We are getting a late start today but it should be a short-ish drive today maybe broken up with fun things.
First thing, we stopped for gas. It has 396.5 miles since our last gas. We put in 16.89 gallons. We got good gas mileage (23.48 mpg). We were going slower and the AC didn’t have to work nearly as hard.
One of my biggest fears on this trip was being confined in the car for hours at a time. it hasn’t been as bad I thought it would be. Part of this is due to me doing more driving. Driving for the first hour is slightly boring but after that, it gets harder for me so I have to really concentrate on what I’m doing. After the second hour, I start blocking out the audio book or music since even more concentration is required as I get tired. I’d make a lousy truck driver.
Though when not driving, cooped up in a car, even a big car, I often feel like a caged rat. Sometimes the scenery is beautiful but it is hard to appreciate if I feel rat-like.
A good night’s sleep is important but I don’t have as much control over that as I’d like. I do control one other parameter though…
Every morning, I’ve been waking up and going for a walk.
Not only does this burn off some of my nervous energy, I get to see some of the places we are driving through. There is something more real about having boots on the ground (well, hiking sandals). And early morning is a nice time to see the world with fresh eyes.
Flagstaff was dry forest and bright, bright light. It was probably my favorite walk so far. I walked around Albuquerque’s Old Town before it became touristy, seeing the old church functioning as a house of worship instead of a photo backdrop. And I already mentioned my danger fraught search for field mice.
C and I walked to Beale Street in Memphis, seeing the tourist filled home of blues greats, it was pretty cool. But seeing it at 7am was different, somehow more real to what it used to be and more tawdry at the same time. And I got to dip my toes in the Mississippi.
This morning wasn’t so great, I walked though strip malls thinking about the underlying beauty of the Smokey Mountains, somewhat despairing of a civilization that would take such natural riches and plunk an AutoZone down in it. Though, I’m fairly enchanted with the haze around the hills looks like blue smoke.
My goal with each morning’s walk is to take 5,000 steps before we get in the car. The default goal is to take 10,000 steps every day. That is three miles if you use little steps (but I clocked in three miles this morning in less than 5k steps so this varies a lot but it based on your height and what their accelerometer says about how you are walking). 10k steps isn’t hard to do at home, a couple times around the block with the dogs or walking up to the grocery store is enough (once it is combined with my normal back-and-forthing about the house). But sitting all day in the car, it is easy to get only enough steps necessary to fill the gas tank and fall on to the hotel bed.
Fitbit makes the step-counter (pedometer) I use. It is a nifty little gadget that (when we have a base station for it to talk to) uploads the number of steps to a website (or to my iphone) where it can be combined with a food diary (calorie intake) and help people lose (or, if you are C, gain) weight.
I’m using the Fitbit gadget and the tracking my calories but not really using their iPhone app (partially because I haven’t set up the base station so the gadget can regularly sync to the internet, partially because I’ve been filing bugs against the app).
Oh, did I mention I have done some work for Fitbit? Yep, they’ve been my main clients for the last few months. I didn’t get to work on the nifty pedometer but on a different product (shipped!! happy dance). C and I got Fitbits when I did some engineer hunting for them. (This is less gloating, more in the name of full disclosure.)
Some people treat their Fitbit like pets (“I need to go for a walk, have to feed the Fitbit”) which makes me think that they are like Tamagotchi’s for exercise. I do like my Fitbit; I like things that bring amusement to activities that might otherwise seem like a chore. And, Fitbit does some other neat things with the internet and the gadget (Fitbit Tracker Ultra if you want to get one). For example, I really want the “you’ve walked the coastline of Florida” badge.
Anyway, the early morning walks (and the Fitbit) is helping me not go stir crazy in the car. I feed it 5k steps before I get in. C and I always manage to get another 5-7k after that, walking around Outlet Malls and Painted Deserts. So I feel like I’ve done something, not just sat in the car all day. It takes the edge off of my edginess. Mostly.
Is this even real? Sometimes it seems like I’m in a dream It sounds so unlikely that we’ve driven this far across the country. C also reports feeling like maybe he’ll wake up at home in bed any minute. I think one of the most difficult parts is knowing that we aren’t even halfway done. It is going to be a long time before we wakeup in our bed.
Today is the first day C seriously mentioned flying back to California after we visit his family. We could be home in six or ten hours.
Today, we reached Virginia, finally returning to a state that has an ocean. Where once** upon a time, a 6.5 hour drive to the ocean would have seemed much, much to far, now that seems relatively close.
** “Once” would have been last Saturday. It truly seems like that was weeks, maybe months, ago.
Last night’s hotel in Memphis was ok, we should have switched rooms when we got there. On the street with a tram rumbling by under it and right next to the elevator and across from the ice machine, the location was a triumvirate of suck. But the room was big and not too loud, and we were so wiped when we got there. We went to sleep ridiculously early but woke up pretty early too.
Checking in today, we specified non-freeway, far from the elevator. But when I went to move the car, I couldn’t find the room again. After trying several doors, I texted C and he told me. So now we know to ask for a quiet room, away from everything, that also has the room number 224 because I can’t remember any new ones.
Anyway, we finished the bulk of crossing the continent. Tomorrow’s drive to DC is a relatively short one. And while it isn’t a beach Chesapeake Bay is my introduction to the Atlantic Ocean.
I suppose it is time to reflect a little before we start touristing all the national monuments and Smithsonian museums. I guess if we fly back, I’ll be a little sad. This trip has been tough with the driving and mixed bag of hotels. A good night’s sleep has a huge influence on my enjoyment of the next day’s drive. Sleep is the difference between drudgery and adventure.
When the trip has been adventure, I’ve had a lot of fun. I’ve gotten excited about Minneapolis and Yellowstone. And the wide open spaces had been addictive so I’d like to see more; lake country has the possibility of awe and so does Yogi Bear’s home. And then there is North Dakota, a state that is a dark horse, I just don’t know much about it.
On the other hand, the possibility of being home (cue warm and safe and home! music) is incredibly enticing. I wouldn’t say I’m exactly homesick but I do miss the pets. I even miss working a bit. Though I do like writing instead.
But step 64 of 228? That is less than one third of the way through… and going by days, we’ve only been gone 5 days but will be gone for 26 so that is only 20% of the way though. That is so long from now. I’ll be pretty homesick by then. Unless I am having a really grand adventure.
I’ll try to post more later but to keep you amused while I eat dinner (and finish one or two of the longer posts that I started in the car), here is a picture of me introducing myself to the Mississippi River this morning.
We used 15.245 gallons going 356 miles. We spent $54.87 refilling. I’d tell you where but I have no idea, somewhere in Tennessee between Memphis and Knoxville.
The oxymoronic frozen hot chocolates were advertised at DQ, across the parking lot. I’m curious but not enough to actually find out.
We are keeping an eye on the weather as severe thunderstorms are forecasted in our path.
