Day 9: Georgetown KY to Lancaster NY
posting this from my parents house - we made it to Lancaster on day 9. i drove all the way, i guess the familiar roads didn’t wear on me so much. i have to say, i’m kinda tired of I-90 construction in Pennsylvania by now. although, it’s much more pleasant during the day, and without cats in the vehicle.
we drove north out of Georgetown (just north of Lexington) on I-75. we split to I-71, then took a jaunt on 79 over to Akron to go to an Acme Fresh Market it is, as far as we know, the northern/easternmost location to purchase beer brewed by Three Floyds brewing. if you ever get the opportunity, try some of their beer. it’s amazing.
anyway, rolling north out of Akron we eventually skirted around Cleveland (i don’t care if it “rocks”) and onto the familiar 90 for the quick trip up Lake Erie to Buffalo.
Day 10 begins with getting our closing papers for the house signed, notarized, and fedexed.
Day 8: Nashville TN to Georgetown KY
not as much driving today. we were in nashville most of the day, waiting for my car to get done. thankfully, the hotel i randomly chose in the West End was half a mile from Centennial Park, and across the street from Blackstone Restaurant & Brewery.
after getting a ride back from the Ford dealer to the hotel, carrie and i walked down to Centennial Park and saw the Parthenon. it’s the only full-scale replica of the Parthenon in the world. there was a lot of other interesting stuff in that park, including a 4-8-4 steam locomotive.
after the park, we walked back down West End, stopped briefly at a Fedex Kinkos to print out our closing documents. while in Kinkos, the skies opened up. it was most fortunate timing.
after the rain let up, we walked down to Blackstone for lunch. good food, good beer. some GABF winners in their lineup.
we utilized public transportation to get back to the Ford dealer, after much grousing on the phone about how many ways their shuttle is. the cost for 2 new tires, rotate and balance was pretty reasonable. the vibration is better; i still think i have a wheel bearing heading south. it should make it to NH fine though.
we drove from Nashville TN to Lexington KY to meet up for dinner with some of carrie’s friends. after that, we hit the road for a bit longer and decided to call it a night just north of Lexington.
and that’s it. today should be Buffalo NY by sundown.
Day 7: Fort Smith AR to Nashville TN
today we drove from the westernmost edge of Arkansas, to the middle of Tennessee. we stopped in Nashville to have dinner at the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium and we decided to stay in town tonight. i’ve got a vibration from my passenger side front wheel that isn’t making me feel special. so we’ll find a dealer tomorrow to check it out before we leave town.
Arkansas and what we’ve seen of Tennessee already was nice. lush, rolling green hills. Nashville seems like a neat town, but i haven’t seen too much of it. i hope to see the Parthenon replica before we jet out tomorrow; it depends how much time the tire thing will eat up.
tomorrow we head northeast, through Kentucky and winding up somewhere probably in Ohio. within a day’s striking distance of Buffalo, is the goal.
Day 6: McPherson KS to Fort Smith AR
well, we’re here. in Fort Smith, Arkansas. we didn’t get to leave Hutchinson/McPherson until about 3 in the afternoon, so we didn’t make Memphis today.
i have now driven in Oklahoma (down from Wichita KS through Tulsa to Fort Smith) and i have to say: your roads suck. SUCK. Oklahoma, you’re NOT OK. i just paid 8 different tolls to drive down a couple hundred miles of what you call a freeway, and i think my kidneys are bruised.
i’m exhausted at about 12:30am and that’s good; we’ve been stuck on Pacific Time. i think we’re finally hitting MDT at least, if not CDT.
tomorrow - through Little Rock to Memphis and Nashville. yee-haw! pray for not so much rain. they’ve been getting a lot. i don’t want to drive in it.
Day 5: Hutchinson KS
Day 5 was pretty laid back. we stayed in McPherson another night, and visited some friends in Hutchinson Kansas. hung out at their house most of the day, and then went to the Kansas State Fair for a few hours.
Day 4: Golden CO to McPherson KS
wow, day 4’s driving is really… unspectacular.
one thing that really struck me about denver was how flat it was. once you get over the mountains the city itself is really not hilly. i’d say Seattle is more vertically interesting. And eastern Colorado (pictured) is … boring. we were told it would be exciting compared to kansas, but i found them both to be equally bland.
what? no pictures of western Kansas? well, let’s do this. imagine you’re driving down a straight road. on the left side of you is corn. on the right side of you is corn. you’re driving very fast, and there is corn on both sides of the road.
are you picturing this in your mind? good. now keep thinking about that for the next 6 hours.
Day 3: Denver
day 3 was spent in Denver/Golden. quite a lazy day, i must admit.
we had breakfast at Einstein Brothers Bagels, then dealt with some paperwork for the house. then we got one of my tires balanced (that threw a wheel weight somewhere in Wyoming) and had lunch/dinner at Falling Rock Tap House. after dinner we drove around Denver a bit, stopped at Argonaut to pick up some local beer to take with us, and went back to the hotel.
today, we head east to Kansas.