Funny Things

Day 37: The End: Julian, PA to Coraopolis, PA

Miles today: 147.  Miles total: 5,688

State borders crossed today: 0.  State borders crossed total: 29.

There it is, folks.  26 states.  6,000 miles.  One tired automobile.  Lots and lots of gas station coffee.  Today Julie and I finished our trip across the Eastern U.S.  It rained almost the whole way home; we were happy to get back.  We had a fantastic trip; thanks to all our friends and family who hosted us or hung out with us. 

We’re going to do a recap in the next post.

Hooray for home!

Day 36: Fort Lee, NJ to Julian, PA

Miles today: 237. Miles total: 5,541.

State borders crossed today: 1.  State borders crossed total: 29.

Well, this was the last new place we went to.  We visited our friends who live right outside of State College PA.  On the way we passed through the Delaware Water Gap, which is a surreal stretch of road that twists and turns and winds away around the mountains.  The exits are unmarked turn-offs that force you to decelerate from 50 or 60 miles per hour to 10 in 100 feet or so.  And there’s a half-assed toll booth that collects $1 and snarls up traffic for miles.  Why?  Delaware is not even close, and what the heck is a water gap, anyway? 

Our friends rent a lovely house in the woods.  Their mailbox says John Deere on it.  And they have deer that come to graze near their pond:

(A blurry picture because deer move fast)

Our friend made us scrumptious pork chops with apple cider and walnuts on top, then we played Monopoly, the Card Game.  Yes, that’s right, there is a card game that Monopoly put out, and it does an admirable job of replicating the Monopoly game play without the requisite 2-3 hours it takes to play an actual game.

Day 37: Home again

Days 34 and 35: New York, New York

We rode the bus/subway into New York to see my friend Josh.  Josh lives in a loft in Brooklyn.  Now, when I say a loft, I don’t mean one of those trendy made-for-yuppies lofts.  I mean an old factory that somebody divided up into rooms with high ceilings and crappy floors:

We spent the weekend walking and eating and drinking.  According to my friends and friends of friends there, this is what New Yorkers do.  Walk, eat, and drink.  My friend did warn us that New Yorkers walk a lot, but I don’t think we were prepared for it.  My legs and then my mouth kept complaining about the distances my friend made us walk.  You’d think they’d put the subway stations closer together!

The view from Brooklyn

This is in Polish town.  It’s a Polish McDonald’s.  McDonald’s in Polish is McDonald’s.

Band photo

Everybody jump!

It’s official

Julie wanted me to tell our friend that he had to take us to eat “Ninja Turtles Pizza;” the kind of pizza you see in the movie that is hand-delivered by April O’Neil and is all greasy and stringy with cheese.  She got her wish; our last meal in NYC was a greasy dive of a pizza joint.  I ill-advisedly had two slices; I got up later that night to pee and I felt like throwing up.  But it was good!

Day 36: The beginning of the end

Day 33: Fort Lee, New Jersey

We spent a nice day relaxing at Julie’s aunt’s house.  It was a totally Asian day: Julie’s aunt taught us how to make sushi, then Julie’s aunt and uncle took us out to eat Korean barbeque, and then we sang karaoke on their karaoke machine at home. 

How to make sushi rice:

-use pre-washed Japanese sushi rice (short-grained)

-for 5 rice-cooker cups of rice, add half a cup of Mirin

-add water to just below the 5-cup line in the rice cooker

-throw one plank of thick hard-dried seaweed into the cooker

-let sit for 2 hours

-after 2 hours, turn rice cooker on to cook

-after it stops, let rice stand for 17 minutes (not 16, not 18!)

-watch this youtube video and follow the instructions (I’m too lazy to type out the rest of the process; it’s pretty much exactly what we did!)

Pictures to prove it:

Julie’s aunt’s sushi.  Notice how nice and clean and pretty it is?

Our sushi.  Notice how… special… it looks?

Day 34: David and Julie tour the Big Apple

Day 32: Montpelier, VT to Troy, NY and Fort Lee, NJ!

Miles today: 316.  Miles total: 5304

State borders crossed today: 2.  State borders crossed total: 28

We drove today from Montpelier to Troy, New York, near Albany, home of our friend Amanda, who is getting a PhD in chemistry.  I am convinced one of my friends is going to cure cancer; I don’t know how I got such smart friends.  After a yummy lunch, we headed to Fort Lee, New Jersey, right outside of the Big Apple, where Julie’s aunt lives.  We feasted on Korean food and watched the BBC’s Life on Blu-Ray.  Nature is crazy, especially this guy.  I highly recommend you watch this if you haven’t.  Komodo dragons are the devil.

Day 33: Kickin’ it in Jersey

Day 31: Brandon, VT to Montpelier, VT (by way of Waterbury)

Miles today: 69.  Miles total: 4,988

State borders crossed today: 0.  State borders crossed total: 26

Let me tell you, Vermont is one of the most interesting states we’ve been to in our trip.  It’s super rural, the 2nd least populated state of the union.  You’d think rural = conservative Bible people right?  Wrong!  Vermont is full of progressive hippie live-and-let-live types who are super proud of everything Vermont.  This state probably has the lowest concentration of Starbucks and Walmarts (in fact, Vermont only has 2 Walmarts) in the union, because they love to support local businesses.  And, they have the only bona fide socialist Congressman in the U.S. Congress!  Everything I learn about Vermont I’m impressed with.

We spent the morning walking around Brandon.  It was hit super, super hard by the Irene floods; their main street was completely washed away, and several buildings are still condemned.  It’s nice to see that they’re bouncing back, but they have a long way to go.

We went to an antique store/ice cream shop owned by a dude from Mexico and talked to him for like an hour and a half.  He grilled us on the Peace Corps and we shot the breeze about a lot of stuff.  He was super pleasant to talk to, and being so nice paid off for him because we ate his ice cream, bought some antiques, and even bought some of Vermont’s famous maple syrup.

We stayed at our friends’ house right next door to this.

Frodo’s grave

Get it?

After we bid a fond farewell to Brandon, we drove through the mountains to Waterbury, Vermont, the site of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream factory!  They gave us the tour (we weren’t allowed to take pictures of the actual machinery and ice cream making process) and gave us a sample of Cookies and Milk ice cream.  Mmm… and yes, for those of you keeping track at home, it was the second time that day we ate ice cream.  Vermonters love their ice cream (and so do we!):

After we toured the factory we headed to nearby Montpelier, the smallest state capital in the country.  The population of Montpelier, Vermont is 8,000.

Cute little statehouse.  There are only 3 permanent staff that work at the statehouse, so all the state Senators and Representatives do most of the actual work themselves.  They also hold other jobs, so they’re not career politicians.  Refreshing, no?

Ethan Allen.  He was an ugly dude.

Day 32: On to New Jersey!

Day 30: Randolph, MA to Brandon, Vermont (by way of Worcester)

Miles today: 205.  Miles total: 4,919

State borders crossed today: 2. State borders crossed total: 26.

If you look above, you will see that WE HAVE BEEN TO MORE THAN HALF THE STATES IN THE UNION!  Heck yes!!!!

Today we left Randolph to drive to Worcester.  Just to illustrate how crazy the lower New England people are, the town of Worcester is not pronounced “wer-CHEST-er” in New England.  Nope, it is pronounced “WUST-eh”.  And I thought the Pittsburgh accent was bad….

We met a friend and her lovely son for a lunch of apple crisp and muffins (they know how to do lunch in Worcester, let me tell you!) and then we high-tailed it to Vermont.  We drove through the bottom corner of New Hampshire.  It is in this area of the U.S. where I have experienced the craziest drivers of my life.

We were at an intersection, at a yield sign, and there was a line of traffic coming the other way.  I see a gap in the traffic so I figure I’d go.  The person I pulled in front of (I didn’t cut them off, mind you!) decided she didn’t like that, so she sped around me.  “Okay, you can get in front of me if it’s that important to you” I said.  She then proceeds to drive uber-erratic: she’d slow way down, so I’d have to slam on my brakes, and then step on the gas and speed ahead of me, only to repeat 30 seconds later.  I thought she was still pissed about pulling in front of her so I stayed way behind her.  She was weaving all over the road, going onto the shoulder several times.  Then, we get to an intersection with a right-turn only lane.  She pulls into the lane, but really slowly, so she’s half in my lane and half in the right-turn lane.  I try to speed up to pass her, thinking she’s making the turn, when she comes back over into my lane!  I swerved to miss her and then took a left to get away from this crazy girl.  Julie looked over at her and gave her at dirty look, and she said the girl looked high or drunk or something, with this crazy, goofy grin on her face.  Sheesh.  I just hope she didn’t kill anyone with her driving.

We arrived in one piece in Brandon, VT.  We stopped by this high school where our friend is getting paid to play piano for “The Sound of Music.”  It was two nights before opening night, and these kids needed a lot of work.  Let’s hope everything goes well.

We treated our friends to a homecooked meal of sweet peppers stuffed with sausage, butternut squash, salad, and sausage queso.  Yum.

Day 31: Exploring Brandon and hippie ice cream