So here's an idea of what the trip is shaping up to look like. Basically, we sat down with a map of the United States and selected all the places between Philadelphia and Portland that we'd like to enjoy during our great adventure. And this is what we came up with, broken down into five segments for easier blogging. We begin in the far-too-familiar Northeast.
Now, as I've mentioned under the ever-growing "Where We're Going" section, the three of us live just on the outskirts of Philadelphia but will not begin our official journey there. Based on cities to both our immediate north and south that are must-visit places, we're zipping just a bit south, for a logistically sensible and pleasantly patriotic start in Washington, D.C. This begins our trip with only a two hour drive, mostly along I-95, and will land us here where my sister (as of now) takes up residence. Hers will be an ideal place to crash for a night or two, as long as she's still living there in seven months or so. We'll spend one, maybe two days here looking around.
Just 55 minutes and 40 miles later, we'll find ourselves in Baltimore. Again, this could be a one-day or two-day visit, we haven't quite decided. I've got a few friends from college down there, but this could be the first time we have to break out the campground guide. We got our hands on a "best campsites in the country" book, and will hopefully utilize it on numerous occasions. This actually has a lot to do with why we're going in the thick of the summertime, with the explicit intention of camping out whenever we can't find a friendly place to crash.
Next stop, we'll be back in Philadelphia, driving only two hours north on 95 before galavanting around this familiar locale. Here we have plenty of friends, and I have most of my immediate family, who would be happy to set us down for a night. It would make sense (in terms of how awesome Philly is) to spend two days here, but we might cut it to one due to our (my) eagerness to get a move on.
From here, we'll have to drop by my grandparents' place in Plainfield, NJ. Notice I didn't put that word in boldface because this doesn't not count as one of our destinations. Nothing there, I promise you, except for my grandparents. But we'll be on our way to New York, after a total drive time of 2 1/2 hours and most of our trip on the ol' Jersey Turnpike. New York is a tremendous city with plenty to explore and experience, and we've got plenty of friends therein, so I'll be pushing for a three-day stay here.
Next comes Boston, after four hours of driving via routes 95, 91, 84 and 90. This is a city filled with culture and home to a handful of friends of ours from college, so we'll hopefully have a two-day visit here with plenty of good people to see. And now that I'm thinking about it, Sarah's parents live in nearby South Hadley, so we'll probably be visiting them.
After Boston, we're darting north on 95 for two hours for a brief visit to Portland, Me., the namesake of our final destination on the other side of the country. We might stay a night here, or might not in lieu of our friend Kimmy's house in Lewiston, Me. I know it gets cold up there, so maybe a warm house would be of some value.
Joey messed up the map here somehow, but I'm pretty sure he did the whole map at the same time, so he was bound to mess up a little. We're spending four hours on more roads than I'd care to mention on our way to Burlington, Vt. This place has come highly recommended from friends as a must-see, so we'll do a night here, maybe two if something extraordinary compels us to do so.
From here we'll go barreling through upstate New York, going 87 S to 90 W for 5 1/2 hours on our way to Syracuse. We know this is a college town with a lot of fun to be had, and we're not that old that we couldn't find something to do. We'll also drive through Albany, Utica and Adirondack Park, so we might get a little sidetracked.
Immediately after Syracuse we'll get to Buffalo, driving 2 1/2 hours on 90 W, directly past Rochester (which might require a visit). We're coming here for the wings, and will seek to experience the 'originals' of them for a night or two.
That's our start. Next time, we venture south.
-Tom Stanley
Images courtesy Google Maps
