Here are the 3 of us - the Focus, Jeff and myself. My Dad kindly took this picture for us - his only picture of the trip.
The entire trip was truly a blur. By the time we would return, it would have this strange time-warp feeling. 21 days pass with ease when you're traveling so much.
Let me take a few moments to acquaint you with our navigation setup. What you see here is our GPS - it allowed us to take a few detours, and showed us the way to campsites more than a few times. It also aggravated us occasionally (especially Jeff). It's home, as shown, was nestled above the head of the passenger.
Further set-up: 1. The ash tray housed chewing gum and business cards, which were essential for a) meeting people without stinky breath and b) connecting them to our blog. 2. The lighter was our source of energy. Plugged into it was our FM transmitter, which allowed us to listen to Jared radio (a.k.a. my iPod...thanks again, Dave D!). 3. Water bottles kept us hydrated at a moments' notice. 4. The A/C was a bit of a mini-battle from time to time. I am perpetually menopausal, and Jeff is quite the dessert dwelling type when it comes to temperature. 5. We clicked the CD button many times. This was our gateway to Jack Kerouac. 6. The four ways - used multiple times when on the side of roads and when our windshield wiper went mad. 7. The keys...surprisingly we never locked the single set that we did have in the car.
So a repeating theme of our trip: things that were manly and American. We learned that big trucks satisfy both of these traits...especially when you are hauling your big truck with another big truck.
The first day began with an approximately 6 hour drive across PA. This was a pretty standard drive if you are a Grove City College student living in eastern PA.
We stopped for lunch at this BP, where we pulled out various healthy lunch foods. Thank you, Jeff's family! This began our flaxseed filled culinary/camping adventure.
This is another example of a manly truck, and a quite patriotic one.
Another potential trip theme: lousy phone service. Our country seems to be plagued with it. I didn't even get service in downtown Oil City, PA!
We decided to take a random wrong term. This led us through lots of beautiful farming country and wooded, hilly areas...
...to the Bryant's. They have a wonderful country home, and we were treated to a tasty meal upon our slightly delayed arrival. This was my favorite picture of the day. Its skewed angle makes you think something is just not quite right.
The barn!
The barn's entrance.
Another trip theme: photography. This may be self-evident, but it does deeper than the surface. I spent a lot of time teaching Jeff various photographic techniques. We both learned a lot in the process.
For instance, Jeff took this shot. Isn't it a good one???
Following with the theme, here is Jeff taking a picture. All I did was set the settings and rotate the camera as I took the picture. It's a fun, artsy, non-photoshopped effect.
Same theme, different style. Jeff with a silhouetted sunset in the background.
Last one of this style, don't worry. This picture highlights another theme of the trip, though: wildflowers. They grow throughout the country, and you see wild amounts of them!
So to close out day 1, we drove a long time, saw the countryside, and spent the evening with a lovely family.
