randallCbennett[dot]com

The trip — Destination two: Somerville (FINALLY!)

Woohoo! I pull up to Somerville after the whole car towing fiasco and everything looks good so far!  It’s about 5:30, traffic isn’t too bad or anything, and as I make my way through two more toll roads *GRR* I hit the last road and get off the freeway.  The feeling of familiarity was really strong and comforting as I ran into mass ave and noticed the hotel I was staying at a few weeks ago.  The trip was almost complete, and I was half happy and half sad to be done with the cross country journey.

After meeting up with my new rooomate Rich, I unpacked my backpack and duffel bag and proceeded to take a nap on the couch.  Slept for a few hours and then called my friend Traci who lives in BOS for some saturday night hang out action.  We went to some place near the government center where there were a bunch of clubs and the like… and it was a pretty cool place for the most part.

I then convinced traci to head back to my ‘hood, Davis Square, and we hit up some JP Licks.  Yum ice cream for sure.

I’m sure I’ve missed a whole bunch in recounting today, yestrday, and the last week in general, but instead of continuing, I’m going to instead go take another nap, start unpacking, then i’ll go through my financial assessment of the trip according to gas prices and hotel stays.  Don’t worry, there will be even more useless blog posts coming at you soon.

The trip — Destination one: New York

Wee! I made it to New York! Day one, I successfully parked my car in Queens (Long Island City, to be exact) with intentions of playing in New York for the day.  I met up with Karina and Nick, we had some west village dinner (although I had a more light dinner, saving room for my later dinner) and parted ways.  I had a fun time catching up with old friends, and it made me want to be in New York even more.

After that, I headed to Becky’s house.  I was feeling rather touristy, and since she lives in the garment district, we made the two / three block trek to Times Square.  I don’t care how long you’ve lived in New York, nor how jaded or hip you may feel, Times Square is still a fun place to be every once in a while.  I wouldn’t want to actually live at 41st and 7th or something like that, but visiting is just a fun experience for the external stimuli alone.

We spontaniously decided to head to The View at the top of the marriot, the rotating restaurant.  Pretty disappointing for the price we paid (yeah, I’m a little cheap, so sue me) but it was a pretty fun time.

Next day, I went to go move my car in Queens (uh oh… this is a moment i’ll expound on later) and grabbed a check out of my car to go put in the bank.  I went and had lunch with Karina in LIC, then went back to Times Square for some TKTS action.  I got some tickets for Spamalot, which was a pretty funny show.  Becky and I went and saw it that night, and it was a good ol’ time.

Fast forward 12 hours, I meet up with my friend Betsy for some brunch action near her new wall st. digs.  Afterward, I head back to LIC.  Turns out… my car is GONE!  First, like anyone, I think “STOLEN!” but then realize the reality of New York’s tow-away zone (the entire city) and realize I must have parked too close to a fire hydrant.  D’oh.  Fast forward three hours and $185 plus the cab ride to the impound yard, and yeah, that bad parking job cost me some coin.  Damn.

On the whole though, not too bad.  The parking thing is annoying, but you know, I’ll get over it.  Just remember that New York’s parking law is 15 feet, not the 5ish feet I remember from driver’s ed school in Utah.

Now, on to Boston.

The trip — Part three: Toledo

Toledo was a pretty good drive for the most part.  No unholy weather events, nor crazy traffic, just one annoyance that would persist the rest of the journey: Toll roads.  The Ohio Turnpike isn’t any nicer than any road in Utah that is free, nor do I get anything super special out of driving on it.  It’s a public road, and it bugs me that I had to drop some coin just to drive on it.

Tunnels / Bridges make sense, because i’m pretty sure there’s some unexpected upkeep not associated with traditional interstates, but toll roads in general seem annoying.

I stayed at the Days Inn there, spending a little extra coin to get a much better room.  Got up and headed for NY the next day.  Fun!!!

(PS I’ll be posting a milage / money recap of the journey later today, after I finish my trip posts.)

The real dip on the journey: Indiana

So right now I’m sitting in some horrid traffic at milepost 27 in Indiana. I’ve been here for literally an hour, and it aint getting any better. So far so bad, but even worse, it screws up my timeline.

Sorry I didn’t update, but no internet at motel 6 in des moines. Ill write more tonight, internet permitting.

Sweet! Now rolling at 5 mph. Ill ttyl when I’m not on a gprs connection. And were stopped again. Hope this ends soon.

The trip — Part one: Laramie

So I’m hanging out in Laramie right now.  So far, so good… but unfortunately I splurged on food at Burger King.    The plans now? I’m hoping to go for 10 hours tomorrow.

Also positive? 34.5 MPG!  w00t!  Plus, Mohito flavored gum is awesome.

Car trips are boring, so my cross country posts probably won’t be very long, but I’ll at least update everyone each day.

Later!

The dip and driving to Boston

Marketing svengali Seth Godin stopped by our lil’ beehive state to give some details on his latest book, the Dip.  For the uninitiated, here’s a nice lil’ picture that will explain the dip nicely.

As you’re putting in effort, you see results when you first start, but then there’s this stage, the dip, where whatever you’re doing starts to suck a little more.  For Tech Check Daily, that dip was most certainly me getting busy with other projects.  I’m not going to quit TCD, but instead adjust it.  For driving cross country, there’s a big dip.

Sorry Nebraska, but you’re the dip on my journey.  I’m sure driving cross country isn’t going to be exactly riveting after I get through the square states, but that’ll be the most annoying part of the drive.