25 September 2007 9:57pm
Well, Day One of the grand adventure was, well, adventurous. I have to believe the rest of the trip will be better or I will have a nervous breakdown right here, right now.
But first, our stuff got off yesterday without a hitch. Movers showed on time, inventoried everything and wrapped it with great care, then loaded it on a truck bound for Tucson (by way of Boston, New York, and goodness knows where else). The driver says he may be able to get our stuff there on the afternoon of the 1st (the day we were planning on pulling into Tucson mid-afternoon). This makes it even more likely that at some point in this adventure we will part ways with my parents and bolt for Tucson ourselves to meet the truck.
Today, well, today started okay, but like the first day of any long overland journey, it got off to a slow start what with having to gas up the vehicles, finish emptying the house, finish loading the vehicles and get going. We pulled out of the driveway at about 8:00am and pulled into the campsite at about 8:15pm, having driven a mere 400 miles if that gives you some idea of the day we had.
First there was the mess that is just getting out of New England via I-84. Goodness, the traffic, plus having to drive through the heart of three good-sized cities (Springfield, MA, and Hartford and Waterbury, CT). On the other hand, the relative tininess of northeastern states makes the progress seem greater than it is (we did, in fact, traverse 4 states today -- compare that with crossing just one border tomorrow).
Then the motor home decided that it really didn't think it was in shape for all the mountain climbing that was being asked of it. It hasn't been on any significant trip since it came "home" from SC in the spring, so you really can't blame it, can you? So we stopped for half an hour or so and just let it rest. It seemed to do okay after that, and it looked like despite the slow start we were going to make it to our stopping spot in time for dinner and a good rest. Well, until we hit the construction mess what should have been a mere half hour from our destination.
Stopped (and I mean stopped -- people putting their cars in park and getting out to stretch stopped) we realized at some point that the van directly behind us had apparently been rear-ended by a big rig (obviously not at high speed, since she didn't get driven into us -- thank goodness). We didn't see what happened, but it seems that we escaped at the very least a couple more hours of whatever.
Anyway, we have arrived in Woodland, PA in the dark, have eaten hot dogs for supper and really, really want to go to bed. No WiFi, so I'll post when we get somewhere that has it.
BTW, we did get to see the premiere of "Chuck" last night and we both think it's quite cute. Missed both premiere nights of "Dancing with the Stars" -- will have to catch online when we get settled.
ETA: I just heard that Tuesday was Mountain Day at MHC, what a great day to begin this next phase of our grand adventure!
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