Drivin' South
I get this call at about noon from Gene. I think he always calls me at noon. Anyway, his car wouldn't start and the guy at the garage said they would have to send out for parts, leaving his truck on ice for a few days. After a long pause, we both chimed in saying that I should just drive. It would mean going the opposite direction, but there was no way we weren't going to New Orleans, we were on a mission after all.
I checked the weather forecasts all day and plotted our trip on an old road atlas that my grandfather had given me. I think I could read road atlases for hours, figuring out how to get to places, looking for alternate routes, or just detours off the beaten path. We used to play this game in high school where we would go off the beaten path, get lost, and then find our way to wherever we were going. We would always opt for the "scenic route." I'm not sure if I could ever take I-5 to Northern California, why would you ever want to turn down the curves and views of US-1.
I left about 7 that night and started the two hour drive to Worcester. Driving at night is great, like taking the red-eye, you arrive at your destination ready to enjoy. Driving demands a lot more attention, but there would be plenty of sleep the rest of our lives, we definitely wanted to stay up for as much of this trip as possible. We loaded up my truck, a 1987 silver Toyota Land Cruiser. It was a stick shift, with a crappy cassette deck, and a mean ass straight six. It was a tank. Supplies for us meant:
Music
Tent
Sleeping Bags
Pasta
Korean Noodles
Spam
PBJ
We were going through different climates, so we brought our combat boots and warm coats for camping, but threw some shorts in just in case N'awlins was warm. The entire northeast was covered in snow and ice, the drive would be exciting if not treacherous. We picked a route that would take us back through NY across route 84, then we would shoot down PA. It wasn't direct by any means and points it felt like we were the only ones on the road except for some big ass plows. If you've never driven down a highway behind three plows, it's not something I recommend. Yeah they take care of the snow, but they are slow and every once in awhile they hit pavement in sparks start flying up. We stopped for gas along the way, getting coffee, some beef jerky and fishing cassette tapes out of my crappy deck. Anyway, we had our eyes on the prize -- warm weather, music, alcohol, and girls.
So we drove through the night, winding down along the PA interstates. Slowly, as dawn approached, more cars started to appear. We had taken turns at the wheel, don't think we had a schedule we just drove until we were tired and then someone else would take over. We played the name game and other lame car games you play when you're bored. At one point, I was driving and the guys were passed out. My eyes were fixed on the road, I wasn't tired, just locked in. Next thing I know everything in front of me starts moving to my right. The car was in a spin, a 70+ mph spin. I blacked out as this was happening because all I really remember was smacking up against a snow bank in the left lane of the highway. If it was the spring, we would have rolled right into a huge ditch between the highway. Luckily, it was winter and the snow bank prevented our tumble and somehow we landed straight, the front of the car facing the right direction. Gene and Sam had obviously woken up from the 360. Not sure what was more frightening me being awake or them being thrown around while sleeping. Either way, when we came to a stop, I had thought the car was stalled out. How would it have been possible for me to keep my foot on the clutch while spinning. So I turned the ignition and made that harsh cranking noise. Yep, the car was still running. They both yelled at the same time -- pull over! So I made my way to the shoulder of the desolate highway. There cars still flying by. Not one of them seemed to have noticed, or at least no one stopped to see if we were OK. I stepped out to go check the car. The second my feet hit the ground I slipped and had to hold the car door so I wouldn't slide to the ground. There was about a foot of ice on the highway, solid ice. It was amazing, nothing was wrong with the truck. I hopped back in and with that 3 minute ordeal behind us, started heading south again. We were quiet for a little and then started talking about how insane that was. Things would have been a lot different if it wasn't for that huge snow bank. The sun was now up and the road was ours. Maryland and West Virginia passed by in blurs. Our first stop would be the Smokey Mountains, just south of the Tennessee border.
I checked the weather forecasts all day and plotted our trip on an old road atlas that my grandfather had given me. I think I could read road atlases for hours, figuring out how to get to places, looking for alternate routes, or just detours off the beaten path. We used to play this game in high school where we would go off the beaten path, get lost, and then find our way to wherever we were going. We would always opt for the "scenic route." I'm not sure if I could ever take I-5 to Northern California, why would you ever want to turn down the curves and views of US-1.
I left about 7 that night and started the two hour drive to Worcester. Driving at night is great, like taking the red-eye, you arrive at your destination ready to enjoy. Driving demands a lot more attention, but there would be plenty of sleep the rest of our lives, we definitely wanted to stay up for as much of this trip as possible. We loaded up my truck, a 1987 silver Toyota Land Cruiser. It was a stick shift, with a crappy cassette deck, and a mean ass straight six. It was a tank. Supplies for us meant:
Music
Tent
Sleeping Bags
Pasta
Korean Noodles
Spam
PBJ
We were going through different climates, so we brought our combat boots and warm coats for camping, but threw some shorts in just in case N'awlins was warm. The entire northeast was covered in snow and ice, the drive would be exciting if not treacherous. We picked a route that would take us back through NY across route 84, then we would shoot down PA. It wasn't direct by any means and points it felt like we were the only ones on the road except for some big ass plows. If you've never driven down a highway behind three plows, it's not something I recommend. Yeah they take care of the snow, but they are slow and every once in awhile they hit pavement in sparks start flying up. We stopped for gas along the way, getting coffee, some beef jerky and fishing cassette tapes out of my crappy deck. Anyway, we had our eyes on the prize -- warm weather, music, alcohol, and girls.
So we drove through the night, winding down along the PA interstates. Slowly, as dawn approached, more cars started to appear. We had taken turns at the wheel, don't think we had a schedule we just drove until we were tired and then someone else would take over. We played the name game and other lame car games you play when you're bored. At one point, I was driving and the guys were passed out. My eyes were fixed on the road, I wasn't tired, just locked in. Next thing I know everything in front of me starts moving to my right. The car was in a spin, a 70+ mph spin. I blacked out as this was happening because all I really remember was smacking up against a snow bank in the left lane of the highway. If it was the spring, we would have rolled right into a huge ditch between the highway. Luckily, it was winter and the snow bank prevented our tumble and somehow we landed straight, the front of the car facing the right direction. Gene and Sam had obviously woken up from the 360. Not sure what was more frightening me being awake or them being thrown around while sleeping. Either way, when we came to a stop, I had thought the car was stalled out. How would it have been possible for me to keep my foot on the clutch while spinning. So I turned the ignition and made that harsh cranking noise. Yep, the car was still running. They both yelled at the same time -- pull over! So I made my way to the shoulder of the desolate highway. There cars still flying by. Not one of them seemed to have noticed, or at least no one stopped to see if we were OK. I stepped out to go check the car. The second my feet hit the ground I slipped and had to hold the car door so I wouldn't slide to the ground. There was about a foot of ice on the highway, solid ice. It was amazing, nothing was wrong with the truck. I hopped back in and with that 3 minute ordeal behind us, started heading south again. We were quiet for a little and then started talking about how insane that was. Things would have been a lot different if it wasn't for that huge snow bank. The sun was now up and the road was ours. Maryland and West Virginia passed by in blurs. Our first stop would be the Smokey Mountains, just south of the Tennessee border.
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