On The Road: Day 1

Well, it's official!! I'm on the road en route to Oregon. Of course with me, everything is an adventure, and my family and I aren't just driving to Oregon. Here's our simplified route. Saratoga, NY--> Boston, MA--> Farmington, CT--> Philadelphia, PA-->Harrisonburg, VA--> Hooserville, IN--> Chicago, IL--> Bloomington, MN--> Omaha, NE--> Mt. Rushmore, SD--> Yellowstone National Park, WY--> Bute, MT--> Spokane, WA--> Bend, OR. Of course, there is always room for additions, deletions, and extensions. We essentially have until June 16th to get to Oregon.

So far, we've left Saratoga and explored Boston for my birthday (yes, I'm 22 now. How scary is it to know I'm growing up?!). My birthday in Boston was absolutely fantastic!! I walked the entirety of the Freedom Trail and enjoyed yummy Boston foods. Not to mention took tours of my favorite ballpark, Fenway Park, and this year I even got to visit the home of the Boston Bruins and Celtics, TD Garden!! I was very disappointed that the Bruins lost game 6 on my birthday, but with my family NOTHING feels like a disappointment. This morning (May 26th) my mom and dad said good bye as they boarded their plane to go home to Hawaii while Auntie Sandy, Rendi (sister), and I loaded up the car once again. Loading up this car is getting to be an adventure in and of itself!! We keep buying more and more souvenirs. Another great adventure: Toll roads. We have fun scrambling to see who of the two passengers in the car can produce the exact change first. It's even more funny when we produce the wrong amount and have to scramble again to get the right amount to the toll collector before they get mad or the people behind us get mad. Hawaii sure has spoiled me with nice people and free roads!!

We drove for two hours and stopped in Farmington, CT for lunch at my favorite restaurant, The Rainforest Cafe. I try to eat at every Rainforest Cafe I see, even though they have the same menu at each location. Once we had eaten more than enough and walked around a bit, we hopped back in the car and hit the road en route to Philadelphia. We got stuck in traffic three times: once in the Bronx and twice in New Jersey. Both New York and New Jersey drivers scare me!! My sister drove to Philadelphia while I panicked that we were going to get hit by crazy drivers next to us. We finally arrived in Philadelphia around 8 and after checking in to our hotel we went to have an experience at Sonic. We had never eaten at Sonic but we always see the commercials. It was weird having people come to our car. This really puts a whole new worry in my mind regarding the laziness of Americans. At least I can say I ate there!! Then we drove into the city center to see the city lights. We walked around the Philadelphia Museum of Art and I ran up and down the famous Rocky Stairs. I ran up first for a photo (of course!!) and then I ran down thinking that I forgot my own camera in my bag that I left at the bottom of the stairs. I really wanted to take a picture of the skyline from the top of the stairs. Once I got to the bottom I realized that my camera had been in my pocket the whole time, so I ran back up the stairs to take the picture. Can I just say that it's 84 degrees and humid here?! Running up and down those stairs was not the best idea I've had. Regardless, I had fun.

Tomorrow we're exploring around Philadelphia a little more and then we're headed down to West Virginia. We'll spend the night in Harrisonburg and then head on to Hooserville. I can't wait to see what adventures await us!! Check back tomorrow and I'll let you know what troubles we get ourselves into :) Until then... Laters.