The first road trip in a long time

Its been awhile since I've been on a good road trip. Not like a weekend trip, but a trip where a drive of all day is required... if not multiple days. So this Christmas and New Years, I decided to change that.

I drove up to Chicago a few days before Christmas. I'll be up here for a few days then will head to Boston, through Canada, to meet up with friends for New Years. Since I'll be working out of Boston the first week of the year, I'll stay there that week and work, then drive back home that weekend. All in all, I foresee 4 days of solid driving; I've been craving and looking forward to it since I decided to do it.

The drive up to Chicago was good. I left a bit later than I wanted to, but got going pretty soon. During the drive I got stuck in bad traffic behind a wreck in the mountains of Virginia, but other than that it was smooth sailing. Took the normal 40/52/74/77/64/75/65/80/94 route and it was as awesome as usual! One of the surprises though of the trip was the large windmill farm that is just north of LaFayette, Indiana. It was dark by then so the only way i knew I was in a windmill farm was the blinking lights on the top of the windmills. I hadn't ever driven through a windmill farm at night; apparently all the lights on the windmills blink together. So I was driving through a huge windmill farm, must have been 200-300 of them as it took 15 minutes to drive through it all, and surrounded by hundreds of simultaneously blinking red lights. It was an awesome sight to see.

In a day or two, I'll be heading from Chicago to Boston through Canada via Niagara Falls. I've never been to Canada or seen the falls, so I'm very much looking forward to the drive. I'll stay in the Niagara Falls area over night then head east through New York and Massachusetts to the Boston area where I'm staying with a friend for a few days. Very much looking forward to having some time to actually not work and enjoy the area, especially with good company!

I haven't looked much into the drive back home on Saturday after work, but I'm looking forward to that too. Will probably involve most of 95 from Boston down to North Carolina through NYC and DC. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and it'll be a nice scenic urban drive!


I love being behind the wheel of a car, I need to do this more often.

Kinda digging this business travel thing

So I've been traveling for work for awhile now (almost 33 straight weeks according to Foursquare) and while at the beginning it was old an an excuse to be away from the house, its been growing on me.

I like the people watching at airports, noticing who obviously travels often vs the recreational traveler. Who gets pissed having to deal with security vs those who just accept it as part of the experience. Those who can relax and sleep on a plane vs those who get very nervous.

Seeing the sights when traveling is cool too. Flying into or out of Regan airport in DC and getting to see the National Mall. Seeing downtown New York City going through LaGuardia or JFK. Looking for sharks or whales right outside of Boston Harbor or off the cape. Watching he storms when going through the Midwest or Texas. And that's just via the airplane. I usually don't get to see many sights when on the ground, and but I have made it to a few, and really need to make it more of a priority.

I'm going to Boston tomorrow, then Dallas for the next two weeks. While I still want to hog the road and drive, I'm making the best of the experience as much as I can (while still getting my work done of course). I will be taking 2 weeks off in December, probably around Christmas time, so i might sneak a road trip in somewhere. I should, that would be a good present to myself.

Direct routes turned scenic

So the past couple weekend, I've turned a few hour drives into scenic trips. I like this pattern emerging.

Last weekend I camped in Hanging Rock State Park. Its about a 3 hour drive from my place, so got out there Friday and was going to mosey back Saturday. Well mosey back turned into swinging also by Mt Pilot State Park (just under an hour away, in the opposite direction) and then deciding to take the non-direct way back. That would have been how I got there; US-52 to I-40, a straight shot home.

Instead I took I-74 south to US-64, and took that straight back. It added probably 2-3 hours to the trip, going further west and south than I needed to, but it was a different drive.


Today I went to Danville to look at a possible popup camper. The camper was in terrible shape so it didn't come with, but being done with the viewing at 4pm, I had plenty of time to head back. Instead of the straight shot back, I decided to go east through VA (a route I haven't made before) then straight south back home. Well heading south ended up going further south so I could loop back north.

I took I-40 to NC-86 there, which took just under 2 hours. Going back was pushing 5 hours; US-58 through VA to US-15, right at Kerr Lake. Took that south through Oxford, Durham, Chapel Hill, and Pittsboro to Sanford where I took US-420 east to Lillington where I took US-401 north home.




I'm realizing that theses scenic spontaneous trips are good for the soul. It helps that I am in no rush to get home, but its nice to just decide 'I haven't gone that direction before, lets see whats that way' and go. The next girl I find needs to be ok with that (and embrace it!) or there will be head butting.

I need a good navigator. She doesn't have to help the entire time, nor does she have to take the wheel; she just needs to encourage me, keep me sane, and be good company. She can be in her own world, bug me all she wants, or even help or lead in navigation, so long as she stays in the passenger seat and we make it home safe and sound. Sounds like what I'm wanting in a relationship too...

Surprise road trip!

I've been traveling a bunch for work again. Usually from RDU to Dallas/Fort Worth, but not this week. I'm back in Boston, and it may be that way for awhile (I'll find out this week hopefully).

Today I was flying up to Boston for a Monday evening through Friday afternoon stay. I was supposed to go into New York's Laguardia airport and catch a connection. Well it was drizzly/rainy in the northeast, and that has pushed back a bunch of flights. Guess whose flight got not just delayed, but cancelled all together? I checked my mail when I got off the phone to see details, and found out that the flight was cancelled and we were rebooked on a flight in the am. I was supposed to be at work in the am.

So we (Rob and I, as well as two girls who were also trying to connect but got cancelled and happened to be at the ticket counter when we were talking to the agent) decided to drive. Rob rented a car, I drove, and we took the two lovely ladies.

So all four of us drove from New York up to Boston from 9pm to about 1am. We talked during the way, getting to know each other somewhat. They texted their boyfriends to reiterate that we weren't kidnapping them; I was surprised that these two girls (one 22, the other 24) were so trusting of two strangers. The drive went by fast though, it was a good time and good conversation.



So now I've driven from New York City to Boston. Thats a drive I've wanted to do, so now thats checked off the list!

Follow up...

Mental note: Its 3 hours and 32 minutes from the stop light at US 158 and the Wright Brother Memorial and my driveway. The Alligator River bridge was just under or over an hour (I forget).

Thats not that long for a weekend drive, I need to go to the OBX more often. Also, need to bring Glacier, I bet he'd love the surf, wave, birds, and attention he'd get. Not sure about the heat though...



Next weekend I'm planning on heading up to Washington DC to see a few friends and put some more miles under my belt. This driving is good for my soul, and it craves good nowadays.

Pavement, how I've missed you

So this weekend I went on the first road trip in a long time... I went to the beach, specifically the Outer Banks. Its only a 3ish hour drive, so it wasn't a terribly long drive, but it scratched the itch.


I haven't gone on a long drive like this since last August when we rented two beach houses for a week. Its insane to think of how much has changed between then and now...


The trip is what the doctor ordered though. As soon as I got on the highway from home heading here, the world lifted off my shoulders. I was more relaxed than I've been in a long time. Even with the traffic and half the trip being after the sun went down, I was happy behind that wheel.

Tomorrow I drive around the beach more, hitting up the First in Flight memorial, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, and a few local food joints before heading back. I'll probably leave here after dark and dinner, so the drive back will be in the dark, but I'm ok with that. I'm looking forward to driving along NC12 and US64... I need to take these weekend trips more often.

Stupid ice

Well I was going to go for the first road trip in a long while this weekend. But DC had to go and have a mini snow storm and a possible ice storm tomorrow. Driving in the snow I can deal with; but I'm not going 5 hours just to spin my wheels in ice. Raleigh gets plenty of that.


I may instead head down to Raven Rock State Park instead. Its a place I keep meaning to go and investigate, but never seem to do so. Its going to be somewhat nice this weekend, and it'll be a good drive and trip to bring Glacier with. It'll get me away from the house for the day and hopefully feed my craving for a good drive. If not, well I can go up to DC in a week or two.