Catching Up

It's been so long. Blogging is harder than it looks (Anjelica!). Anyway, it's a few days before Christmas so we thought we'd show you some photos of the last month, the recent blizzard, and just a general update on life.

Here is our lovely Chirstmas tree. It was quite fun to decorate and has left our livingroom smelling amazing. Below is our homage to Seattle - with a ferry and the needle.

On the 17th, Karin finished her last exam of her first semester! Two days later, it began to snow. Meg's district shut down school at noon and it pretty much snowed from 2pm on Friday until Sunday evening. That puts us at today, Monday, and Meg's district is still closed (four day weekend!) and Karin's car is still buried. Our goal today is to get it out. The pictures below are of the snowy weekend and Maddy enjoying the white fluffy stuff. Meanwhile, it's already getting a little old to have to put on snow pants to take the dog for a walk. But it is beautiful, and Boston goes all out with x-mas lights so it really looks like a winter wonderland. Also, on Friday night, while walking Maddy in a blizzard, we witnessed the "Thunder Snow" everyone had been talking about. We even got lightning along with it. It was pretty strange. Oh, and Meg's new favorite word: wintry mix. Wintry mix is to Boston as sun breaks is to Seattle.

It begins...

Our backyard on Sunday afternoon

Karin's car on Sunday evening

Maddy in the backyard

She really, really, really loves the snow!

One happy dog

Walk the Trail

Saturday we took a walk on the Freedom Trail, a 3 mile path through Boston focusing on its oldest buildings, churches, and other historical places. There were a lot of tourists, including us, but we took comfort in knowing that we were going home at the end of the day, not a hotel.


These are the guys we opted not to take the tour with. They were going to up the cheese-factor substantially and charge us a lot for pretending it is 1776 and the Redcoats are coming. Besides, we have the Lonely Planet and NFT guides to Boston. We're set.


The State House. Reminded us of The Departed. The dome is very bright.


The Granary Burying Ground. Final resting place of Sam Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, the victims of the Boston Massacre, and a substantial monument to the entire Franklin family. Many of the graves had very intricate/creepy skulls on them. I'm sure if we'd paid for the tour we'd know why they liked skulls so much. Maybe they all died on/near Halloween?



This is King's Chapel. Current structure built in 1754 and the bell forged by Paul Revere himself.

This mosaic is for the Boston Latin School, founded in 1635 and where a lot of famous Bostonian (men) went to school. It's one of the best high schools in Boston today and is now over by Fenway Park. The oldest surviving public building is The Old State House. A beautiful building surrounded by modern Boston. Just in front of it is the site of the Boston Massacre, now it's just something Masshole drivers have to avoid.

Paul Revere, his house (not his truck though), and the Old North Church, where he let Boston know that the British were coming (two if by sea). North Boston is now the Italian district. We saw lots of old men playing cards and boccie ball. Paul Revere was not Italian. Though born in America, his father was from France.



A skinny house at the top of the North End.

The seal of Boston, you can find this on a lot of street signs. The Latin phrase at the tops translates to "as to our fathers may God be to us"

Leg 6: Lancaster to Fair Haven, NJ

Miles Driven Today: 153

Miles so Far: 3068.6
Drive Time: about 3 hours
Total Stops: 1
Gas Mileage: anywhere from 10 to 13.3 mpg (not getting any better...)
Hours Driving: Meg - all 3, since we're now with the crazy east coast drivers
Average Speed: 59.0

Last night after a great dinner with the Smithgalls at nearby Irish pub Annie Bailey's, we set out for Karin's home state, the dirty Jerz. Daphne (brilliant, as always) took us on a quicker route around Philly to avoid the perpetual gridlock that is 76 through the middle of the city, and then confounded Karin by directing us to take I-195 across NJ to get to the shore.

[As an aside: Every summer, New Yorkers - a particularly obnoxious breed of shore-bound drivers also known as Bennies - invade NJ beaches for the weekends and clog every major highway with bumper-to-bumper traffic for hours. I-195 is the best highway to get across NJ, a generally locally guarded secret, especially since it doesn't have tolls, either. Daphne is omniscient.]

Once across into NJ, Meg was quickly introduced to the NJ aroma; it's a lot like a fermented version of Tacoma. We don't have much in the way of pictures since it was pitch-black by this point, but the road construction was great fun, if by fun we mean "Thanks, NJ, for posting road signs no one else uses in the continental US" and "Thank god Meg was driving because the trailer caught a little air." There is one generally accepted uneven-road-surface sign, and NJDOT apparently uses their own version. We missed it anyhow since it looked as though it had been hit by a semi, but quickly discovered its meaning when Meg changed lanes, only to discover that the left hand side of the center line was about an inch higher than the right. Points to Meg for keeping the car on the road!

So to conclude this post, we'd like to share some pointers on driving on the east coast and particularly in Jersey:

Turn signals are just clues as to your next move in road battle so never use them.

Under no circumstances should you leave a safe distance between your and the car in front of you no matter how fast you're going. If you do, the space will be filled in by somebody else putting you in an even more dangerous situation.

The faster you drive through a red light, the smaller the chance you have of getting hit.

Construction signs tell you about road closures immediately after you pass the exit but before the traffic begins to back up.

Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right. It's a good way to scare people entering the highway.

Just because you're in the left lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn't mean that the driver flashing his high beams behind you doesn't think he can go faster in your spot.

Always slow down and rubberneck when you see an accident or even a person changing a tire. If you're lucky, you may see the unwitting breakdown victim get mugged, the proceeds of which are vested directly into the Democratic frontrunner's campaign for governor.

Learn to swerve abruptly. NJ is the home of the high-speed slalom driving thanks to NJDOT, who put potholes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them on their toes.

It is traditional in NJ to honk your horn at cars that don't move the instant the light changes. The state is founded upon such traditions.

Seeking eye contact with another driver revokes your right of way.

All unmarked exits on the Parkway lead to downtown Newark.

In case anyone is interested...

...I was just going through the gas receipts (thanks mom and dad!) and I thought it might be cool to tell you all the towns we filled up in. It's pretty exciting, I know.
Washington, PA
Somerset, PA
Plainfield, PA
Pickeringt, OH
Ogden, IL
Brooklyn, IA
Galesburg, IL
Greenfield, IN
Humboldt, SD
Sloan, IA
Earlham, IA
Hardin, MT
Wall, SD
Buffalo, WY
Kennebec, SD
Big Timber, MT
Sundance, WY
Missoula, MT
Butte, MT
Coeur D'Alene, ID
North Bend, WA
and last but not least, my favorite, Lind, WA - see the "first leg" youtube video below.

Wasn't that exciting?

Leg 5: Englewood, OH to Lancaster, PA

Miles Driven Today: 476.8

Miles so Far: 2915.6

Average Speed: 59.3

We've officially arrived on the east coast (by our standards anyway). Today was a shorter driving day and we arrived at the Smithgall's just in time for a delicious dinner. It's great to be back in Lancaster again. It's not too hot and the sun is shinning. Today (Friday) we are going to market, and plan on exploring Meg's old neighborhood. We're looking forward to walking around rather than sitting all day. Tonight, we head to Karin's house in NJ. From there, we have to split up. Our place isn't ready until Wednesday or Thursday of next week, so Karin is headed up to Boston on Sunday night (orientation is Monday - yikes!), while Meg is going to spend some time in Elmira, NY with her grandparents, uncle and aunt. We figured Elmira is a much safer place to keep the trailer. As soon as we know when we can move in, Meg will drive the final leg to Boston (about 6 hours from Elmira). Here are some pics from our last long leg of the trip. And thanks to those of you who have left comments, or sent us texts/e-mails in the last few days. It means a lot.

Leg 4: Adel, IA to Englewood, OH

Miles Driven Today: 606.3

Miles so Far: 2438.8

Average Speed: 59.5

Today was a big day, we went thorugh 4 states! We started in Iowa, then through Illinois and Indiana, and finally stopping in Ohio, just outside of Dayton. We've been driving for a total of 41 hours and it's starting to wear on us a little. For example, Karin missed the Illinios state sign (we're trying to get pictures of all of them), and Meg forgot to warn Karin that we were coming up to the Indiana state line. We'll probably steal them from google images and call them our own. Here's a picture of the state sign we did get, and a picture of the Mississippi River.

Leg 3: Interior to Adel, IA

Miles Driven Today: 545.6

Miles so Far: 1832.5
Drive Time: 10h
Total Stops: 5
Gas Mileage: anywhere from 10 to 13.3 mpg (not getting any better...)
Hours Driving: Meg - 7h, Karin - 3h
Average Speed: 58.9

Today was kind of boring. Once out of the Badlands, South Dakota looks pretty much the same for about 300 miles. The change of scenery was nice in Iowa...for the first hour or so, then the acres and acres of corn fields got a little repetitive. We've stopped into the KOA outside of Adel, IA for the night and have some nice neighbors with huge RVs and some kittens that have decided they like us.

Oh, and we found out that we can't get into our place in Boston until Wednesday or Thursday. Lame. We're working on a solution to that dilemma. Also missing the fact that Seattle has no bugs...it's bug country out here.

the mighty missouri river

the south dakota rest stops have teepees

drunk kitteh had too much beer (that's for you kate!)

Leg 2: Bozeman to Interior, SD

Miles Driven Today: 607.3

Miles so Far: 1286.9

Drive Time: 11 hours, 2 minutes

Total Stops: 5

Gas Mileage: anywhere from 10 to 13.3 mpg (ugh)

Hours Driving: Meg - 7h 2m, Karin - 4h

Average Speed: 57.9

Leg 2 consisted of a lot of Montana, a corner of Wyoming, and a good chunk of South Dakota. Leg 2 also saw Karin get behind the wheel for the first time, showing no fear while driving 9200 pounds worth of car and trailer. It should also be noted that she somehow managed to start the car in third gear! and downshift from fourth to second while going up a hill. Buzz (Meg's car) was a little miffed, but she's doing much better on the third day.

On another note, South Dakota is bi-polar. We counted 7 Christian-themed billboards, informing us of our impending doom. We also counted 5 adult superstores, most open 24hrs a day. South Dakota, it should also be noted, is the home to Sturgis, the largest anual Harley convention (Hells' Angels are probably also going to hell). South Dakota, figure your shit out.

Finally, just before the sunset in Interior, SD (pop. 67), we drove through Badlands National Park. It was the most beautiful place we've ever seen. The pictures don't do it justice, but we'll try. You need to go here before die.

Animals seen today: bighorn sheep, lots of cows, wolves (we heard them), lots of roadkill, and a mosquito that died upon contact with Karin's "Jungle Juice" soaked arm (thanks REI).

our camp site

Daphne

Daphne is our GPS unit. She's amazing. Originaly named Judy, then The Queen (we changed her voice to a British accent), her final name is Daphne, which sounds British and has a connection to Seattle (Daphne on Fraser). Daphne knows a lot. For example, where gas stations and rest stops are. She also knows when you're driving on the wrong side of the road (there's a lot of construction in SD and a lot of times they have both directions of traffic on one side of the interstate - she's smart!). Anyway, glad that Daphne is with us. Here's a picture of her guiding us.

Leg 1: Seattle to Bozeman

Miles so Far: 679.6
Drive Time: 11 hours, 50 minutes
Total Stops: 7
Gas Milage: anywhere from 10 to 13.3 mpg (ugh)
Hours Driving: Meg - 11h 50m, Karin - 0
Average Speed: 57.4



Just a few pics from our first leg.

the u-haul
just a precaution outside of lind, wa

150,000 miles on buzz (meg's 4runner)

idaho

montana

bug casualty

bozeman sunset

oh, and check this out. we almost ran out of gas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeLV_eu0_k4

Monday we head to Interior, SD. Stay tuned for a tribute to Daphne, our GPS unit. We loves her.

Today, we went, tooo the beach

After the wedding, it was off to Moclips/Pacific beach with the Smithgalls, Saladiks, and Elstons. There was a lot of badminton, watching Phelps dominate, watching China cheat, and all around good times. It was so great to be reunited with old friends.

we don't condone this, just pretty funny :)