I loaded up My McVansion with everything I could think of
that I would or might need, this morning. I caught a shower, climbed into some
comfortable travel clothes - and - of course - THE HAT! I bid my farewells to
my great friend, Carolyn, who so kindly and generously allows me to use her
home in Keyser, WV as my eastern base camp. I also said, "see ya" to
her son, Matt, a really neat young man who has been out visiting for a while
(and just doing a fantastic job of catching up on a lot of yard maintenance for
both his mom and his grandmother down the street). I climbed in the van at
about 1:15 this afternoon, set the GPS, turned on the cell phone hands free
Bluetooth, turned on and started the dash cam recording and off I went.
Now, without question, today was one of the nicest travel
days - specifically, road trip travel days - I can ever remember. I was
actually traveling without a deadline to be anywhere by any specific time. I
thought I might make it to my ultimate destination, Clifton, New Jersey or
somewhere in the vicinity, but as I was driving through Pennsylvania and it was
dark by 7:30 in Allentown, I decided that my destination was going to be to
cross the New Jersey border and look for a Walmart Motor Inn (bring your own
accommodations :-) and call it a great day.
So, by 7:50 I was in the parking lot of the Phillipsburg,
New Jersey Walmart ready to walk in and gain their approval for my overnighting
in their parking lot. By 8:30 I had gained the approval, shopped for some
snacks for a light dinner, had the black out drapes installed in the van and
was eating my dinner. I also had pulled out the computer and was checking email
and after I ate, I answered those that required an answer. It's wonderfully
quiet here in the parking lot. There are only a few of us here.
As far as the travel today, it was near perfect. The weather
was very nice. Part of the time it was sunny with blue sky and puffy white
clouds. Other parts of the time it was overcast, but bright. The traffic wasn't
bad at all. I topped off the gas tank in Cumberland, MD and started to keep
track of the gas usage. It's doing somewhat better than I normally see. That
probably has to do with keeping the speed between 55 and 60 mph on cruise
control for sustained driving.
I cut cross-country from Hancock, Maryland to Chambersburg,
Pennsylvania to eliminate (I think) a large piece of real estate from the trip.
I went through some absolutely gorgeous country with some fairly good size
mountains for the east. The ascents and descents were pretty steep. But, My
McVansion handled them without any hesitation. I stopped in Chambersburg to
enjoy a late lunch at the Moe's Southwest Grill I enjoy stopping at only to find
that it has closed and is out of business. That's sad. I like Moe's. It's not
that there is any want for restaurants at that location; there are probably a
dozen or more of the popular chain places. I ended up at a Chipotle Mexican
Grill. I still prefer Moe's. From there I proceeded through Carlisle (near
Boiling Springs where I hosted my last Veteran Speakers Retreat just about a
month ago). Then went through Harrisburg and left I-81 for I-78 east to New
Jersey.
I haven't been on that route in several years, but there is
a religious short-wave radio station that I always watch for to see what
they've done to their antenna configuration. There are some neat old 50's style
motels and several Pennsylvania Dutch Restaurants along that route as well.
There is an interesting establishment along the route that specializes in
sheepskin coats, seat covers and other sheepskin products. I've always wanted
to check that place out and I just may do that on my trip back to West Virginia
next week. I'm really not sure why I didn't stop today. Old habits die hard, I
guess - just rush right on past - that's what I've always done.
When I reached the Allentown area it brought back memories
to around the latter 70's when I had a client there. It was the Good Shepherd
Workshop, a facility that helped retrain folks who had suffered serious, life
changing accidents and illnesses. The director of the workshop was an Irish
fellow by the name of Tom Stenhouse. He was a delightful fellow was his lovely
Irish wife. I loved the accent. Tom was a man of great generosity and a huge
heart. I liked him from the first time I spoke with him.
I learned, after visiting with Tom and his wife at their
home in nearby Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, that due to an earlier business
involvement, Tom was financially independent and made more money in annual
royalties than many people realize in ten or more years of earnings from a
decent job. He wasn't paid a lot of money for his work at the Good Shepherd
Workshop. The Workshop was simply his way of giving back to people who were not
as fortunate as he was. I label this man as a true "hometown hero."
I had a few phone conversations along the way to pass the
time. One was with my friend, Bob Orben, who is a well-known humor writer and
speechwriter. He was President Gerald Ford's chief speechwriter and wrote
speeches for a number of other important people in Washington, DC. He also
wrote for Red Skelton, Jack Paar and other comedians. Bob is the latest
recipient of the Master of Influence award presented by the National Speakers
Association.
I also chatted with Mickey Bo, host of Mickey Bo's Rock n
Roll Revue (you'll see his logo on the left side of this post on the Living
Free blog). Mickey, aka, Dave McAlary, my 40+ year Air Force buddy was also
traveling today. So, while I was driving northeast from West Virginia to New
Jersey, Mickey was driving west from Cape Cod to western Massachusetts. Isn't
technology fantastic?
The evening is ending now. I answered the emails after
eating and I had a pleasant call from my friend, Carolyn in West Virginia
checking in to make sure I was doing well and where I was. And after I complete
this post and putting it up on the blog, I'm going to hit the rack and get a
good night's sleep. In the morning, I'll catch a quick breakfast at Walmart and
also buy some bungee cords and some screw eyes to secure a few things in the
back of My McVansion. They were part of the plan, anyway, but I thought I could
do without them on this trip. I was wrong. While nothing got dumped, it very
well could have and for only a minor cost and a few minutes of time I can
alleviate the problem before it really becomes one.
End of Day #1 of the Shakedown - Road Trip - a really,
really terrific day. Looking forward to Day #2.
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