And We Hit the Road.....Sort Of

Today started out with a little more fervor than the previous two. We got up around 7....allotting 2 hours to finish the cleaning, packing up the car, and moving out the large furniture. Funny how this kind of stuff seems to take longer than you think.

The plan had been to get the sofa and the recliner out to the trash early (the dressers were already moved out and/or destroyed). Let me assure you that a small sofa measuring approximately 5'x3'x3'....while small for sitting....is ENORMOUS when the stairs you have to move it down are only 3'2" wide (with a handrail), have a 6-6 stair rise, and a 90 degree turn at the bottom out a door that does not fully open and does not stay open. Once we were fully STUCK at the bottom of the stairs with no hope of bringing the sofa back up or being able to turn it as planned, luck smiled on us.....the downstairs neighbor had to attempt to get out, and thus opened his door. This gave us a few inches to angle the sofa end in his doorway, and get it out to the parking lot. The recliner was slightly less difficult.....at least that is the story. The recliner needed to be moved out in its fully reclined position, which means that if you don't watch what you are doing, the springs and metal workings will most certainly find every finger you wanted to keep attached to your hand. I am sure that at this point the sofa, recliner, large dresser, and coffee table have all found lovely homes and are being jumped on and off of by New Jersey kidlets with love.

One little item to note.....I am sure you are wondering why we didn't have the furniture picked up by anyone. After all, they were all in fine condition right? As it turns out, the thriving metropolis of Toms River does not have any local charity shops such as Salvation Army or Goodwill; and the closest location was 30 miles away and had a delivery/pickup radius of 25 miles. NO CHARITY IN TOMS RIVER!

The week before, Geekboy had talked to the apartment office and arranged for the exit inspection at 9am so we could get on the road at a decent time. We had wanted to get through the inspection by 9:30, be loaded up and out of the parking lot by 9:45, over to the Bivins house by 10:15 for brunch and farewells, and then on the open road by 11. But when the clock rolled over to 9:45 and there was no sign of the apartment office personnel......it gave the impression that our schedule was going to fall apart. As it turns out, they don't really care about an exit inspection. As long as there is not FURNITURE left behind, they call it good. We looked around after loading Nigel the Corolla as full as he could get, and decided that 2 lamps, some cables, and a non-sucking vacuum, certainly did not qualify as "furniture" and could certainly stay put. Eleven AM was the point at which we said: let' just get out of here!

Total items "ditched" in New Jersey:
1. single box full of books
2. suckless vacuum
3. blow up mattress (who needs a bed anyway) and matching pillows
4. TV
5. assorted cables and power cords
6. 2 saucepans (lids made the trip just fine)
7. 2 lamps
8. various pantry items....which I am sure all have a shelf life equivalent to the Twinkie.

The excitement was palpable as we finally pulled away from the apartment building. Mixed emotions of joy and sadness.....but overall a relief to be away and moving forward. Next stop was the lovely home of the Bivins family. Bestest friends, and gracious hosts for brunch and friendly chat before taking on the desolate and unforgiving highway. Yes....BESTest friends.

Just the BEST friends that you don't actually know where they live.

See.....New Jersey (not unlike Washington) has exits on the freeway that are not labeled the same from both North and South. So....as we left Toms River and headed North to Wannamassa, we got on the parkway and took what was the proper exit. Presumably. Ten miles later, we thought different. We were no where near where we needed to be, got back on the parkway going south, and snaked through the holiday traffic to the correct exit. Then proceeded to go past all the other turns we needed, make 3 U-turns, and then find the house.....only 2 hours later than expected. Shawn and Ellen were so amazingly gracious....and we stayed longer than planned. But it was difficult to leave from having such a good time just shooting the bull. It was the perfect moment to remember New Jersey with.

Once we shuffled and sorted the car interior a little better, we were on the Interstate at 2pm. Other than the bit of traffic on the Parkway for people headed to the Jersey Shore for the holiday, traffic was a breeze. Geekboy took the first shift for driving to get us on the right freeway and through the first toll plaza or two....but after about 30 minutes he was beat. That is what happens when you don't sleep much the night before. So Nuurdygirl took the wheel and headed off to Pennsylvania!

At this point.....it would be nice to expound on the amazing sites of the road, the great people we met, and the life-changing experiences we encountered. But really....there was 845 miles of road, 4 travel plazas, a load of trees, 6 toll booths, and 1 flying pet carrier. We successfully mapped out our journey to avoid any attractions or points of interest and every major city. SUCCESS!

Rating of states traveled on driving day 1:
1. Pennsylvania: longest state EVER
2. Ohio: stinkiest state EVER (6 skunks, 1 herd of stinky cows)
3. Indiana: bumpiest state EVER

We made it to the Super 8 in some town just south of Chicago at about 3am on the 4th. The road that leads to the hotel was not so much a road as a path disguised as a dirt driveway. You could see the building and the sign....but it was like you couldn't get there from here. That concept may be a theme for this trip.

In any case.....day one of driving wrapped up with all the pieces and parts still in tact. Nigel was ready for a rest.....and so were we. Another long day was looming.....