We spent roughly 3 hours in Sleepy Hollow,
looking for tourist sites which apparently do
not exist. Nevertheless, we saw the Old Dutch
Church from which, legend has it, the Headless
Horseman begins his nightly ride. We didn't get
to meet him, but we did visit Washington Irving's
headstone and wandered round the extensive and,
oddly, beautiful graveyard.
Sleepy Hollow is a cute little town; if a too sleepy.
It also seemed to be weirdly populated by Mexicans.
We soaked up the last of the days sunshine before
driving out of New York state, through Rhode Island
and on into Connecticut.
We stayed at an RV camp called Strawberry Park last
night. We needed showers and the RV's battery needed
a recharge, so we thought the $30 nights fee was worth it.
Arriving long after sunset, we saw no sign of life as we
drove around the huge complex; not even another RVer.
Strange, for what was supposedly one of America's top
RV parks.
It was a total ghost town, save for Simply Red's Mick
Hucknall, who Will bizzarrely tried to convince me he'd
just met in the toilets. April fools day for mentalists.
This morning came without anyone approaching us for
any money. Well, if they weren't going to ask, we weren't
going to give.
We risked it by using the showers and the RV dump, and
I half expected to be chased down the road as we drove
away. That $30 is much better off in our pockets. Or
more specifically in our petrol tank, with the rest of
our money.
We made our escape, crossing the border into
Massachusetts without being caught by the camping police.
And so to Boston. We found somewhere to park in
Charlestown, on the 'good end' of a dodgy looking road,
and caught a bus into town. Hopping off next to a cobbled
square decorated with fairy lights, we wandered round
an indoor market, resisting the urge to buy tiny Boston
Red Sox clothes for my niece or nephew to be.
Finding a bar, we ordered clam chowder and regressed
back to the good old days, laughing and joking like we
were back on Koh Samui without a care in the world.
Will and I decided to have a drink or two, which turned
into eight and five, respectively.
$1.50 beers is something Will apparently cannot resist.
Karaoke night began, and we sipped, sniggered and
cheered our way through. Missing the last bus home,
we took a taxi back, ignoring the driver as he warned
us that we were parked in a bad area. We assured him
we'd be fine, we had pepper spray after all!
'Good... in a salad', he retorted.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
One Man's Terrorist...
We spent a very rainy Sunday doing very rainy
Sunday things. We did our laundry, ate some fish
and chips and found a swimming pool to shower.
Will tried to woo the lady behind the desk, telling
her an elaborate story of RVing woe. She didn't seem
to be empathising, so I chipped in, allbeit a bit brunt,
with 'we don't want to swim, we only want a shower.'
It did the trick, somehow, and our personal hygiene
was sorted for the next three days, at least.
Yesterday morning we headed back into Manhattan.
We took the train to Ground Zero, now a construction
site rather than a ruin; but still visually the same as
when I last saw it. Boarded up and impossible to glimpse
from ground level, it's hard to imagine what happened
there. We went into the World Financial Center to get a
better view and rest our weary legs.
Will said he expected to feel more emotion, and I must
admit I felt little in comparison to the sadness I felt last
time. Like I said, it's difficult to imagine what happened
there, especially when the site has become a tourist hotspot.
We headed for Battery Park and boarded the ferry for
Liberty Island; replacing thoughts of terrorism with those
of freedom. There's a saying in there somewhere...
The gloomy grey sky was replaced by marshmallow-fluff
clouds and a sky the colour of... Will's jumper. It made for
picture-perfect views of Libby and the Manhattan skyline.
I tried unsuccessfully to get a photo of a seagull mid-flight.
Looking back, I forget why. Shivering and wind-blown, we
caught the next ferry back to Battery Park and walked
down Wall Street to Brooklyn Bridge, before heading into
Chinatown for tea.
I had promised Will that the lower east side was an
experience like no other, and so we headed there as
the sun set with the hope of finding some dingy backstreet
bars, live bands and cheap drinks. In the end, we failed on
all three, but what we did find was, thankfully, a whole lot
better.
Stumbling upon a little bar called Lolitas, somewhere in
Noho I think, we were approached by a bloke who
informed us the show would be starting downstairs at 8pm.
Tonight, it turned out, was comedy night. This was
pretty much exactly what Will had been looking for;
a tiny basement venue, full of regulars and best of all,
completely free. We couldn't have found a better place
to spend our evening if we'd tried. It was my first
experience of a comedy night, and I liked it a whole
bunch.
Especially when I found out Kristen Schaal from
Flight of the Conchords was doing an act. I got all
excited, not least because I was wearing my Canada
geese jumper which I bought to 'be like Brett'.
Saddo, I know.
Anyway, she turned out to be not all that funny really,
but boy was I happy! After the show, we headed back
into the bar to continue our drinking, and Will insisted
I go ask her for a picture. I refused, so he went and
asked her for me. She came over and chatted a while,
and was very nice indeed; she even gave us directions
back to our tube stop.
Will and I got way too drunk and, after a disagreement
over how to get home (I say disagreement, in reality we
were one step away from a full on brawl), arrived back
to our RV at some stupid hour this morning.
Today, Tuesday, was streetcleaning on the road we
have been calling home. Time to move. I arose at 8am,
still drunk, and drove round the corner where we
managed to get a couple more hours sleep before being
moved on by a siren, informing us that we were still
parked on a Tuesday-streetcleaning road.
Nursing our hangovers, we decided to leave NYC,
despite Will not having yet being up the Empire
State Building. Another day in bustling New York
seemed too much like hard work. We craved a
quieter town, somewhere historic, sleepy, maybe
with a headless horseman to keep us on our toes.
We know the perfect place, so this afternoon we're
heading up the interstate to Sleepy Hollow.
Sunday things. We did our laundry, ate some fish
and chips and found a swimming pool to shower.
Will tried to woo the lady behind the desk, telling
her an elaborate story of RVing woe. She didn't seem
to be empathising, so I chipped in, allbeit a bit brunt,
with 'we don't want to swim, we only want a shower.'
It did the trick, somehow, and our personal hygiene
was sorted for the next three days, at least.
Yesterday morning we headed back into Manhattan.
We took the train to Ground Zero, now a construction
site rather than a ruin; but still visually the same as
when I last saw it. Boarded up and impossible to glimpse
from ground level, it's hard to imagine what happened
there. We went into the World Financial Center to get a
better view and rest our weary legs.
Will said he expected to feel more emotion, and I must
admit I felt little in comparison to the sadness I felt last
time. Like I said, it's difficult to imagine what happened
there, especially when the site has become a tourist hotspot.
We headed for Battery Park and boarded the ferry for
Liberty Island; replacing thoughts of terrorism with those
of freedom. There's a saying in there somewhere...
The gloomy grey sky was replaced by marshmallow-fluff
clouds and a sky the colour of... Will's jumper. It made for
picture-perfect views of Libby and the Manhattan skyline.
I tried unsuccessfully to get a photo of a seagull mid-flight.
Looking back, I forget why. Shivering and wind-blown, we
caught the next ferry back to Battery Park and walked
down Wall Street to Brooklyn Bridge, before heading into
Chinatown for tea.
I had promised Will that the lower east side was an
experience like no other, and so we headed there as
the sun set with the hope of finding some dingy backstreet
bars, live bands and cheap drinks. In the end, we failed on
all three, but what we did find was, thankfully, a whole lot
better.
Stumbling upon a little bar called Lolitas, somewhere in
Noho I think, we were approached by a bloke who
informed us the show would be starting downstairs at 8pm.
Tonight, it turned out, was comedy night. This was
pretty much exactly what Will had been looking for;
a tiny basement venue, full of regulars and best of all,
completely free. We couldn't have found a better place
to spend our evening if we'd tried. It was my first
experience of a comedy night, and I liked it a whole
bunch.
Especially when I found out Kristen Schaal from
Flight of the Conchords was doing an act. I got all
excited, not least because I was wearing my Canada
geese jumper which I bought to 'be like Brett'.
Saddo, I know.
Anyway, she turned out to be not all that funny really,
but boy was I happy! After the show, we headed back
into the bar to continue our drinking, and Will insisted
I go ask her for a picture. I refused, so he went and
asked her for me. She came over and chatted a while,
and was very nice indeed; she even gave us directions
back to our tube stop.
Will and I got way too drunk and, after a disagreement
over how to get home (I say disagreement, in reality we
were one step away from a full on brawl), arrived back
to our RV at some stupid hour this morning.
Today, Tuesday, was streetcleaning on the road we
have been calling home. Time to move. I arose at 8am,
still drunk, and drove round the corner where we
managed to get a couple more hours sleep before being
moved on by a siren, informing us that we were still
parked on a Tuesday-streetcleaning road.
Nursing our hangovers, we decided to leave NYC,
despite Will not having yet being up the Empire
State Building. Another day in bustling New York
seemed too much like hard work. We craved a
quieter town, somewhere historic, sleepy, maybe
with a headless horseman to keep us on our toes.
We know the perfect place, so this afternoon we're
heading up the interstate to Sleepy Hollow.
Saturday, 28 March 2009
New York City
Yesterday, 4000 miles into our roadtrip, we drove
into New Jersey. We'd hoped to get parked somewhere
across the Hudson river from Manhattan so we could get
the train into NYC. We arrived lateish, and, already a bit
stressed with the crazy road systems, pulled into a Lowes
carpark in Jersey City for the night. We asked Patel, the
security guard, if we could spend the night, despite big
signs saying no overnight parking. He told us it would be
okay, and so we thought we'd get a safe nights sleep under
the protective power of Patel.
Not so. At midnight a bunch of boy-racer types arrived,
doing their boy-racer thing in the carpark. Skidding around,
squeeling their wheels and overall being dicks. I'm sure
there are terms for the things they were doing, but it all
sounded a bit like oops-where'd-that-cat-come-from type
driving to me (i.e really bad).
Anyway, it doesn't sound that scary now, but they were
pulling these moves right outside our RV, music blaring,
shouting, and lovely Patel was nowhere in sight. It was
more the unknown which was scaring me; we'd arrived
late and had no idea what kind of area we were in, and
whether these kids were any real danger to us. Probably
not, but we kept the lights off just in case!
They eventually left us be at about 4am, and I managed
to get some sleep. There was no way we were staying
there again though, so this morning we decided to head
for a residential area in a different part of town. We
settled for a decent looking place called Hoboken, and
parked up on a residential road opposite a park.
It's a 20 minute walk away from the train that takes us
across the river into Manhatten. Bit of an effort, but we
were parked up for free, and the train gets us all the way
to 33rd and Broadway. Winner.
So this afternoon we hit New York City! Second time
around for me; Will's first. I was more excited about
Will seeing it, I thought he'd love it and I couldn't wait
to show him Times Square and around the lower east side.
But New York somehow seemed less special this time
round. Perhaps it was because I was last there at
Christmastime. Perhaps it was the snow. I'm fairly
sure it wasn't the company.
Most likely, it was because we drove there. A couple
of hours drive through New Jersey seems less significant
than a 9 hour flight from Heathrow.
New York was just another city; only more difficult to
park up in and navigate around. Will said it reminded
him of London. I could see his point. To me, it seems full
of life and yet lacking spirit. The two loneliest cities in
the world, apparently.
We popped up on 33rd and Broadway, right in the midst
of it. We battled through the crowds towards Times Square,
past the street vendors and smoking grates and other such
New York-esque sights.
We checked out some shops, took some snaps, soaked up
that Times Square atmosphere and, most importantly,
met the Cookie Monster. He didn't have any crumbs
round his mouth though. Disappointed.
Stomachs rumbling, we set out on the search for Jackson
Hole, a burger joint recommended to us by some bloke in
a coffee shop sometime last week.
Walking through Central Park, we found it on 64th and 2nd,
sitting down to eat delicious 7oz burgers in a dingy basement
hangout; movie memorabilia, licence plates and old signed
photographs hanging from the brick walls, pipework and
foundations of the building above us. It was wicked.
We headed home via Grand Central Station, standing
still to watch the city move around us, all under the
watchful eye of Pegasus and chums.
I was reluctant to head home; normally the RV feels
like our haven, safe and homely. But for some reason,
I just didn't want to go back. It could have been the
thought of the lenghty train journey back across the
river, the fact I knew the duvet would feel damp from
the cold, or maybe because I wasn't entriely sure our
RV would still be there when we got back (parking
restrictions are confusing and longwinded in New
Jersey. Streetcleaning, snow evacuation laws (?!!?),
residential permits, non-residential allowances,
weekday vs. weekend limits, national goat parade
day for all we knew).
For once, it was me who suggested we have a couple
of beers before bed, hoping the alcohol might dilute
my hesitance to go home. It worked, I guess, because
we got the 11pm train home to find our RV untowed,
undamp, and not a single goat in sight.
into New Jersey. We'd hoped to get parked somewhere
across the Hudson river from Manhattan so we could get
the train into NYC. We arrived lateish, and, already a bit
stressed with the crazy road systems, pulled into a Lowes
carpark in Jersey City for the night. We asked Patel, the
security guard, if we could spend the night, despite big
signs saying no overnight parking. He told us it would be
okay, and so we thought we'd get a safe nights sleep under
the protective power of Patel.
Not so. At midnight a bunch of boy-racer types arrived,
doing their boy-racer thing in the carpark. Skidding around,
squeeling their wheels and overall being dicks. I'm sure
there are terms for the things they were doing, but it all
sounded a bit like oops-where'd-that-cat-come-from type
driving to me (i.e really bad).
Anyway, it doesn't sound that scary now, but they were
pulling these moves right outside our RV, music blaring,
shouting, and lovely Patel was nowhere in sight. It was
more the unknown which was scaring me; we'd arrived
late and had no idea what kind of area we were in, and
whether these kids were any real danger to us. Probably
not, but we kept the lights off just in case!
They eventually left us be at about 4am, and I managed
to get some sleep. There was no way we were staying
there again though, so this morning we decided to head
for a residential area in a different part of town. We
settled for a decent looking place called Hoboken, and
parked up on a residential road opposite a park.
It's a 20 minute walk away from the train that takes us
across the river into Manhatten. Bit of an effort, but we
were parked up for free, and the train gets us all the way
to 33rd and Broadway. Winner.
So this afternoon we hit New York City! Second time
around for me; Will's first. I was more excited about
Will seeing it, I thought he'd love it and I couldn't wait
to show him Times Square and around the lower east side.
But New York somehow seemed less special this time
round. Perhaps it was because I was last there at
Christmastime. Perhaps it was the snow. I'm fairly
sure it wasn't the company.
Most likely, it was because we drove there. A couple
of hours drive through New Jersey seems less significant
than a 9 hour flight from Heathrow.
New York was just another city; only more difficult to
park up in and navigate around. Will said it reminded
him of London. I could see his point. To me, it seems full
of life and yet lacking spirit. The two loneliest cities in
the world, apparently.
We popped up on 33rd and Broadway, right in the midst
of it. We battled through the crowds towards Times Square,
past the street vendors and smoking grates and other such
New York-esque sights.
We checked out some shops, took some snaps, soaked up
that Times Square atmosphere and, most importantly,
met the Cookie Monster. He didn't have any crumbs
round his mouth though. Disappointed.
Stomachs rumbling, we set out on the search for Jackson
Hole, a burger joint recommended to us by some bloke in
a coffee shop sometime last week.
Walking through Central Park, we found it on 64th and 2nd,
sitting down to eat delicious 7oz burgers in a dingy basement
hangout; movie memorabilia, licence plates and old signed
photographs hanging from the brick walls, pipework and
foundations of the building above us. It was wicked.
We headed home via Grand Central Station, standing
still to watch the city move around us, all under the
watchful eye of Pegasus and chums.
I was reluctant to head home; normally the RV feels
like our haven, safe and homely. But for some reason,
I just didn't want to go back. It could have been the
thought of the lenghty train journey back across the
river, the fact I knew the duvet would feel damp from
the cold, or maybe because I wasn't entriely sure our
RV would still be there when we got back (parking
restrictions are confusing and longwinded in New
Jersey. Streetcleaning, snow evacuation laws (?!!?),
residential permits, non-residential allowances,
weekday vs. weekend limits, national goat parade
day for all we knew).
For once, it was me who suggested we have a couple
of beers before bed, hoping the alcohol might dilute
my hesitance to go home. It worked, I guess, because
we got the 11pm train home to find our RV untowed,
undamp, and not a single goat in sight.
Thursday, 26 March 2009
Philadelphia
We spent yesterday in Philadelphia. Once again, we parked
just out of the city and got the Subway in to the centre.
There wasn't much to do, but the city was nice and we had
Philly cheese steak sandwiches. Yum Yum.
We didn't know if the Liberty Bell was in Philadelphia or Chicago.
We started to doubt ourselves when we couldn't find it on any
maps, and didn't want to ask someone where it was incase
we were in the wrong city!!
Eventually we asked a tramp. That way, how could we be
embarrassed. He pointed us in entirely the wrong direction,
but at least we knew we got the right state!
After walking about 50 zillion miles to find it, we were in for
a disappointment. Liberty Bell; second biggest letdown since
the White House. Not only was the bell smaller than you'd think,
it was in some kind of greenhouse prison. They'd apparently
built a monstrosity of a cage around it after someone tried to
crack it. Isn't it already cracked? I dunno, I couldn't get close
enough to see.
We headed home, feet aching, looking forward to a lovely cup
of tea.
We got back to our RV to find the carbon monoxide alarm going off.
The good side of this is it probably put off any prospective burglers.
The downside was, well, death.
The gas was off, and we really couldn't figure it out. We opened all
our windows and waited for the alarm to stop before hitting the
road again. Better to freeze painfully to death than pass peacefully
away in your sleep, right.
We found a Walmart and made soup and hot chocolate before bed.
We're currently in a Borders bookshop, recharging everything.
We've had our first glimpse of the time for a few days.
Shocking stuff.
We want to head in to New York as soon as possible, but as yet
haven't come up with a plan. Eek.
just out of the city and got the Subway in to the centre.
There wasn't much to do, but the city was nice and we had
Philly cheese steak sandwiches. Yum Yum.
We didn't know if the Liberty Bell was in Philadelphia or Chicago.
We started to doubt ourselves when we couldn't find it on any
maps, and didn't want to ask someone where it was incase
we were in the wrong city!!
Eventually we asked a tramp. That way, how could we be
embarrassed. He pointed us in entirely the wrong direction,
but at least we knew we got the right state!
After walking about 50 zillion miles to find it, we were in for
a disappointment. Liberty Bell; second biggest letdown since
the White House. Not only was the bell smaller than you'd think,
it was in some kind of greenhouse prison. They'd apparently
built a monstrosity of a cage around it after someone tried to
crack it. Isn't it already cracked? I dunno, I couldn't get close
enough to see.
We headed home, feet aching, looking forward to a lovely cup
of tea.
We got back to our RV to find the carbon monoxide alarm going off.
The good side of this is it probably put off any prospective burglers.
The downside was, well, death.
The gas was off, and we really couldn't figure it out. We opened all
our windows and waited for the alarm to stop before hitting the
road again. Better to freeze painfully to death than pass peacefully
away in your sleep, right.
We found a Walmart and made soup and hot chocolate before bed.
We're currently in a Borders bookshop, recharging everything.
We've had our first glimpse of the time for a few days.
Shocking stuff.
We want to head in to New York as soon as possible, but as yet
haven't come up with a plan. Eek.
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Washington DC
On Sunday night we slept in a state park in Northern Virginia,
about 80 miles south of Washington DC. We wanted electricity
and showers, but for some reason the state parks we checked
out in that area had neither. After running out of options, we
gave in and decided to stay the night, hoping we'd pass a Pilots
truck stop on the final leg of the journey to DC.
The state park was a little freaky. It was deep in some woods,
in black bear country, and no one else appeared to be staying
there. Will made a campfire while I cowered in the RV, pretending
to tidy up whilst checking out the windows for bears and murderers.
So yesterday morning we heading into Washington. No showers.
This upset me a bit, as I was looking forward to it and didn't want
to be a grease ball. But there wasn't a lot we could do about it.
We got parked eventually, for free, and caught a bus into town.
We saw the George Washington Memorial in the distance so
began walking towards it, arguing over whether Washington DC
is a state. Will was adamant it was. What a retard.
We walked through some little park, and I saw some rubbish
white building on the edge.
I jokingly said, 'ooh is that the White House, har har'.
Evidently this wasn't the White House. Will tried to convince
me it was, but I wasn't falling for it, no sir.
The joke went on a bit long, with Will even making me pose
for a photo in front of it. I got mad and wanted to find the
actual White House.
Then other people started posing with it, and I overheard some
bloke asking someone if they could take his picture with 'the white
house'. Christ. I still refused to believe it until I saw a sign.
It was only the bloody White House, biggest anti-climax ever.
God.
Anyway, it looked a bit better round the back, but I was still
seriously underwhelmed.
We did the other touristy things. The memorials.
So many memorials. Capitol Hill. Some other big buildings.
It was super cold, but Washington DC itself was wicked.
I liked it. We found our way back to the bus stop just as
the sun was setting.
We slept in the RV where we'd left it, too tired to think about
moving it, even though we were parked on an angle and the
blood rushed to our heads as we slept.
Since leaving Florida, bedtime has become a bit of a palava.
We've been adding more layers to our night-time attire the
further up the east coast we've travelled. I currently sleep
in two jumpers, two tops, leggings, 3 pairs of socks, slippers,
and then my pyjamas on top. We even bought an extra
blanket from Walmart, but it doesn't stop the pillow freeze
everytime you change sleeping position.
We're dreading Boston.
This morning, after driving back into Washington to check out
Iwo Jima, we were seriously desperate for showers. So we
found a Pilots truck stop just outside Baltimore and got another
free shower, curtesy of a second nice man donating his unwanted
ticket.
Clean has never felt so good.
Next stop, Camping World, somewhere in Pennsylvania.
Or New Jersey, I lose track. We've been through four states
plus DC today; Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware and
New Jersey. Gosh.
I'm not sure if I already wrote this, but our self contained RV
hasn't been so self contained seeing as we couldn't work it.
We couldn't figure out the gas, which meant no hot water,
no showers, and no cooking. A nice man immediately solved
this for us by flicking a switch we'd previously ignored. Score.
We still can't work the generator though, but we can't afford to
get that sorted, even though it's probably a simple thing like not
been hooked up to the battery properly. They wanted to charge us
$109 to look at it. But we can live without a generator. We can't
live without $109.
We're spending the night in their carpark, as we're only 150 miles
out of New York. We aren't too sure how we're going to work it;
we can't take our juggernaut into the city, so we're hoping to park
it up somewhere and couchsurf instead. We parked up in a Holiday
Inn carpark tonight and stole their internet to contact some people
on Couchsurf. We shall see what comes of it.
about 80 miles south of Washington DC. We wanted electricity
and showers, but for some reason the state parks we checked
out in that area had neither. After running out of options, we
gave in and decided to stay the night, hoping we'd pass a Pilots
truck stop on the final leg of the journey to DC.
The state park was a little freaky. It was deep in some woods,
in black bear country, and no one else appeared to be staying
there. Will made a campfire while I cowered in the RV, pretending
to tidy up whilst checking out the windows for bears and murderers.
So yesterday morning we heading into Washington. No showers.
This upset me a bit, as I was looking forward to it and didn't want
to be a grease ball. But there wasn't a lot we could do about it.
We got parked eventually, for free, and caught a bus into town.
We saw the George Washington Memorial in the distance so
began walking towards it, arguing over whether Washington DC
is a state. Will was adamant it was. What a retard.
We walked through some little park, and I saw some rubbish
white building on the edge.
I jokingly said, 'ooh is that the White House, har har'.
Evidently this wasn't the White House. Will tried to convince
me it was, but I wasn't falling for it, no sir.
The joke went on a bit long, with Will even making me pose
for a photo in front of it. I got mad and wanted to find the
actual White House.
Then other people started posing with it, and I overheard some
bloke asking someone if they could take his picture with 'the white
house'. Christ. I still refused to believe it until I saw a sign.
It was only the bloody White House, biggest anti-climax ever.
God.
Anyway, it looked a bit better round the back, but I was still
seriously underwhelmed.
We did the other touristy things. The memorials.
So many memorials. Capitol Hill. Some other big buildings.
It was super cold, but Washington DC itself was wicked.
I liked it. We found our way back to the bus stop just as
the sun was setting.
We slept in the RV where we'd left it, too tired to think about
moving it, even though we were parked on an angle and the
blood rushed to our heads as we slept.
Since leaving Florida, bedtime has become a bit of a palava.
We've been adding more layers to our night-time attire the
further up the east coast we've travelled. I currently sleep
in two jumpers, two tops, leggings, 3 pairs of socks, slippers,
and then my pyjamas on top. We even bought an extra
blanket from Walmart, but it doesn't stop the pillow freeze
everytime you change sleeping position.
We're dreading Boston.
This morning, after driving back into Washington to check out
Iwo Jima, we were seriously desperate for showers. So we
found a Pilots truck stop just outside Baltimore and got another
free shower, curtesy of a second nice man donating his unwanted
ticket.
Clean has never felt so good.
Next stop, Camping World, somewhere in Pennsylvania.
Or New Jersey, I lose track. We've been through four states
plus DC today; Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware and
New Jersey. Gosh.
I'm not sure if I already wrote this, but our self contained RV
hasn't been so self contained seeing as we couldn't work it.
We couldn't figure out the gas, which meant no hot water,
no showers, and no cooking. A nice man immediately solved
this for us by flicking a switch we'd previously ignored. Score.
We still can't work the generator though, but we can't afford to
get that sorted, even though it's probably a simple thing like not
been hooked up to the battery properly. They wanted to charge us
$109 to look at it. But we can live without a generator. We can't
live without $109.
We're spending the night in their carpark, as we're only 150 miles
out of New York. We aren't too sure how we're going to work it;
we can't take our juggernaut into the city, so we're hoping to park
it up somewhere and couchsurf instead. We parked up in a Holiday
Inn carpark tonight and stole their internet to contact some people
on Couchsurf. We shall see what comes of it.
Sunday, 22 March 2009
North Carolina
It's been a few days since I wrote anything. We're currently
in Virginia, via South and North Carolina.
On Thursday we slept at a Pilot truck stop in Gaffney, near
Spartanburg, South Carolina.
We managed to get showers, after a nice truck driver gave us
his shower token. Pilots have a scheme where 50 dollars worth
of gas gives you a free shower. We can only fit 50 bucks in when
we're empty, and it's impossible to judge when we'll hit a Pilots.
So we can never get a free shower :(
Anyway, this bloke didn't want his shower. Hurrah.
On Friday morning we drove into Winston Salem, North Carolina.
My cousin Samantha lives there, with her husband David and
daughter Grace. We had planned to see them on Saturday, but after
wandering round Winston Salam and having a cup of tea in a cute cafe,
we decided to give them a ring to let them know we'd arrived early.
So we headed over at about sunset on Friday evening, looking
forward to a warm meal and a good nights sleep! It's odd how
I think in terms of sunset. We never ever know what time it is,
seeing as we hardly ever have battery on any of our electronics,
and even when we do, we aren't sure what time zone they and
we are in.
We judge the time by the position of the sun, like proper cowboys.
Anyway, Samantha's friend Michelle, from Virginia beach, was
visiting for the weekend, and Sam cooked for us while we chilled
out, before heading to bed.
Yesterday, after a delicious donut breakfast, the lot of us headed
for Pilot mountain. Our RV did real well to get to the top, and the
views over North Carolina were pretty impressive. After walking
round the funny shaped outcrop of the mountain, Will and I once
again got back on the road.
We spent last night in a little town called Roanoak, Virginia, in a
Walmart. We could easily have driven further but after eating
nothing but donuts and chocolate bars I felt all peculiar, and stopped
for a rest which turned into a nights sleep.
Today we're planning on driving to near Washington. We want to
get showers before we get there, as it's been a while and I want to
be clean for DC!
in Virginia, via South and North Carolina.
On Thursday we slept at a Pilot truck stop in Gaffney, near
Spartanburg, South Carolina.
We managed to get showers, after a nice truck driver gave us
his shower token. Pilots have a scheme where 50 dollars worth
of gas gives you a free shower. We can only fit 50 bucks in when
we're empty, and it's impossible to judge when we'll hit a Pilots.
So we can never get a free shower :(
Anyway, this bloke didn't want his shower. Hurrah.
On Friday morning we drove into Winston Salem, North Carolina.
My cousin Samantha lives there, with her husband David and
daughter Grace. We had planned to see them on Saturday, but after
wandering round Winston Salam and having a cup of tea in a cute cafe,
we decided to give them a ring to let them know we'd arrived early.
So we headed over at about sunset on Friday evening, looking
forward to a warm meal and a good nights sleep! It's odd how
I think in terms of sunset. We never ever know what time it is,
seeing as we hardly ever have battery on any of our electronics,
and even when we do, we aren't sure what time zone they and
we are in.
We judge the time by the position of the sun, like proper cowboys.
Anyway, Samantha's friend Michelle, from Virginia beach, was
visiting for the weekend, and Sam cooked for us while we chilled
out, before heading to bed.
Yesterday, after a delicious donut breakfast, the lot of us headed
for Pilot mountain. Our RV did real well to get to the top, and the
views over North Carolina were pretty impressive. After walking
round the funny shaped outcrop of the mountain, Will and I once
again got back on the road.
We spent last night in a little town called Roanoak, Virginia, in a
Walmart. We could easily have driven further but after eating
nothing but donuts and chocolate bars I felt all peculiar, and stopped
for a rest which turned into a nights sleep.
Today we're planning on driving to near Washington. We want to
get showers before we get there, as it's been a while and I want to
be clean for DC!
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