Here are my thoughts on the experience:

Day 1 Friday

Columbus, OH to Chester, Vt ~700 miles 12 hours

Friday was the long day.  We had to go about 700 miles in order to make it all the way to Vermont in one day.  We made it despite the constant rain and nearly being bled to death by tolls on I-90E.  Luckily the rain slowed down as we passed Albany and things cleared for our drive through Vermont.  It was absolutely beautiful in Vermont.  We tried to snap a few pictures from the car (rule 1 of a road trip, no unnecessary stops) but I’m not sure we captured the full effect.

The important thing was we made it through the worst leg of the trip driving wise.

Day 2 Saturday

Vermont to Farmington, NH to Hartford, CT ~320 miles 5 hours

On Saturday we made the roughly two hour drive from southern Vermont to southern New Hampshire.  You might think this is a straightforward drive, but in actuality there are not many highways that run East-West in that part of the country.  Instead we traveled up I-91 and then back down I-89.

The day was rainy but fortunately it was more of a mist than anything else.  The service was small and informal but everyone in Sandy’s family seemed pleased.  I never had the chance to meet her Grandpa but after hearing people talk about him, I wish I had.  He was certainly a dapper fellow:

His obituary appeared in the NY Times on August, 28th.  (link)

After the service finished up, we got back on the road and made our way down to East Hartford, CT.  I’m normally not a fan of satellite radio, but being able to listen to Georgia Tech play Miss State while driving through Mass was certainly nice.  We did not get to Hartford until late and we left early the next day, so unfortunately I did not get a chance to look around the city at all.

Day 3 Sunday

CT to Millburn, NJ to Harrisburg, PA 300 miles 5.5 hours

As I said above, we left Hartford early to make it down to Millburn by late morning.  I had been advised to avoid NYC at all costs and I thought I had fooled the GPS unit into going around the city, but somehow we still ended up sitting in traffic to cross the Hudson River via the George Washington Bridge.

It was a beautiful day in New Jersey (I can’t believe I just wrote that) and I had a really good time exploring Sandy’s hometown.  Luckily one of her good friends from Millburn that lives in NYC was able to come hang out with us and help her remember the way around town.  If you think of New Jersey as one giant suburb as I do, then Millburn just reinforces that image.  It offers a little more than your typical sprawling suburb though.  It has a nice little downtown area and retains a lot of the small town feel while being less than hour (via train) from all the amenities of New York City.

We had two food stops that had been planned ahead of time.  The first was the famous Millburn Deli and the other was La Strada for a slice of pizza.  I tried the Sloppy Joe which the deli is known for and quite enjoyed it.  It was different from the typical deli experience but quite delicious.  La Strada is a nice little Italian restaurant that is also in downtown Millburn and basically serves as Sandy’s reference point to judge all other pizza from.  She does this with good reason.  Maybe I’ve just been eating too much Ohio pizza, but the NY style at La Strada was really satisfying.  Sorry Columbus, the East Coast wins when it comes to pizza.

The aforementioned deli.

The old movie theater also in downtown Millburn.

Of course no visit to Millburn would be complete without a visit to the now infamous Millburn High School, home of the slut list.  We drove by to take some pictures and noticed one of the doors was open.  We peeked our heads in and noticed several large, bold lettered signs reading “No Trespassing, all visitors must sign in.”  We decided not to go much further and a janitor quickly appeared to closed the open door after us.  I’m not sure if the school was always this way or if the recent press has made them more cautious of visitors.

In typical New Jersey fashion, we also made a trip to the mall.  Not just any mall mind you, we went to The Mall at Short Hills.  That’s right, not the Short Hills mall, but THE Mall at Short Hills.  Short Hills is the town next door that features such attractions as mansions belonging to the Arizona Ice Tea founder and what I was told was “the Six Flags guy.”  The Mall at Short Hills is a nice mall, home to many high end stores like one would find at Lennox or Phipps in Atlanta.  Going to the mall just seemed like a very Jersey thing to do, so I’m glad I got to see that on my tour of North Jersey.

That evening after pizza at La Strada, we had to say goodbye to New Jersey and continue on to Harrisburg, PA.

Day 4 Monday

Harrisburg, PA to Columbus, OH ~375 miles 6 hours

Harrisburg and the drive back were pretty uneventful.  The only purpose of stopping there was to break up the drive back from NJ.  It did however renew my hatred for the Penn Turnpike and toll roads in general.

Overall I think the trip was successful.  We made it with little problem.  It was nice to get away from Ohio for a little while and it was nice to be back on the right side of the country even if we were a little too far north.  I would definitely do the trip again or a similar one.  I would first invest in an EZ Pass though to make the toll roads less painful.  We were worried we would run out of cash paying the tolls at one point in upstate NY.  I’m thankful I had a GPS unit and would make sure I had one if I were doing it again.  There were times where we had to take detours or wanted to hop off the interstate to get a bite to eat and it really came in handy.

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts.  I do recommend checking out Vermont and New Hampshire in the fall if you like the mountains and beautiful scenery.  At the very least Sandy and I are planning to head back that way for a little skiing this winter.  Jersey wasn’t bad either.

Related posts:

1. 1700 miles and four days
2. Atlanta to LA in a 91 Accord

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Our game plan is to make it to Vermont in one day to visit Sandy’s brother.  The next day we’ll head to New Hampshire for the service.  From there we’ll make our way south staying the night in Connecticut on our way to Sandy’s hometown of Millburn, NJ.  Millburn High School has actually been in the news because of “hazing” carried out by the senior girls.  (Story)  After spending the day in Millburn, we’ll head back to Columbus stopping in Pennsylvania for a night on the way.

New England is supposed to be really nice this time of year so I’m looking forward to the trip.  It will be a lot driving but I’m no stranger to that.  Look for some upcoming posts about the trip and my experience on the road.  We’ll be making the obligatory stop at the Millburn Deli but I’m open to any other interesting stops or things to check out along the way.

Related posts:

1. Road Trip Thoughts
2. Atlanta to LA in a 91 Accord
3. NYC: Shopping Fun!

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

April and I left on a Saturday morning from my current home in Atlanta, GA with a 91 Accord DX loaded down with just about everything she owns that she deemed valuable enough to move with her (furniture was thankfully not coming along for the ride). Note that the DX model is the bare bones, price leader model of the Accord so no cruise control (A/C is included though).

Anyway our route was as follows: take I-20 west out of Atlanta to Birmingham, AL. From there hop on US-78 and follow this northwest through Alabama and Mississippi to Memphis. I-40 is picked up just outside of Memphis, TN and this took us through Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and finally into California. We continued on I-40 West until we intersected with I-15 South and rode that until we hit I-10 and this carried us onto Los Angeles.

Something that seems like such a big deal, in the end really wasn’t. We made it there early Monday afternoon with no real problems. We didn’t stop and see any sites which was a shame considering we came within 100 miles of both the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. Even crossing the desert was not a huge ordeal. It wasn’t even really a desert in the Road Runner/Wyle Coyote sense until we hit California. I imagine if one took a more southern route things may have been different. Gas stations and places to eat were plentiful which squashed visions of nothingness for hundreds of miles that filled my head before we left.

Despite the convenience of gas stations and fast food restaurants, there was an overwhelming sense of space, not barren space, just space. From the flat farmland in Oklahoma and Arkansas to the mountains of New Mexico and Arizona and even the green rolling hills of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, I really got a sense of how big the United States actually is and there’s a whole northern half of the country that I didn’t cross.

The accord handled itself well be it cruising at 85 or even 90mph in the desert or cutting in and out of traffic in Los Angeles. I enjoy driving though. Yes my rear end and legs were cramped at the end of the day and I was ready to get out of the car, but I was ready to hop right back in it the next morning and push onward. Considering the cost of gas and accommodations, flying would have been cheaper and less time-consuming. Driving is so much more romantic though even if the trip isn’t quite the excursion it used to be. Driving was also necessary because of the amount of luggage and the need for a vehicle in Los Angeles.

The only real surprise on the trip was the variation in quality of the aforementioned accommodations. Our first stop in El Reno, OK (a little city west of Oklahoma City) was disappointing at best. Our room looked straight out of the late 70’s with a thick, absorbent carpet that looked like it had not been cleaned since the late 70’s. Neither of us walked on that carpet in our bare feet. This was for $40/night. Our second stop in Flagstaff, AZ not only cost us less but included a much nicer room, shower, and hosts. If I make the trip again I’m not stopping in El Reno.

And yes, I would make the trip again. Although next time I would try to make a few more stops along the way. It seems like a shame to pass by Las Vegas and not try to win back some gas money.  Cruise control would be nice too.

Related posts:

1. 1700 miles and four days
2. high tech lights for the accord
3. Road Trip Thoughts

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.