The Great East Coast Road Trip Vol. Two

It was a beautiful fall day as I restarted the journey. The hills are a little larger in Pennsylvania than Wisconsin, but they were still dotted with blaze orange. It was hunting season in Pennsylvania, bringing to mind the movie the Deer Hunter. It’s one of my favorites (Meryl Streep is hot!), but I hope I don’t get as crazy as Christopher Walken (I have my de Niro beard going). Getting past the thoughts of Russian roulette, I noticed that even the barns are different in Pennsylvania. They use more stone and are not your typical rectangle layout, but form a short T. Up and down over the mountains of eastern Pennsylvania, I moved closer to my first new state of the trip, New Jersey. Right around the border I emitted a “whoa” as I rounded a bend and was affronted with a huge rock face that had been uplifted at a 90 degree angle to how it was formed. It was awesome. New Jersey, not so much (Jersey girls aren’t trash, trash gets picked up on Thursdays).

I stopped for gas just over the border and found that it’s a state law that someone has to pump the gas for you. It’s full service in Jersey (I guess that’s one way to keep unemployment down)! I started sweating the closer I got to NYC. I don’t like driving in big cities, especially one I’ve never been to and have no idea where I ‘m going. I kept waiting to hit traffic, but it never came. I crossed the George Washington Bridge and tried snapping a few shots. I wasn’t in Wisconsin anymore that’s for sure. I made a wrong turn or two, but picked Blayne up without incident (although I was still sweating pretty good). Now we had to head to Newark to pick up Fields which meant driving through Manhattan and the Lincoln Tunnel. Traffic was pretty slow, but we pushed our way through because we’re from Wisconsin. We emerged on the other side in Jersey and thought the apocalypse had befallen the Earth while we were underground. Dilapidated buildings, rundown infrastructure and just an overall hellhole describe Jersey. I think I found a new “worst state in America.” The airport wasn’t too bad to get around though. We were a bit early so we toured the terminals while we waited for Fields arrival. I was tempted to ask a cop if this was JFK. While wasting time, we saw probably 20 cop cars with their lights on, pulling cars over. It was a little crazy. Fields arrived and we headed on up to Tuxedo, New York to meet up with Riles.

He greeted us with hugs, handshakes and Zywiec. He stocked his fridge full of the Polish beer, which may not be a very good beer, but it was free! The Badgers were playing in the inaugural Big Ten Championship game against Michigan St for the right to play in the Rose Bowl. We threw on all the Wisconsin gear we had, be it Badger or Packer, and headed to bar. Characters is a smallish bar in Sloatsburg, but Riles is a regular so we were made to feel at home with random shots of Jameo throughout the evening. Needless to say, we won and tied one on.

The next day arrived with the promise of a Packer win. We moved just slow enough in the morning to miss our train by less than a minute so we had to wait an hour for the next one. You can drink on the trains so we ran to the store to get more beer because of our hour setback. We finally hitched a ride on the train and were at the Meadowlands in no time. Our plan was to wander around the parking lot and snag some beer and food from Packer fans tailgating, but we never made it that far. There was a “tailgate” right by the stadium that we ended up at because we severely needed food and the beer was convenient too. We made friends with a couple young ladies, one of whom thought I looked just like the guy from the Packer Rock Anthem video (if you haven’t witnessed the greatness, youtube “Packer Rock Anthem”). I disagree, but I’ll take it! The one girl was from Green Bay and her parents have a Packer bus that they took to the Super Bowl last year and are planning to do the same this year. I asked if I could tag a long and she said I could. Needless to say, I left the tailgate without a number so I’ll always have to play the “what if” game with her and the Packer bus…

The game was great as the Packers came away with a last-second win. The Giants fans were stupid as anticipated. They started leaving after the Packers went up 8 in the 4^th quarter, because I guess that is too much to overcome. The Giants tied it up with under a minute left, but the Pack marched down the field and Crosby sealed the win. Boom!

Packers defending their undefeated season

Monday came as we had to drive Blayne to LaGuardia. Things did not go as smoothly as planned, but no one died (we think). We spent the rest of the afternoon at bar before heading back after dinner. It was a low-key evening as we recovered from the weekend. Tuesday, Packer stock went on sale so we all became NFL owners. It feels great being an owner of the greatest franchise in NFL history. We got moving and headed to NYC to be a tourist and attend the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. We missed the train by a minute, of course, and had to wait over an hour for the next one. The joy of being a Packer Shareholder helped assuaged the annoyance of the wait.

NYC welcomed us with a warm drizzle. We putzed around the city, taking in Times Square, Central Park, Broadway, Radio City Music Hall, Macy’s (omg! The shopping was faaabulous!), Empire State Building and other sights. To get out of the increasing rain, we headed into Lucy’s right by the Garden and spent the next few hours tipping a few back. Game time arrived and the Garden beckoned. Madison Square Garden is the mecca of college basketball. It was only half full or so but you could feel the energy that exuded from the arena. It was awesome. Mizzou won the first game and Marquette won at the buzzer in the second. Bob Knight and Digger Phelps sat 15 rows in front of us and were besieged by gawkers and fans all night. Dicky V and the Schwab were also in the house. It was a full house for ESPN, that’s for sure. After the game we got some food from a street vendor and it was excellent. We arrived back at Riles place late and I’m glad I didn’t have to work the next day.

New York was fun, but I was looking forward to branching off on my own and getting out of civilization. I needed a little wilderness to rebalance myself. This morning I accomplished my goal of being the first person in America to see the sun rise as I scampered up Cadillac Mt. in the early dawn. You’ll hear about that more in future posts. I leave the relative safety of Bar Harbor Monday, for the wilds of central and western Maine. I hope to talk to a moose and see a little snow. We will see where the next week takes me. I’m looking forward to it!

The Great East Coast Road Trip Vol. One

How can I live my life any more irresponsibly? By taking a multi-week road trip to the East Coast of course! Who needs to work (you can tell the importance of your job by how easy it is to miss a few weeks [with no pay of course] and have no one notice)? This whole expedition began with my buddy Riles inviting me out to New York for the Packer-Giant game. I have a friend who goes to grad school at Penn St. so I thought I’d visit him and from there it spiraled out of control to a trip encompassing New England from Walden Pond to Bar Harbor, Maine to the Green Mountains in Vermont and finally Niagara Falls. I may die, but hey, it was a good time!

The road trip began with me driving from EC to Madison after a day working at Hoffman Hills State Rec. Area. I had to leave early enough to catch the Badger-North Carolina basketball game that night. I of course waited to the last moment to pack everything so I was late for the tip. I arrived at the Slaney’s house in Madison and if there is crazier place than that I’d like to see it. There is never a dull moment and my good friend Mark was there to help breakdown the game. Mark is one of the people whom I feel honored that calls me a friend. Despite our cheering and beer chugging, the Badgers lost. I was expecting a worse outcome, so I was surprised when we only lost by 3.

I woke up “early” the next morning and headed out on the road to make it to State College, PA, home of Penn St. My friend Kris lives out there and is going for his PhD (his girlfriend Kristin is only going for her Masters so she is obviously slacking). Being a man I didn’t use the GPS I had at my disposal. It’s more fun to work through directions in your head (plus from Madison to Pennsylvania there are only 4 different roads to take). I had emailed a host of friends with knowledge of my route and the Northeast to solicit ideas on where to go. My Indiana expert was Laura who struggled to come up with places to visit there (not a good sign). She tossed out the idea of visiting the Indiana Dunes, which I had heard good things about. I planned to camp there but plans changed and I trucked through, getting sidetracked in South Bend, IN. Notre Dame may be a bit pious for me (If I wasn’t going to hell before, I sure was going after my Notre Dame visit). It was interesting to see the iconic sights that have been given a meaning through sports like Touchdown Jesus and the Golden Dome. Walking around campus and Notre Dame Stadium it felt different than any college campus I had been to before. Maybe it was the vast numbers of out-of-staters or the religious feel, but I felt like I didn’t belong. As I walked up to the Golden Dome, bells started to ring, which startled me, and caused a “Jesus Christ” to pop out of my mouth. Whoops! Overall, it was great seeing one of the classic campuses and stadiums in the country.

I had wasted too much time in South Bend so I had to make up some time. The old Intrepid motored the rest of the way through Indiana and Ohio without stopping. Turns out western Indiana received a lot of snow recently as the countryside was covered with an early season wet snow that clung to the north side of the trees, giving away the direction the wind blew during the storm. Northern Indiana is known for not only Notre Dame and Michiana (that’s what they call the weird border region between Michigan and Indiana [I guess “wasteland” was already taken]), but being the RV capital. I knew this but finding out there was a RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart obliterated my mind. I have no idea what this place would entail. Do they have RV’s from people who have taken them on epic road trips? Maybe they have the first Airstream or other technological improvements. If they called it a museum that would make more sense than calling it a Hall of Fame (calling it a Hall of Fame does a disservice to other great Hall of Fames like the Bowling Hall of Fame in St. Louis). Regardless, that might be the lamest place in America.

Ohio came and went without a pit stop. I set the cruise at about 6 over the speed limit and was passed by maybe 5 people the entire state. Ohioans drive slow. The only thing of mention in Ohio was the town with the unfortunate name of Sandusky (I looked for Tommy Boy at Callahan Brakes, but to no avail). Not a good time to be a Sandusky.

I arrived at Penn St. at 10 pm (Pennsylvania is beautiful in the dark) where I was greeted by Kris and Kristin. I beckoned Kris over to my trunk where I revealed the bounty of Wisconsin beer and cheese I had smuggled over state lines. There were four Wisconsin microbrew 6 packs and he chose the Dave’s BrewFarm Matacabras and New Glarus Black Top. I selected the beer based on awesomeness and the chances that it could be found out East. The BrewFarm was my ace in the hole because it was such a small brewery, plus it is Wisconsin’s only wind-powered brewery. Kristin had thrown a bunch of leftovers from the CSA into a soup and I slurped it down quite eagerly. Kris and I headed out to Zeno’s for a few local libations. I let Kris choose the first pitcher and he managed to select the only beer on tap that I had had already (or heard of for that matter), Victory’s Hopdevil. I was wearing a Wisconsin Badger sweatshirt so I had to give people some crap after crushing them a few days earlier on the football field. I turned over the beer menu and to my chagrin; the first beer on the list was Dave’s BrewFarm Matacabras. Really? I couldn’t believe it. It’s great that you could find it out in Pennsylvania, but it diminished my effort (although it was $6 a bottle and I bought the 6er for $10).

Clever bike shop name at Penn St.

Friday was a late starter for me. I putzed around and headed to campus just after nooner. I like walking around college campuses and seeing the architecture and history that comes with a campus that’s been around for well over 100 years. I thought about wearing another Badger shirt but decided against it, they’ve been through enough already. The gloom of the skies overhead accompanied me as I waltzed around campus, going from the scurry of students in-between classes to the sparse sidewalks as the learning commenced. The symmetry of the walkways, buildings and big old trees always fascinate me. I love pedestrian malls with majestic 200 hundred-year-old elms or oaks arching over the people walking about, not seeing the beauty that hovers over them. Kris skipped out on his studies and we checked out the art museum on campus. I’m quite the philistine when it comes to art. We moved on to lunch (they ID at all hours at pubs and bars in Penn St. It’s weird seeing a bouncer at 1 in the afternoon) and then a final jaunt over to Beaver Stadium. It seats over 100,000 people and is a monument to Joe Paterno. There is a statue of JoePa outside the stadium with a quote that has new meaning these days “They ask me what I’d like written about when I’m gone, I hope they write I made Penn St. a better place not just that I was a good football coach.” There may be an addendum to that after the recent events. I gave the stadium the old Wisconsin salute and headed back to get ready for the evening. Euchre was on the docket.

The Kris’s and I went to the Darkhorse to meet up with a 4^th for cards and beer. The Kris’s teamed up and attempted to derail my partner and me. Over the course of the next few hours I made my way through local beers like Otto’s, Troeg’s, Elk Creek, Weyer and Sly Fox. The game ended in a tie at 3-3 as we moved to a new bar to meet up with folks who had attended the hockey game. One of the first comments I heard was “I love Bald Eagle State Park! The do pumpkin chucking!” My kind of place. Outside of the bar was a Penn St. sign, too tempting to not tamper with. I pretended to pee on the sign while Kris snapped a few photos. The bouncer kept yelling at me telling me how cool I was for doing that. We finished with the photo op and headed back to the bar and were promptly denied access to the bar. He said, “The cops may not have known what you did, but I do.” A few cops had driven by while I was pretending to pee but didn’t seem to care, but this bouncer had it out for me. I congratulated him on catching me pretending to pee and we headed home.

Saturday came with the anticipation of driving to LaGuardia and Newark Airports. I delayed my exit as long as I could, but my friendly duties could not wait. I bade Kris and Kristin goodbye. It’s always good to see Kris. He’s always being smart, studying mycorrhizae around the country. We’ll meet somewhere down the trail.

I'm currently in Bar Harbor, Maine hanging with the locals. Since Penn St. I went to the Packer game, Madison Square Garden and Walden Pond. I met a guy named Matt in Portsmouth and we road-tripped up to Portland for a Cornmeal concert and today I met Everett in Acadia who let me over to house to use his internet which ended up us just swapping stories for a few hours. It's been a great week or so with more stories to detail. I'll update when I can. Sunday I'll be the first person in the US to see the sunrise so suck it America!