Went on a long road trip. Learned a few things along the way too.

[Jim B]

For the last three days i was on a little road trip to West Virginia with a buddy of mine that is moving down there. We Went down with all his stuff, unloaded it and headed back. A lot of work and lots of driving. I learned a few things along the way there and back. I thought it would be fun to make a list.



1) WV is a long long away from MA. 13 or so hours to be exact with stops for gas, food etc.



2) Less aggressive tires can give much better mileage. I got new less aggessive ones on my dakota before the trip and rasied my highway milage by 3.5mpg. I knew it would be better just not 3.5mpg



3) Pennsylvania is a very long state, seemed like we were there forever.



4) NW Maryland has big hills, and lots of them.



5) West Virgina has even bigger hills and more of them.



6) People in WV look at you very strangly when you are wearing a Boston Red Sox shirt. Yep i looked like a tourist.



7) People in WV are very, very friendly and like to talk even to a comeplete stranger like me. Nice people overall.



8) Rural WV is just that, very rural. And very pretty.



9) The Army Corps of Engineers builds a nice facility down there. We took a trip to Burnsville lake, the launch area was very nice. Much nicer then what they build up here.



10) Caffene free Diet Dr Pepper is a real thing. I have seen Me! post about it a ton and since it dosent exisit in this part of the country i thought it was a joke. I was in a food store looking to buy some Diet Dr Pepper and low and behold i was confronted with a caffene free choice and i was kinda shocked.



11) The Bass Pro in Harrisburg,PA is a nice store, very impressive. Nice fish tank, lots of everything( Rant: Why cant they build one here in the New England area?????? Rant over).



12) Its way too easy to spend way too much money at a Bass Pro store.



13) The Cabellas in Hamburg,PA is even more impressive. I think i took 50 picures of the wildlife displays alone, i will post some later. I spent more time on the displays then i did shopping. The displays were very impressive as was the store in general.



14) Traveling thru New York after rush hour is the only way to go if you have to drive thru NY. Otherwise just avoiding it all together is much better.



15) XM radio rules. Being able to monitor traffic and weather in NY before i got remotely close was nice.



16) The ipod also rules. Between that and XM i had all the music i could handle and not be bored.



17) I never thought i would be so happy to see the " Welcome to Massachuessets" sign as i was yesterday after 12 hours on the road. After being on the road that long it was nice to be home.

 

[Mike L.]

All the way to WV and no fishing???????????? I hope you have a good excuse

 

[Staci Matheis]

See, Jim! I wouldn't lie to you!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Yeah..... The mountains of WV are beautifull..... :wub:

Glad you enjoyed the trip!



me!

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

Good report Jim...Glad to see you made it safe and sound..



Bill

 

[mike chip]

im just glad you made it through pennsltucky alive

 

[Mad Kayaker]

Hey Jim, Good thing you went to Bass Pro and then Cabelas. I did it the other way around and was a little disappointed in the Bass Pro Shop. Overall though, I'll take Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods any day over the stores - I can always order stuff via the phone or internet and stare at an aquarium any time - but there is something about losing money at craps ... but I digress ...Too bad you didn't eat at the Texas Road House near the Bass Pro Shop. I go to the one near Methuen now and can't get enough of the rolls, ribs and steak.



As far as people in WV looking at you strangely for wearing the Red Sox shirt - they do that in all the other states as well (with the exception of Florida and Red Sox nation states).



Bill, The Mad Kayaker



P.S. Don't forget to email the directions to town hall and the boat ramp

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

JimB,



Did you wear that shirt in NYC????

 

[Bill Gintzel]

What tires did you put on the Dakota?

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Of course it's nice Shelley Perry lives there!!! LOL!! You weren't that far from me, what's another 3 hours?!?!? Shoulda dropped down.



TOXIC

 

[Larry Harp]

7) People in WV are very, very friendly and like to talk even to a comeplete stranger like me. Nice people overall.

That's true in most parts of the south. Whenever I travel "up north" I always have to remember to not engage strangers in idle conversation. They think you're trying to con them or something I am told. Out in western Oklahoma and Texas folks with actually wave to oncoming traffic on rural highways.



Harpo

 

[Steve Rizza]

You passed right by me also..I'm right in the corner of Pa, Wv, and Md.



Steve

 

[Jim B]

Mike, yep no fishing. We only had three days, one to drive down, one to unload and the other to drive home. I had to be back at work for thursday. Plus no gear(no room) and we didnt bring down either his or my boat.



CJL, not only did i have my red sox shirt on when driving thru NY, i also had my Patritios sticker on the truck as well as my Yankees Suck sticker. Im surprised i didnt get run off the road.



Wagatlen I had a set of Uniroyal Larado Cross Country tires put on my truck. So far they are great, ride nice, quiet and better milage to boot. They replaced a set of Toyo Open Country A/T



Tox, If i had more time i would have loved to stop down and say hi. As it was getting everything we needed to get done, done was cutting it close. Im goad we had the time to stop on the way back at the stores. Maybe when i go down to visit him ill make some time so swing by.