Driving (Almost) Woes in Virginia

Three days into having his license, Dany was pulled over for speeding on the far western side of Virginia. The officer (with the thickest accent I've ever heard) said that he clocked us going 78 in a 65. Dany tried to talk his way out of the ticket by saying that we were new to the area and that he sped up while going down a hill... but I think it was my interjection that he had only gotten his license a few days back that got us out of the ticket. The officer couldn't get over the idea of being an adult without a car ("So how did you get around?") and probably took pity on us weird city folk. He ultimately gave Dany a warning and "deputized" me, saying I should keep my eye on Dany and keep him in line.





After crossing the border into West Virginia, we stopped for lunch/fuel in a small town called White Sulphur Springs near the Greenbrier resort. The radio at the local mini-mart was playing the Kooks, but also featured a bunch of good ole boys behind the counter and the largest supply of chewing tobacco that I've ever seen in my life. We ate snacks on the curb and almost got hit by a guy in a truck, who just HAD to park right where we were sitting. As we started to move out of harm's way, he hollered out the window "Oh don't worry, I haven't hit anyone yet today." Har har har.





We drove west through the state and briefly crossed into Ohio before moving down to Kentucky (the birth place of Abraham Lincoln AND James K. Polk). We went south to Lexington and over to Louisville, prompting Dany to repeat his stand-up routine a million times ("Why is it pronounced LOUVULL? I would understand it if it were pronounced Louie-ville after the French king or Lois-ville after the literal spelling... but why LOUVULL????"). We then crossed into Indiana for a few seconds, before returning to Kentucky and continuing south. We stopped for a soda break at a McDonald's and Dany couldn't understand the guy behind the counter, because his accent was so drawn out.



We stayed in the town of Franklin (south of Bowling Green near the Tennessee border) at a Days Inn priced at an affordable $50 dollars per night. Upon entering the room, we were surprised to learn that we had entered Central Time a few hours before. Crazy.

Philly --> Baltimore --> Vienna

After an extensive repacking of my car (thanks Dad), we said goodbye to my family and headed over to Dunkin Donuts for the freshest and most delicious doughnuts that I think I've ever had. We took a brief excursion over to West Chester (Dany's alma mater) to see the campus, buy a t-shirt, and relive his glory days. Apparently Dany is a legend, since people still talk about his karaoke exploits (as evidenced at the Beers-Bowers wedding two weeks ago) and the radio station still had a poster of him on the door. BMOC much?





With Dany behind the wheel, we took a scenic shortcut across rolling corn fields to Baltimore. After a huge lunch with Susannah in the Inner Harbor, we went over to Camden Yards for an Orioles game. The game started off on a bad note with the girl messing up some words and getting completely out of tune on the National Anthem. It was so bad that people on the field were laughing noticeably.





The Orioles starter similarly crapped out the first two innings, helping the Angels score five runs before being relieved by some dude from the bullpen. It was a great game nonetheless as the Orioles ended up scoring a few runs and bringing it within one, but they couldn't pull it off in the end and they lost 6-5. Highlight of the game? The dude in front of us yelling at the Angels' first base coach at the start of EVERY inning ("Get back in the box, Griffin"). Our seats were so close that the first base coach could hear the heckling and would look back in our direction with a smile.





After the game, we drove to Vienna to have a sleepover at Lindsay's house. We watched an episode of Degrassi as well as a video of her skydiving, which was hilarious for a multitude of reasons (though mainly for the mix of Red Hot Chili Peppers songs playing in the background). I also spent an obscene amount of time petting her golden retriever before going to bed.

Goodbye Boston, etc.

So it's just before midnight on Thursday and I am in Ambler at Beth's parents' house. Today has been rather productive. After a few years of craziness, I finally have a driver's license again. Exciting, I know. I saw Bilbo Baggins at the Plymouth Meeting Mall, I ate a cheesesteak from Wawa and Beth celebrated her birthday at Redstone. The piece of cake she got was big enough for a family of six.


Look at that cake. It's like the fourth of July!

And pictures of the empty apartment...

Goodbye #28.


After several long days of packing.


The empty bedroom.

I'm Movin' Out (Ba da duh da dah)

The last few days have been super stressful. After attending a seminar all last week, we basically had two full days to pack up the entire apartment before the movers arrived (think three thousand cds, three closets full of clothes, and two years of accumulated odds and ends).



Big surprise, the elevator broke on moving day. I felt bad when the moving guys had to carry the sofa, television, etc down five flights of narrow steps in the 80 degree heat... but then I remembered how freaking expensive they were and stopped feeling bad. Sorta.



I forced Dany to go to Anna's one last time for burritos before we left Boston, since it was my favorite eating establishment in the state. I had a super chicken with cheese, lettuce, salsa, and corn for our "last meal" and it was incredible. I'm salivating just thinking about it. Dany said that there would be better Mexican food in Los Angeles, but I think it will be difficult to top Anna's.



After leaving Boston, the first stop was New York City. We faced torrential downpours for most of the four hour drive, which made the drive a ton of fun. But other than the weather and the above mural, I don't have anything to talk about.

Packing Monday Night (07.21.08)

We're not on the road yet -- that happens on Wednesday. I have one more day of work and before that, there's a lot of packing to do. Those of you that know me are aware of how much I appreciate order and cleanliness, but look at the apartment now. We're in this weird transition phase and we need to get everything finished tonight as the movers come tomorrow.

But this is the boring part...I wish I had more interesting things to post. Later this week, I promise.