Day 1: Not So Bad!

I've begun! It's almost unreal, this sense of beginning a journey I'd almost lost hope of ever taking. We left at 8:30 this morning - got out of NYC with hardly any traffic.

The open road stretched out in front of me felt like absolute, tangible freedom. I've never felt anything like it. Being present as the miles piled up between me and everyone and everything I know is utterly exhilarating. I never had a feeling and an act so closely related in my entire life. I guess this trip was something I needed even more than I'd thought (and I've definitely thought I needed it).

We stopped first at Falling Water, a house in Southwestern Pennsylvania that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. He designed it on a waterfall, as my picture shows. Not only that - everything he put into the design reflected the nature surrounding it. The structure itself was made to resemble the falling water beneath it. The floor on the first floor looked like the bottom of the river bed. It was really spectacular.

Towards the end of the tour, Troy and I realized we were famished. Our tour guide, Don (with his accent, it totally sounded like he was saying "Dawn"), told us there was nothing really around except for Pizza Huts and Burger Kings. Troy and I had decided when we started out that we want to only eat at local diners and restaurants during this trip, so we were bummed. But we got back on the road, stuffed our mouths with trail mix and tortilla chips, and made our way in the direction of our next stop: Peebles, OH. We were nearly out of gas. We drove around for awhile on one road that looked like the back country in Appalachia, until we passed a town called Ohiopyle. But we were in Pennsylvania. Maybe it was a place where there were piles of Ohians? Sorry - I'm deliriously tired right now. Anyway, this town had no gas station, so we pressed on. Troy almost had a heart attack. But then Dory somehow got some extra spark of life in her, and the gas light disappeared. We found gas shortly afterward.

We entered West Virginia, and immediately pulled into a restaurant called Twila's Fine Family Restaurant. We walked in and knew we'd hit the jackpot. There was a collection of teapots on shelves, a piano, statues of Laurel and Hardy! There was even country music playing, and our waitress had only half of her teeth! I felt so happy to be there, I couldn't stop smiling. Get this - I ordered a grilled chicken salad, and it came with a pile of french fries and melted cheese on top! Brilliant. I mean, I didn't eat the fries with the salad or anything, but just the IDEA of it was enough to make my night.


Back on the road, the sun was setting. Troy and I played a game where one person names two actors, and the other person has to guess what movie they've been in together. We are having a lot of fun together. My apprehensions about whether or not he'd be a fun travel companion have been put at ease. He laughs a lot, makes me laugh, and seems to be up for anything. We took a 7 mile detour to look for ice cream in Morganstown, WV (cute college town, btw), and then just changed our minds and got back on the highway.

We stopped at 10pm because the only road out of Parkersville, WV has been closed off for fireworks. We were beat anyway. After some price checking at the 4 motels that are side by side in the town, we decided on the Econolodge! Free continental breakfast, AND we get a 10% discount because Troy works for the government! Niiice.

So tomorrow is another day, but I'm excited for the next two weeks.

Team Meagan's Law

Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow. We're leaving tomorrow! I already have my car here in the city. I've spent a few hours today packing and I have almost everything together. I'm a very quick packer. I never understood it when my friends would tell me they'd spent all day and night packing for a trip. I make decisions and stick to them, I guess.

I bought a knife today at Paragon. It's not for cutting twine or sticks or anything like that, though. See, I bought a bunch of oranges for the road (don't want us to get scurvy or nothin'!) and shortly afterward, I got this image of me trying to peel the navel oranges, getting all the rind underneath my fingernails, and it taking about an hour. I realized a knife would make things so much easier. I told the knife salesman as much. As he rang me up he said, "Alright, enjoy your orange cutter." It's OK, I laugh at me, too.

Anyway, I want to use this time before I leave to give everyone a rundown on who Troy is, and why we are going on this trip. It all started back in May. My friend Jenny and I went on a weekend trip to Washington, DC to visit some friends and see the city. At a friend of a friend's BBQ in Virginia one night, we met Troy. We got to talking, and it turned out he was a huge Kerouac fan, AS WELL AS a huge Daniel Johnston fan. I consider Kerouac and Johnston to be the most influential artists in my life. They've essentially made me a part of who I am. Needless to say, we hit it off. He came out to the DC bars with us, played pool with us, and Team Meagan's Law was born.

But I wouldn't exactly call Troy and I strangers. He came to NY a few weeks after I was in DC and we hung out and spent the entire night sitting on the floor in my apartment, talking about music and I guess some other things. Mostly music, though. Then we sat on my couch while he flipped through Leaves of Grass and I read some letter Neal Cassidy wrote. Then we switched. I knew from then on, we'd be friends for awhile.

We exchanged entertaining emails back and forth after that. He asked me if I wanted to travel to South America with him some time in the fall. I replied that I would, but only if we could get involved with some rebel force and be chased by corrupt policemen with guns. He thought that was a great idea! And then, the time arose that I was ready to get away from my desk job. I told Troy that if he wanted to, he should come with me on a trip through America. He agreed. And here we are today. It's finally, actually happening.

T Minus 5 Days

My trip is almost a certainty at this point. As long as I don't get a phone call from a prominent environmental organization telling me I have been hired and must start immediately, I am officially heading out on the road.

I'm extremely excited for this trip. Since I was 16, I've had the dream of pounding the pavement and seeing where my wheels take me. Time has passed, and now at 24 the opportunity has finally presented itself in the form of unemployment checks, a willing companion, and the courage to do it! Troy rode up to NY from DC this past weekend to discuss logistics with me. We have 2 weeks. The plan: go West for 7 days, then turn around and come back. Sounds simple. Although we have set up a vague itinerary, we are both pretty wide open when it comes to where we go and what we see. This will be great because I get lost pretty often and easily. With no exact destination this will hopefully not be a problem. I should go out and get a compass, just to make sure, though.

As I said in the blog description, I am going to attempt to post something everyday, or at least to account for every day of the trip in post. I'm bringing my laptop, which will be useful for this task, as well as for Map questing, uploading pictures, and as Emergency Boredom Backup (EBB.)

I can't wait to finally explore the natural (and completely unnatural) facets of the Mid-West, speak to all different kinds of people, and (OK this is silly) try and get my name on the score board on Photohunt in every state we stop. Troy doesn't know about this last goal yet, but I think he'll be down for it!