The Road Trip Begins...

The primary purpose I had in mind when I started this blog several weeks ago was to have a place to chronicle the cross-country move Heather and I are in the middle of making.

Sure, other rants are all fine and good, but really, the number one reason most of you are reading right now is to see how our big-ass road trip is progressing. We started in Jaffrey, New Hampshire (old home) and are travelling to Kent, Washington (new home). The reasons for the move are far too numerous and ponderous to go into right now, and for most of you, I’ve already bored you to death with them twice. Regardless, we’re driving two cars cross-country with some interesting stops along the way. Photos will acompany most posts, and I’ll eventually even upload yesterday’s shots when I have more time.

This morning I’m typing from my parents’ living room in Manchester, CT, stop #1 on the road trip. Jaffrey to Connecticut was about a two-point-five hour leg, easily the shortest of the journey. We started the day doing the final cleaning of our old apartment, shut down the last of our accounts in New Hampsire, and hit the road, arriving in Manchester around 2:45 PM.

After a short visit with Mom and my brother Matt, Heather and I took off for lunch at Shady Glen (note to self – add links to Shady Glen related sites). The cheeseburgers there have been recognized by NPR food critics as the single greatest cheeseburgers on the planet, and I’ve been downing them since I was seven or eight. I introduced Heather to them about ten years ago, and ever since, we’ve made sure to stop for Shady Glen whenever we’re in Manchester.

Mmmmm, wavy crisp cheese.....

(Again, we have photos, I just haven’t uploaded them yet.)

We napped for a good hour after the beef-and-dairy-masterpiece goodness, then had dinner with Mom, Dad, Nan & Pop (the grand-peoples), and my sister Melissa and brother-in-law Brian. The sophistication of the dinner conversation was exquisite, and I’m proud to say we probably could have gotten ourselves removed from a McDonalds. Good stuff. Fun. Seriously.

Shortly thereafter, we welcomed a tin full of brownies from Keith’s mom. Keith is riding along with me in my car on the trip, and arrived with the snacks. You may or may not know Keith as the Best Man from my wedding; back in high school and college, he used to just about live at my parent’s place so long as food and I were here (food and me? me and food? grammar check...).

This morning (Saturday), we’re doing our last preparations for the trip: Mapquesting the individual legs, passing around the contact info, etc. In less than an hour, we’ll be heading out for Hornell, NY, where Heather’s folks live. There we pick up Liz (Heather’s best friend and Maid of Honor), crash for a night, and kick off the main stretch.

More as it happens....