Arrived, Unloading, Organizing
Good morning from Rochester! We did it! The final push turned out to be less than 4 hour’s drive. We were ready to be done.
Our unload goal was primarily focused on getting to the bed and getting it out of the truck. We did that and much more. The bed has been reconstructed and was made ready for a good night’s sleep. It’s so wonderfully quiet here, we slept well.
This morning we will complete the unloading and we will get the truck reunited with Penske tomorrow. Then we’ll begin the process of deciding where stuff will go.
Just when we thought we couldn’t take another step, Rowdy said it was time for an ice cream run and to show me the lake. We piled into his car and drove around the block to see the lake, the summer fun happening at the different shops, drove past the Port of Rochester and through the beautiful neighborhood that surrounds us. I didn’t get pics of most of this, they will be forthcoming!
1AM Pacific Time Wake-Up Call
La Quinta was gorgeous for us last night. New, clean, comfy and sound suppressed.
Yesterday was a long drive and we were really needing some pampering. We lucked out and were told we could park up front, rock star style.
This was great until 3AM local time when the front desk phoned asking for the truck to be moved as it was blocking a semi-driver’s escape route.
Little rest and we were in the road by 6AM today, which turned out to be a shorter than previous days. We did 8.5 hours today, landing at a small town off I90, between Cleveland and Erie, PA. This puts us at about 4.5 hours from our new home!
Today’s drive included more steep drives, ridiculous bad roads through Indiana, and mostly better roads as we crossed into Ohio. While driving through Indianapolis and Columbus required attention to the details, Columbus was quite easy for us. Our goal today, get to our next stop safely.
We are appreciating the green fields, hills, forests and river crossings. Today it really began to register. We have driven across the country already, and we are not in the desert anymore. We are actually, in this moment, very close by to Lake Erie.
Key Learnings:
1. When super tired, probably not best to drive like we are. It’s harder to hold all of it in the lane and harder to negotiate crossing lanes, merges, etc.
2. Breaks are good. We took 4, I believe.
3. Road food really is awful for me. I’ll be feeling this for a couple of months.
4. Buc Eees is like an amusement park
4 States, A Mountain Range, and Connections
In Texas we crossed the Chisholm Trail before we landed in Claremore, Oklahoma last night. Day 4 had us traveling through four states: Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois and we’ve landed in Indiana.
The Chisholm Trail saw my Texas ranching relations driving cattle up to Kansas City, while Claremore is where my Grandmother’s family settled and some moved forward to California. We passed through Joplin, where Rowdy has relations who experienced first hand the destructive tornado a few years back – literally having their roof and more blown away.
Looking up at the scenery is rewarding and humbling. Route 66 continues to entertain and illicit my raised-eyebrow curiosity with the mega-sized juxtapositions of church presence and adult stores. Then there’s the many billboards that lead up to, maybe you guessed, THE Uranus Fudge Factory And General Store.
The Ozark crossing was more than I expected in the range of climbs and traffic. Some nail-biter moments with much faster traffic bearing down on us, and holding the rig and trailer in line on the curves.
Some have asked how Tara is doing. She’s having a blast! Sure she’s excited and a bit anxious about where we are going. She knows which truck I’m in and Rowdy says she gets upset when they aren’t following me – like at rest stop parking areas. Inside the car, it looks a bit like this…
I was certain I chose a route around St. Louis, but I think the map pulled an executive decision and took us through city’s old highway interchanges. We caught glimpses of the arch (cool) but the traffic situation is no joke.
We pulled off at the first rest area past the city to regroup. And thanks to a very thoughtful call from Mom, we decided to scale back today’s goal of reaching Indianapolis and changed plans for the night to Terra Haute.
Here’s a snap of the wall-to-wall trucks in the side mirror behind me. Keep in mind the trailer I’m pulling and Rowdy and Tara behind that. You can’t see them, but they are back there. Zoom in on the mirror if you can.
We notice throughout the entire drive, the amount of trucks is astounding. I don’t remember it like this. It leaves the native creatures no chance in what is their world. The massacre has me thinking that we must do better and that there has to be a better way. It’s not at all sustainable. While I cringed and missed a little turtle stretching to be tall and look out as it walked toward traffic, I knew it had only a moment left in this world.
Near Joplin, we passed storm chaser vehicles parked in a roadside parking lot. I hoped they’d stay put!
A new favorite stop on this trip…
Key Learnings:
The truth is now, not what was. We have got to find a way to do better for the world around us, and very quickly.
10 More Hours, Texas Roads Show Respect, Desert to Plains
A little bleary eyed we got ourselves out of Tucumcari faster than we made our previous escapes. On the road before 6AM we left with the intention of rolling ground and distance today. 10 or so hours later, we arrived north of Tulsa and approximately 200 miles past the halfway mark.
We saw more of Route 66, which in some places is a narrow road following right alongside the I40. Look for it here in the pic above. There are many remnants of the ways, which are interesting. I noticed mixed feelings about it all. What I found really sad are the “Indian” exploitations along the way. Further detractions included the variety and swath of carcasses, and the hideous cattle ranches alongside the road. I’m definitely developing stronger feelings about that as well.
Crossing into Texas, the roads got so much better and have continued to be as we moved onward into Oklahoma. It occurred to me that there’s a significant measure of respect that good roads offer professional drivers.
Rowdy spied many different changes to the flora as we whipped past and of course the changing environment as we moved into the Great Plains – and the environs became more green.
In Oklahoma on the I40, there was a serious multi vehicle crash, including a couple of semi’s. I had to carefully take this terrible photo, as I needed to pay attention to my driving. If you zoom in, you might be able to make out the crash and the backup behind it that went for miles and delayed westbound traffic for many hours. This is exactly why we prepped with portable urinals in each vehicle. And no, this isn’t another picture of the hood and the road.
We stopped a short while after this for a needed break and for provisions. These two were watching their driver in the bay next to me.
Leaving the 40 and heading north to and around Oklahoma City on the 44 was a challenge to drive. Add a literal 100 mile climb, a strongly enforced minimum speed of 60 MPH, merging lanes, awful impatient commuters, while listening for directions to the Microtel… challenge met.
We like this stay so far. Tara gets her first elevator ride and view from the third story while she waits Rowdy’s return from the store. Same routine (good for her) different view? And a great little walk across a small field to a turtle filled pond.
Key Learnings:
1. Try to look up from the road to see what else is out there
2. How to drive the truck with more skill
Tomorrow may be our longest day as we reach for Indianapolis. This will help us to make our last day shorter and our ability to off-load much better. Especially key items like our bed and Tara’s bed. ETA is Saturday. Today is Wednesday.
Pronghorns, Winding Climb Outta ABQ, More Experience in Reverse
Without delay, we left our comfortable Best Western in Flagstaff and we’re on the road by 5:47AM today. We kept our eyes peeled for elk and deer, the only sign I saw of them was the dead elk from the day before. Rowdy spied pronghorn yesterday and he did again today. I’ve not looked around too much as I’ve kept vigilant over the road and handling the truck. Feeing left out, I kept an eye out and saw a herd of them today mingling with a small group of cattle.
I found the old lava flows along the highway so interesting, including an obvious cinder cone. The Iceland volcanic events really allowed me to imagine what this must have been like when it was active.
Crossing into New Mexico, the visitors center is a great place to stop for information and potties.
A large snack supply in passenger seat organizers keep us going. I’ve dipped into the sugar a few times, thanks to the fun candy stash that our now former neighbor and Carmax compadre Pam dropped by, while we were packing. Thank you Pam! While I am not amused in this photo, I am comforted by the Tootsie Pop!
The road was different today. Mixed with nice smooth patches of asphalt, with fresh huge potholes and what seemed to be the O.G. I40 pavement. More jouncing and pothole avoidance had me straddling the lanes when there was good visibility and plenty of room.
Semi’s wander their lanes a lot, and come right up to Rowdy’s car behind me. They seem to do this in gangs. It’s weird that way. And intimidating when you’re surrounded by them. Rowdy did the math, there were 600 plus trucks per hour heading westbound. We figure it was the same going east. Most of them passing us at our 55-ish.
We got through some busy traffic going through Albuquerque, with commuters and semi’s passing on the right and left. We held our our position and behaved most predictably for safety. Going uphill involves putting the hazard lights on and downshifting, and downhill means controlling the roll so that the trailer behind is always under control. Judging by the RV trailers going by MUCH faster, I am not surprised that they crash often.
Meanwhile, check out Rowdy’s car peeking out behind me and how much of the car carrier you can see while driving straight. The blue bits are where the carrier tires are.
Our goal was making it to Tucumcari, NM tonight. We are here at a Super8 by Wyndham. We are in for the night after 9.5 hours driving. Its a bit sketchy but we should be fine. I’m not sure the place meets Wyndham standards, but it fits right in to the notion of decaying Route 66 towns. The lobby smells strongly of pot, not my favorite. The window screen to the room next door is bent and lying-in-state where it fell off, our pet friendly room smells like many dogs, the white facecloths are not, and the shower curtain is just barely hanging in. And there’s litter all over outside. Meanwhile, I managed to back-up the truck and trailer on my own, into the approved spot for the night.
Key Learnings:
1. Pay for gas inside with a credit card, not debit, and get receipts, so that when you get an alert for a $500 spend on diesel… you don’t panic
2. Always make sure you enter your truck into the truck entrance or you may be doing an unexpected tour of the neighboring casino parking lot and drive, which is replete with decorative islands to manuever the truck and trailer around
3. Choose the EAST-bound exit from the traffic circle, more obstacle avoidance skills, not the westbound exit – or you might be backtracking, or enjoying even more traffic circles like I did
BAD Roads, Diesel Splash, Cursed at by a Trucker, All it had at 30MPH
Day 1 started with a final push, and sometimes shove, at 5AM, with a final load of the last pieces of furniture and a final clean up of the house.
Rowdy’s Mom came by to wave goodbye and pitched in helping us to clean up. We loaded “Percy” onto the car carrier and took off for Flagstaff environs. 10 hours later, three pit-stops for us and the dog, we made it.
Stopping to fuel up in AZ, I experienced an obstinate fuel pump. In and out I went to deal with the clerk. This pissed off the trucker behind me, who demonstrated zero patience with me, even after witnessing me splash diesel all over myself – once the thing turned on. He honked his horn and called me some choice names. I turned and looked at him, then turned back and continued inside where I searched out a sink to wash my hands. I returned, and got out of his way.
Driving a loaded-to-the-gills 22′ Penske Truck towing a car carrier is a different experience than my last drive through here, whipping up these same hills with an Escort Redline radar detector at… let’s say 90 MPH to nothing. No Redline needed when the truck is giving it all at 30MPH.
The I40 from CA through to Flagstaff, well, is awful. Ridiculous potholes and trenches that go on and on. I was thrilled that Percy had hung on through all of the jouncing. There may be some hope as there were also several stretches of construction zones.
The last few miles dragged on forever as we crawled up the final stretch into the Best Western parking lot. Tucked in for the evening, we’re hopeful that all will be well when we arise and tackle Day 2, which should take us into Tecumcari.
If you’re looking for us in the map, click the button on the home page. You should see our “check-in” points along the way. I will periodically check-in as ok. This point will appear on the map.
Key learnings:
1. There’s a whole etiquette to using truck stops. Pull forward after pumping if you can, be prepared to say “Private” at the counter vs. waiting for the clerk to ask for company and truck ID number.
2. Get gloves just for fueling up, it’s unnecessarily messy.
Pack, Donate, Logistics
We are making progress today, as we have only today and tomorrow for the box appropriate items. I hope that todays 3rd trip to the charity shop will be the last. Sunday is major furniture, including getting the king-sized bed down the stairs.
Logistics for the space is a real thing. Like moving the car outside and putting the cargo carrier on it. This makes room in the garage for boxes, which need to get out of the way of the stairs, so that we can more easily bring down the bed!
In the triple digit heat, we are very grateful we have the air conditioning running inside.
As we pack, we are also thinking about what each vehicle will need for the cross-country trek. Front seat organizers carry snacks, maps and other comfort items (at least until they are used or needed).
Side pockets hold more, including a collapsible water bowl for Tara and walkies.
We’re Almost Ready to Hit It
It’s a scramble to get everything ready to go AND everything ready at the finish line. And we are in great shape!
We’re into the details, and the weeds. We’ll keep you posted as we move forward!