around enjoying the views.
Standing in front of the White House-
-"Alright, so, should we head home?"
-"Yeah but we should find a Wawa before heading back west."
-"Yeah I have my sandwich ticket still,
Lets go rip off the Wawa....then head home."
9a.m. the next day we arrived back in Urbana.