Archive for the Northeast Category
Posted on November 13, 2009 by angela
Ever since visiting Parliament in Canada, Bode has been talking about wanting to make the laws when he grows up. None of us have been to the US capitol, so after staying a day or two longer than we expected in Jersey we headed south. We rolled in at dusk, with no real plan other than seeing the sights at the mall. Once again, a total lack of planning didn’t prevent us from just showing up and wandering around.
Note the beautiful weather on day 1. No jacket required.
Bode really wanted to go in the White House to see the President, and it took a while to convince him we couldn’t do it. We walked around a bit more before getting really hungry.
Ben’s Chili Bowl was recommended by two friends and it was awesome. I went back for seconds. Of all the landmarks in Washington DC, this is the only one that serves a killer chili dog.
Ben’s is one of those places that has been an institution for multiple eras and has pictures of it’s famous patrons. There was a picture of Barack, but two of Bill Cosby.
Tropical storm Ida showed up overnight, much to our surprise. The rain got heavier and the wind stronger all day. Although it slowed us down a bit, we still got to see much of Washington.
The Washington Monument is the tallest, so was first on Bode’s list. The rain kept the crowds away and we went straight to the top. It’s a great way to see the area.
After George Washington was out of office, it was quickly decided that a monument was to be built in his honor. He agreed that a statue of him on his horse would be acceptable. Fifty years later, long after his death and many delays, some committee decided that it would be a giant stone monolith. At least that’s what the park ranger told us. It’s pretty cool – way more impressive in person. No mortar – just stacked stones. At the top… in the rain… it leaks.
While waiting for the elevator ride back down, some impatient woman behind us starts whining… “Did somebody push the button?! Did anyone push the button? Did they (to us) push the button?!” It’s the Washington Monument, lady… there’s no button.
We checked out Lincoln’s Memorial and skimmed the Smithsonian and Capitol. For this first time in my entire life, I was asked to move because I was blocking someone’s photo. There were 1000 people and I was blocking the Lincoln Memorial. It’s no wonder American tourists have such a bad rap. We’re bad tourists in our own country.
We could have spent a week here, but two days would have to suffice this time. We tested the theory that there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing. After all day in the cold rain though, we were soaked through to our socks. Well, Bode was pretty dry–we pushed him around in a plastic bubble stroller.
It was Veteran’s Day which added so much to my experience. I can’t believe we’ve never been here, and I can’t wait to go back (in the summer.)
Posted on November 12, 2009 by jason
The thing we’ve noticed about the East Coast is that they love their Turnpikes. Toll roads. Whatever. You can’t avoid them. They are everywhere. Nowhere else in the country do people have to pay to drive on what is deliberately named a freeway. Anyway, we took the Turnpike down to DC. It probably cost $20 by the end of the day, $2.85 at a time.
Back at the beginning of the trip, we went to the Busfest in Vallejo, CA on our way out of town. I took a picture of a cool bus sporting a sticker that said “Why are you still behind me? Go around!” Since we were transitioning to a new slower lifestyle, I made a comment on the blog that we needed one of these on our bus. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, only a few days later I got an email from the guy who designed it, Raul. It turns out it’s not a sticker – it’s a magnet! It also turns out he wants me to have it and ships it out ASAP! The problem is that it took us a while to coordinate shipping logistics via my father, so we just got it in New Jersey, almost three months later. Just in time for the Turnpike.
Driving the bus on the Jersey Turnpike is not, ummmm…. enjoyable. We survived, and even had a few people slow down beside us and mouth a few comments over to us. We think they were encouraging words – really. One of them was a Westy Vanagon, the first VW bus of any kind we’ve seen since Wyoming – a long drought.
Posted on November 11, 2009 by angela
Less than a week ago we decided to change our route and go all the way to the east coast. If you’re going to drive around the US, you may as well drive around the US. It’s forced us to do more interstate driving lately and pass right through some otherwise stop-worthy places, but we made it. Coast to coast, baby!
From Niagara, we stopped in a random town somewhere in New York (Corning?) for the night. Our hotel had a ‘wall of fame’ featuring previous guests including some girl from MTV’s Road Rules Semester At Sea, the third guy from Full House, and some comedian with a puppet. The hotel recommended a kid-friendly Hollywood themed restaurant and we headed out. Bode and I went in first while Jason was locking up the van. The hostess asked us, “2?”. No, there will be three of us. She grabbed three menus and walked over to a booth, threw them on the table and walked off without another word. It was our own personal “Welcome to New York” moment.
We also got some interesting advice for driving through New York in a VW bus: “Don’t break down.” Multiple people e-mailed us this useful tip. There are simply no VW’s on the road around here and it seems no places to buy parts or get help. We took the advice and rolled on to Westfield, New Jersey.
One of the main reasons to come all this way was to visit our friends Alli and Kevin. And, Bode was keen on going to the top of the Empire State Building.
So, what is the exact opposite of living in an old VW? Living at Kevin and Alli’s!!! It’s a little like living in a Pottery Barn catalog, though I bet a lot of the stuff is better than PB. Even the ends of the toilet paper rolls were shaped into roses or something. Fancy! All kidding aside, their home is fantastic.
Alli and I have been friends since high school, and lived together through most of college. After college, she moved to the Big Apple and lived right in the heart of Manhattan. She played host to lots of “Girls’ trips. Later, we both had kids at the same time, and spent every Friday of our pregnancy on the phone comparing notes. Her daughter, Lainey and Bode are one month apart.
Since then, they moved out to New Jersey and had another daughter, Keira. Last time we’d been to their house was just days before Keira’s birth, and this trip we got to celebrate her third birthday with a party at a gym. Bode had a blast with the girls, and even enjoyed Keira’s new birthday toys- the Princess phone and the Gassy Gus game (courtesy of Uncle Ed). The girls were equally excited about what Bode brought–a camper van! Our van is only equipped to hold one carseat, so the girls had to take turns. Bode was happy to ride in Alli’s newer car. It had automatic windows after all.
One of the other highlights of our visit was getting to see another long-time friend, Melissa. She and I spent about every weekend together in our teens. She and Henrick came in from Queens and we all went out to dinner. Another great thing about being at Alli’s house—they have a babysitter! One that will watch all three kids! It’s been a while…
Posted on November 10, 2009 by jason
One of the advantages of having friends spread out across the country when you are on a road-trip is that you have abundant laundry opportunities. Days spent sitting in dingy laundromats are usually among our least favorite of the trip. Sometimes interesting, but not our favorite.
Alli and Kevin have the most high-tech washer and dryer we’ve ever seen. The washing machine talks to the dryer. I have no idea what they are saying to each other, but it sure is impressive. They are big and shiny and powerful too. We’ve sent many keys through the laundry over the years, but never had one come out like this. At least the compass still works. Angela’s cell phone was not so lucky. If you call her and she doesn’t answer, well…
This key already has a history and the key-chain is a farewell gift from our friend Tom in Oakland. It held Angela’s key, and she lost it in a state park just outside of Bend, OR. Once we figured out where it disappeared (near the swings), we called. They hadn’t found it, but we left a mailing address just in case it turned up. Two weeks later, someone found it and turned it in. The park folks mailed it to Texas and then my dad mailed it to Mitch in Montana, where we picked it up. We figured it was now a good luck charm and it would always be with us. So long, key.
When I bought the bus, it didn’t come with any keys. I was a little worried about this, but found out that there is a code stamped on the inside of the door handles. After removal, I was relieved to find that both door handles had the same code and found an old-school locksmith with the right reference books. $10 later, I had keys for the bus and they actually fit the ignition too (I had to re-key the rear door – easy filing.)
Posted on November 9, 2009 by jason
After Milwaukee, we made tracks towards Illinois. It didn’t take long before we noticed that on this stretch of road, some people were pointing and laughing at us when they passed. It was mostly moms in SUVs with kids all staring and laughing. We still don’t know what was so funny, but we figured there were a couple of possibilities. Either the mom’s were recalling their funny childhood VW bus stories with their kids, or they were warning their kids to do their homework or they would end up driving a jalopy like ours instead of their SUV with heated seats and DVD players. It gets so cold here that the lakes freeze and people drive on them – heated seats might be a good idea.
We got an unusual welcome to Illinois at the toll booth. The guy sticks his head out and says “what in the world brings you to this God-forsaken state?”
“Just passing through” was the best I could come up with.
We got a late start, the bus was running well and we were in the mood to cover some ground, so we drove right through Chicago (we have both been there a few times already) and into Indiana. I had no idea that the interstates were all toll roads. For some reason I always assumed federal tax dollars covered the interstates.
Anyway, another strange stop just across the border in Indiana. I start filling up the tank and the guy next to me wants to chat… and insists that the bus must be worth over fifty thousand dollars. I assure him its not, but he keeps insisting “no, no, that’s worth more than a house.” I don’t really know what’s up with this guy, but he’s starting to get a little too interested in the bus. Just then Angela comes out of the convenience store and we both give each other the wide-eyed look and we’re out of there 20 seconds later. She and Bode had gone in to use the facilities. They were told to go around back. They did – but there were no facilities around back – just people peeing in the bushes.
We drove a bit longer until we were tired and found a cheapy motel in La Porte. I’d never heard of the place, but a few days later we got an invite to visit someone in La Porte if we ever passed through. Another reason to improve our blog-lag.
The next day were were off to our usual late start (and we didn’t realize we changed time zones) and did some more mindless toll-way driving to Brunswick, Ohio to visit another friend. Mandy and her two girls, Blaire and Emma, generously let us come stay and made a great dinner for us. I even got to do some handyman work.
The girls entertained Bode with Wii games and I think he now has a taste for Olympic ski jumping. We all stayed up way too late catching up. The last time we saw Mandy, she was was at our place in Alameda for a girls’ trip. This was the weekend that Angela was in Napa and Bode and I stayed home and decided to go buy a VW bus. The rest is history, so Mandy gets to share partial credit (or blame) for enabling this trip 
I couldn’t help but notice how strange the bus looked parked in the subdivision the next day. It was sort of like a ghost town, with no people or cars to be seen.
What followed was supposed to be more uneventful driving, but we had a pretty close call with a car careening off the median just outside of Cleveland. We were in the middle lane of a three-lane highway – an unusual position for us, but we had just merged highways – and all of a sudden the only car ahead of us in the left lane just smashes into the center median… hard. Not sure what caused it, but they immediately spun around and started sliding across the road directly in front of us. I hit the brakes and time stood still while we just waited/hoped they would continue to slide across the road to the shoulder. I just stayed on the brakes and watched intently – not knowing where they would end up or whether I would hit another car trying to avoid them. We missed them by maybe twenty feet. If we would have been in the right lane, we would not have missed them.
After a few seconds we recovered from the initial shock, we saw that other folks were stopping to help, and we were lucky enough to just take deep breath, shake off the scare and keep going. We had our sights set on Niagara Falls – it was sort of on the way to NYC.
It was cold, but we enjoyed checking out the falls. It’s an impressive amount of water. We were pretty much just here to look, so mission accomplished. I didn’t expect to see a giant statue of Nikola Tesla – much less people taking their photos in front of it, but there you go. Build a giant statue of anyone and people will take their photos in front of it.
Maybe it was the weather, but Niagara did not strike me as a particularly romantic place. Isn’t this where people come to get engaged or honeymoon? I just didn’t see the allure. I also didn’t see the allure of going over the falls in a barrel.
True story: years ago my friend Joe decided it would be nice to drive up to Niagara Falls with his girlfriend for a long weekend. Of course, she was interested in going. She had apparently concocted the idea that Joe intended to propose marriage on this particular weekend. Joe was clueless. Not long after the weekend was over and they started the drive home, she burst into tears and demanded he explain what was wrong and why he didn’t propose. Joe was clueless. Needless to say, by the time they made it home, Joe no longer had a girlfriend.
Posted on November 5, 2009 by jason
…to the most amazing woman we know!
We’re lucky guys - Jason and Bode.
