The Big Move Road Trip - Day 1

The morning of my leaving, my dad had a puffy face - I could tell he'd been crying.  We hugged each other tight before he left for work.  My mother made me breakfast and I finished loading up the car with the last minute items.  We said goodbye and I got in the car and pulled out of the driveway and I cried.  I wondered if I was crazy to be doing this.  The tears couldn't last long because I had to stop at the bank and get some cash, then the post office to mail a package of something I sold on ebay.

I drove a few miles and then I picked up a friend who would be joining me on the first half of the trip.  We drove through New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and ended the evening in Ohio.  The first day was long and kind of boring, but I didn't plan any stops because I've been to New Jersey so many times, and Pennsylvania enough times that I didn't feel it warranted a stop now. 

In Ohio we stopped in Cleveland for dinner and to walk around the city.  As we were leaving Cleveland going towards a hotel closer to the morning activity, we hit an area where I said "wow, I can't believe it is raining so hard, it was just so beautiful" as the thump thump thump on the windshield grew louder.  But it wasn't rain.  It was a swarm of bugs.  It was disgusting.  We stopped to clean the windshield at a gas station...I attempted to clean the side mirrors and the bumper but those bugs were on pretty good (so much so that I even had the car washed a week later and there are still bugs...I need to scrub them off).

So, Day 1 was pretty uneventful.  Having a friend in the car really helped me not think about what I am doing since we were busy chatting and looking at the scenery.

Day 1:  522 miles.