Waikiki Hawaii.
- Thread starter Xarpolis
- Start date
Xarpolis
Life's a Dream
- 14,110
- 15,614
They're really wasn't a "worst" part. But driving through New Mexico probably was the dullest. It's so flat. I think we saw a few hills the entire way across the state. Aside from that, the sun was unending. Not a cloud in the sky almost the entire day of driving. So really, no. Boredom and way too much sun were the only problems.
Xarpolis
Life's a Dream
- 14,110
- 15,614
I'm finally posting the trip journal. It's going to take some time because I'm going through all of my pictures & video to include them as well.
I didn't take any pictures the 1st day, so here is that map I showed earlier so you can follow the trip.
Friday May 20th
We're going to start our new life in Hawaii today! Well, not exactly. Our move out there is becoming a mini-vacation in and of itself. We're going from PA to Virginia, to Tennessee, to Arkansas, to Texas, to New Mexico, to Utah, to Nevada for the last two stops in California. I"ve always wanted to drive across the country, and today I finally get the chance. This morning, I mailed most of our belongings to a hotel in Hawaii. It cost $957, but we're taking fewer things with us on the trip. We've decided to empty Manami's truck at every stop, just to make it less of theft target. Unfortunately, it's still a little too much to fit in Manami's truck, so we're going over to U-Haul and pick up the small trailer they have available for 1-way travel. I'll update this list tonight to talk about the trip.
UPDATE: That was a bust. The trip isn't happening today at all. I went to U-Haul, but there wasn't anybody at that location. The trailer was there, but that's it. I called the local representative so he drove over himself. The "small trailer" is actually pretty big. 4x8, and we don't have that much to put in there. I asked about the much smaller pod trailer that I saw on the website, and he said the Horsham location had one in stock that is also a 1-way trailer. so I swapped my reservation to the smaller trailer and headed over to pick it up. It's 12:45 at this point, so we're already really behind schedule.
Oh well, it's not the end of the world. When I got to the Horsham location, I quickly set everything up. Then when we were connecting the trailer onto my new hitch... where are the wires to plug in the brake lights? Fuck, I forgot to order the wiring harness in addition to the hitch. My tools are all gone now, so there's no "easy" way to get this done. I have to schedule an install from the U-Haul guy itself. only problem is the wiring installer doesn't work again until Tuesday. No problem, I bought the cables anyway and went over to Keebles to see if he could install it. Nope, not until next Friday. Last stop, A to Z. He can, but his install guy is out until around 4pm today. I ended up driving home without a trailer around 2pm. Almost everything fits into the truck without crowding us too much. I just need to send my computer out there as well, so I can't take it on the ride. Oh well, I only wanted that with me to keep it from getting banged up too much by the post office. So I box up my computer, speakers and monitor and send take it over to the post office as well. Another $260 to send that stuff. At least it's a LOT less expensive than UPS.
We've also been batting our heads against the wall trying to get a permission letter from Wells Fargo to send Manami's truck out there. The last few days have been full of calling them over and over, doing additional steps they require. Did you fax us this yet? Ok, so let's fax this instead. You have marine insurance, but it isn't through your normal insurance provider, even though they don't offer that as a service? Oh, well, we can't accept that either. Assholes. I called up Matson (the shipping company) to find out a fax number, so that Wells Fargo can fax them an acceptance letter, and found out this hassle has been all for nothing. An acceptance letter is only needed to transport vehicles from Hawaii to the continental US. Not the other way around. Crisis averted at least. It's now around 4pm and we still haven't left. Plus, today is a 6 hour drive, so we decided to delay our trip by 1 day. We went out to Guisseppi's for our last meal in Pennsylvania, and went to sleep in our mostly empty house.
I didn't take any pictures the 1st day, so here is that map I showed earlier so you can follow the trip.
Friday May 20th
We're going to start our new life in Hawaii today! Well, not exactly. Our move out there is becoming a mini-vacation in and of itself. We're going from PA to Virginia, to Tennessee, to Arkansas, to Texas, to New Mexico, to Utah, to Nevada for the last two stops in California. I"ve always wanted to drive across the country, and today I finally get the chance. This morning, I mailed most of our belongings to a hotel in Hawaii. It cost $957, but we're taking fewer things with us on the trip. We've decided to empty Manami's truck at every stop, just to make it less of theft target. Unfortunately, it's still a little too much to fit in Manami's truck, so we're going over to U-Haul and pick up the small trailer they have available for 1-way travel. I'll update this list tonight to talk about the trip.
UPDATE: That was a bust. The trip isn't happening today at all. I went to U-Haul, but there wasn't anybody at that location. The trailer was there, but that's it. I called the local representative so he drove over himself. The "small trailer" is actually pretty big. 4x8, and we don't have that much to put in there. I asked about the much smaller pod trailer that I saw on the website, and he said the Horsham location had one in stock that is also a 1-way trailer. so I swapped my reservation to the smaller trailer and headed over to pick it up. It's 12:45 at this point, so we're already really behind schedule.
Oh well, it's not the end of the world. When I got to the Horsham location, I quickly set everything up. Then when we were connecting the trailer onto my new hitch... where are the wires to plug in the brake lights? Fuck, I forgot to order the wiring harness in addition to the hitch. My tools are all gone now, so there's no "easy" way to get this done. I have to schedule an install from the U-Haul guy itself. only problem is the wiring installer doesn't work again until Tuesday. No problem, I bought the cables anyway and went over to Keebles to see if he could install it. Nope, not until next Friday. Last stop, A to Z. He can, but his install guy is out until around 4pm today. I ended up driving home without a trailer around 2pm. Almost everything fits into the truck without crowding us too much. I just need to send my computer out there as well, so I can't take it on the ride. Oh well, I only wanted that with me to keep it from getting banged up too much by the post office. So I box up my computer, speakers and monitor and send take it over to the post office as well. Another $260 to send that stuff. At least it's a LOT less expensive than UPS.
We've also been batting our heads against the wall trying to get a permission letter from Wells Fargo to send Manami's truck out there. The last few days have been full of calling them over and over, doing additional steps they require. Did you fax us this yet? Ok, so let's fax this instead. You have marine insurance, but it isn't through your normal insurance provider, even though they don't offer that as a service? Oh, well, we can't accept that either. Assholes. I called up Matson (the shipping company) to find out a fax number, so that Wells Fargo can fax them an acceptance letter, and found out this hassle has been all for nothing. An acceptance letter is only needed to transport vehicles from Hawaii to the continental US. Not the other way around. Crisis averted at least. It's now around 4pm and we still haven't left. Plus, today is a 6 hour drive, so we decided to delay our trip by 1 day. We went out to Guisseppi's for our last meal in Pennsylvania, and went to sleep in our mostly empty house.
Xarpolis
Life's a Dream
- 14,110
- 15,614
Saturday, May 21st
Today is the big day. For real this time. This morning is really miserable. Yesterday was sunny, but today is this dull gray. We didn't even wake up until 9am because it appered a lot earlier than it really was. Well, we've also gotten rid of all of our clocks already. We finished loading the truck (again) and decided to go around our house one last time and make sure it's completely empty. There were a few things in the basement still that we put out at the curb. We just wanted to make sure we leave the house in as pristine condition as possible.
We lock the door for the last time, and head over to the shop to dropped our keys off so my dad can take them to settlement on my behalf. I've given him limited power of attorney just for the sake of selling this house. All is good to go. As we leave the shop, it's noon. Wow, that took a lot longer than expected, but at least everything is done for good. We stopped at Wendy's to pick up our "real" last meal in PA, then started the 6 hour drive to Roanoak, Virginia. As we're leaving, it just started to drizzel. Unfortunately, this weather is going to stay with us the entire day. It's nothing but gray skies, drizzel and rain.
We take the turnpike from Willow Grove all the way to Route 81, which is a little beyond Harrisburg. From there, it's another 285 miles to Roanoke. Today's travel had us cross the most states. We've gone from PA to Maryland (I didn't realize that Maryland touched PA) to West Virginia to Virginia. We stopped every 1-1.5 hours to stetch our legs & make sure no one has to use the restroom. We also visited the Virginia welcome center and found a magazine for discount motel and hotel stays. As a side note, while I'm writing this, the Sun just made its first appearance of the day.
Howard Johnson won the vote for best priced motel at $44.95 a night. It's in Daleville, so we stopped there instead. About 10 minutes before we arrive, the skies open up with some of the hardest rain I've seen in a long time. We've averaged 75 mph almost the entire trip, but now we had to slow down to 35-45 due to seriously low visibility. There's a Semi truck directly in front of us, but that's all we can see. Oh well, he's a good point of reference for the last few minutes of the trip. The Howard Johnson is all of 30 seconds beyond the exit to Daleville.
We grab our room and head out for dinner at this Barbeque place called Three Lil' Pigs. It was pretty good and I was in the mood for BBQ. After dinner, we went back to the room, emptied the truck, and took showers before going to bed. It has been a long day, but we've accomplished a lot. Tomorrow morning we're going to leave early and go out to Nashville I'm looking forward to it.
Today is the big day. For real this time. This morning is really miserable. Yesterday was sunny, but today is this dull gray. We didn't even wake up until 9am because it appered a lot earlier than it really was. Well, we've also gotten rid of all of our clocks already. We finished loading the truck (again) and decided to go around our house one last time and make sure it's completely empty. There were a few things in the basement still that we put out at the curb. We just wanted to make sure we leave the house in as pristine condition as possible.
We lock the door for the last time, and head over to the shop to dropped our keys off so my dad can take them to settlement on my behalf. I've given him limited power of attorney just for the sake of selling this house. All is good to go. As we leave the shop, it's noon. Wow, that took a lot longer than expected, but at least everything is done for good. We stopped at Wendy's to pick up our "real" last meal in PA, then started the 6 hour drive to Roanoak, Virginia. As we're leaving, it just started to drizzel. Unfortunately, this weather is going to stay with us the entire day. It's nothing but gray skies, drizzel and rain.
We take the turnpike from Willow Grove all the way to Route 81, which is a little beyond Harrisburg. From there, it's another 285 miles to Roanoke. Today's travel had us cross the most states. We've gone from PA to Maryland (I didn't realize that Maryland touched PA) to West Virginia to Virginia. We stopped every 1-1.5 hours to stetch our legs & make sure no one has to use the restroom. We also visited the Virginia welcome center and found a magazine for discount motel and hotel stays. As a side note, while I'm writing this, the Sun just made its first appearance of the day.
Howard Johnson won the vote for best priced motel at $44.95 a night. It's in Daleville, so we stopped there instead. About 10 minutes before we arrive, the skies open up with some of the hardest rain I've seen in a long time. We've averaged 75 mph almost the entire trip, but now we had to slow down to 35-45 due to seriously low visibility. There's a Semi truck directly in front of us, but that's all we can see. Oh well, he's a good point of reference for the last few minutes of the trip. The Howard Johnson is all of 30 seconds beyond the exit to Daleville.
We grab our room and head out for dinner at this Barbeque place called Three Lil' Pigs. It was pretty good and I was in the mood for BBQ. After dinner, we went back to the room, emptied the truck, and took showers before going to bed. It has been a long day, but we've accomplished a lot. Tomorrow morning we're going to leave early and go out to Nashville I'm looking forward to it.
Xarpolis
Life's a Dream
- 14,110
- 15,614
Sunday, May 22nd.
We woke up early and had breakfast for free at the motel. It was surprisingly pretty decent. The place had real scrambled eggs (not the powdered stuff) and a waffle maker, on top of the "normal" free breakfast things. No complaints there. We started talking to a mid-40's guy sitting at the table right next to us. It seems that he is a few months in to hiking the entire Apalachian Trail. He started back on April 10th in Georga, not far from Atlanta. The trail ends in Maine at Baxter Park (I think he said Baxter). The hiki is expected to take 5 1/2 months total, and he started hiking with 4,000 other people. They're now around 1/3rd of the trip, and he said almost half have already dropped out. By the time they reach the end, another half is expected to quit, leaving only 1,000 people. That's some Forest Gump stuff right there. A five and a half month hike. Ouch. They say that it ends up costing you around $2 per mile, so it's not an innexpensive experience. The guy we were talking to has already gone through 2 brand new pairs of shoes. Not to mention that he had to quit his job.
When we finished eating, we were ready to start our drive to Nashville. We only had to go from VA to TN for today's trip After the luck with last night, we're making sure we hit up the Visiter's Center at every "final state" we arrive at. Those innexpensiver hotel books we picked up at that the Visitors Center are pretty sweet. Especially if you don't care about where you spend each night. The drive out here was very uneventful. Nice and sunny day. The only issue with TN that we've encountered is that it's a Sunday night and we want dinner. It appears that the majority of the restaurants in this city aren't open tonight. Well, the exceptions being all of the bars and hipster places We were going through the internet to find a decent place to grab a bite, and we came across this place called Lipstick that isn't a burger place (manami's tired of burgers), and it's actually open on Sunday.
We drove over and walk in. It's a little loud, but there are only 2 other customers here. No problem. We get a seat and are ready to ready to order when a guy comes over. "I'm sorry, we're going to have to ask you to leave." I was confused, we didn't do anything. It seems that there's a dance hall upstairs. That's where all of the people are. On top of that, it's a gay club (that explains the name "lipstick"). We weren't kicked out for not being gay. We were kicked out because people in the club would smoke, and Natsumi was with us, so places that allow smoking after 3pm are now flagged as bars, and you must be 21 years or older to be inside.
The guy suggested a few other places that are open not even a mile away, so we walk to the hipster part of town. They call it Five Points. There's a pretty crowded pizza place that's open, so we go there. It was really good. We shared this thing called the Brooklyn, which was a tomato sauce base, then fresh Mozarella (not the shredded stuff), then diced bazil leaves and some olive oil. On top of that, I had a beer. Little Harpeth Bison Bock. It's a Nashville original, but REALLY good. I'll look for this later on.
After dinner we went back to our motel and got some sleep. It was a great day. We noticed that the door to our motel room didn't seal properly. Sure, it kept the heat out, but we could hear EVERYTHING outside. This motel isn't far from an airport, so our night consisted of constant jets, loud music from cars driving past, and people talking. I woke up a bunch as a result. Oh well, at least there wasn't any rain today.
This was a neat little back road we had to take because of a traffic jam on the main road as a result of an accident.
We woke up early and had breakfast for free at the motel. It was surprisingly pretty decent. The place had real scrambled eggs (not the powdered stuff) and a waffle maker, on top of the "normal" free breakfast things. No complaints there. We started talking to a mid-40's guy sitting at the table right next to us. It seems that he is a few months in to hiking the entire Apalachian Trail. He started back on April 10th in Georga, not far from Atlanta. The trail ends in Maine at Baxter Park (I think he said Baxter). The hiki is expected to take 5 1/2 months total, and he started hiking with 4,000 other people. They're now around 1/3rd of the trip, and he said almost half have already dropped out. By the time they reach the end, another half is expected to quit, leaving only 1,000 people. That's some Forest Gump stuff right there. A five and a half month hike. Ouch. They say that it ends up costing you around $2 per mile, so it's not an innexpensive experience. The guy we were talking to has already gone through 2 brand new pairs of shoes. Not to mention that he had to quit his job.
When we finished eating, we were ready to start our drive to Nashville. We only had to go from VA to TN for today's trip After the luck with last night, we're making sure we hit up the Visiter's Center at every "final state" we arrive at. Those innexpensiver hotel books we picked up at that the Visitors Center are pretty sweet. Especially if you don't care about where you spend each night. The drive out here was very uneventful. Nice and sunny day. The only issue with TN that we've encountered is that it's a Sunday night and we want dinner. It appears that the majority of the restaurants in this city aren't open tonight. Well, the exceptions being all of the bars and hipster places We were going through the internet to find a decent place to grab a bite, and we came across this place called Lipstick that isn't a burger place (manami's tired of burgers), and it's actually open on Sunday.
We drove over and walk in. It's a little loud, but there are only 2 other customers here. No problem. We get a seat and are ready to ready to order when a guy comes over. "I'm sorry, we're going to have to ask you to leave." I was confused, we didn't do anything. It seems that there's a dance hall upstairs. That's where all of the people are. On top of that, it's a gay club (that explains the name "lipstick"). We weren't kicked out for not being gay. We were kicked out because people in the club would smoke, and Natsumi was with us, so places that allow smoking after 3pm are now flagged as bars, and you must be 21 years or older to be inside.
The guy suggested a few other places that are open not even a mile away, so we walk to the hipster part of town. They call it Five Points. There's a pretty crowded pizza place that's open, so we go there. It was really good. We shared this thing called the Brooklyn, which was a tomato sauce base, then fresh Mozarella (not the shredded stuff), then diced bazil leaves and some olive oil. On top of that, I had a beer. Little Harpeth Bison Bock. It's a Nashville original, but REALLY good. I'll look for this later on.
After dinner we went back to our motel and got some sleep. It was a great day. We noticed that the door to our motel room didn't seal properly. Sure, it kept the heat out, but we could hear EVERYTHING outside. This motel isn't far from an airport, so our night consisted of constant jets, loud music from cars driving past, and people talking. I woke up a bunch as a result. Oh well, at least there wasn't any rain today.
This was a neat little back road we had to take because of a traffic jam on the main road as a result of an accident.
Xarpolis
Life's a Dream
- 14,110
- 15,614
Monday, May 23rd.
We woke up to a beautiful morning today. Everyone went downstairs and had cereal and toast for breakfast. Natsumi went out of her way to say hello to EVERY person that walked into the breakfast area. The the manager found it amusing, so asked how she was doing. Suddenly she got very shy and refused to speak. It was funny.
We started our drive to Little Rock, Arkansas. Manami kept pronouncing it "Are Kansas". After some promotion from me, she finally called it "Ark-in-saw". The drive today is only scheduled to take around 6 hours total. We are going to arrive by 2pm at the latest. At 1pm today, we decided that Little Rock can be skipped. We're already a day behind schedule, so no reason to stop when we really don't need to. Instead we went all way to Dallas. The drive took maybe 10 hours total, but we insisted on stopping often to stretch our legs and use the restroom. As a result, the trip took closer to 12 hours today.
I'm pretty sure we've visited every non-exit "Rest Stop" on the various highways. We try not to take the exit ones because that's even more driving, and we still wanted to watch our time. We went to Dairy Queen for lunch today. They actually have real food there, and it was surprisingly good. "Dairy Queen: Grill and Chill". That's the slogan of these DQ's. Nothing like what we have in PA. We ordered our lunch, and the girl behind the counter gave us a free blizzard because one of the guys working on ice cream made a mistake, making the wrong one for another customer. Good news for us.
After lunch, we continued our trip, making sure we sttopped at the Texas Visiters Center and picked up another discount motel magazine. They actually closed down about 30 minutes before we go there, but we called ahead asking if they could put the discount hotel magazine outside for us. They did, thankfully, and we were able to find a "Best Value Inn" listed for $41.99 for the night. Granted, it's in a shitty area, but we decided to hit that up anyway. We also stopped by Olive Garden for dinner because I had another gift card. This is probably the nicest olive garden I've ever seen. All stone exterior and a nice custom Italion interior. Not at all like the standard kind I see in PA.
I was falling asleep during dinner, so we left and continued driving to the motel. We ended up finally getting there around 11pm. The motel is definitely not as good as some of the previous ones. Granted, the room was large, but the furniture had lots of cigarrete burns (even though we were in a non-smoking room). The check in manager was also behind bullet proof glass. Normally I would have kept driving, but it's too late. We're only going to sleep here tonight, then drive to a different motel also in Dallas tomorrow morning. I'm ready to crash. Good night.
I've never seen a motorcycle mounted behind a car like it were a snow blower.
We woke up to a beautiful morning today. Everyone went downstairs and had cereal and toast for breakfast. Natsumi went out of her way to say hello to EVERY person that walked into the breakfast area. The the manager found it amusing, so asked how she was doing. Suddenly she got very shy and refused to speak. It was funny.
We started our drive to Little Rock, Arkansas. Manami kept pronouncing it "Are Kansas". After some promotion from me, she finally called it "Ark-in-saw". The drive today is only scheduled to take around 6 hours total. We are going to arrive by 2pm at the latest. At 1pm today, we decided that Little Rock can be skipped. We're already a day behind schedule, so no reason to stop when we really don't need to. Instead we went all way to Dallas. The drive took maybe 10 hours total, but we insisted on stopping often to stretch our legs and use the restroom. As a result, the trip took closer to 12 hours today.
I'm pretty sure we've visited every non-exit "Rest Stop" on the various highways. We try not to take the exit ones because that's even more driving, and we still wanted to watch our time. We went to Dairy Queen for lunch today. They actually have real food there, and it was surprisingly good. "Dairy Queen: Grill and Chill". That's the slogan of these DQ's. Nothing like what we have in PA. We ordered our lunch, and the girl behind the counter gave us a free blizzard because one of the guys working on ice cream made a mistake, making the wrong one for another customer. Good news for us.
After lunch, we continued our trip, making sure we sttopped at the Texas Visiters Center and picked up another discount motel magazine. They actually closed down about 30 minutes before we go there, but we called ahead asking if they could put the discount hotel magazine outside for us. They did, thankfully, and we were able to find a "Best Value Inn" listed for $41.99 for the night. Granted, it's in a shitty area, but we decided to hit that up anyway. We also stopped by Olive Garden for dinner because I had another gift card. This is probably the nicest olive garden I've ever seen. All stone exterior and a nice custom Italion interior. Not at all like the standard kind I see in PA.
I was falling asleep during dinner, so we left and continued driving to the motel. We ended up finally getting there around 11pm. The motel is definitely not as good as some of the previous ones. Granted, the room was large, but the furniture had lots of cigarrete burns (even though we were in a non-smoking room). The check in manager was also behind bullet proof glass. Normally I would have kept driving, but it's too late. We're only going to sleep here tonight, then drive to a different motel also in Dallas tomorrow morning. I'm ready to crash. Good night.
I've never seen a motorcycle mounted behind a car like it were a snow blower.