Monroeville, Pennsylvania

After a seemingly never-ending pile of errands, packing related annoyances, and last minute almost-forgots, we finally hit the road. Gas tank filled; car stuffed (to the gills) [Editor’s note: But we could see out of all windows – safety first]; 160G iPod jam packed; Garmin programmed. Destination 1: Detroit, MI via Pittsburgh, or thereabouts. Holy [bleep], we actually made it through April and May. 11 weeks of driving, sight-seeing, and time with friends and family await, all in pursuit of marital near-bliss. Passenger and driver cannot wait.

Given that this is our first day, our first blog post, we thought an emphasis on milestone "firsts" would be a good place to start. Here are a few highlights, with pics where appropriate:

5:43 – First start of the ignition.

5:43 – First droplet of rain. Of course.

5:46 – First sign of music-related ADD. 160G is a lot of songs.

5:49 – First fill of the tank. $2.87 per gallon, in case anyone cares.

5:52 – First (of several thousand) loud and intrusive “Recalculating”s from the Garmin.

6:16 – First bizarre conversation: The probability of successfully domesticating deer. Conclusion: It may be worth a shot, for they are very beautiful animals.

6:34 – First handful of snacks. Costco brand rice crackers with nuts and wasabi peas. Driver goes for the peas; passenger (semi-sheepishly) digs around for she-won’t-say-what.

6:54 – First very heavy rain, somewhere near Hagerstown, MD. Rolling hills and rustic farm houses obscured by pancake-sized drops.

7:17 – First F-bomb dropped (from the passenger seat).

7:00 – 8:30 or so: First several albums include: Desmond Dekker hits; Wilco, Summerteeth; and Wolf Parade, Apologies…

8:44 – First scary rain hits. After some short debate we decide to make our first pit stop/bathroom break somewhere on the PA Turnpike. First full sprint. After shaking off, we order our first late-evening coffees, witness our first Sbarro steam table deconstruction, complete with weighing and tossing into huge garbage bins food not sold (mildly traumatic, on several different levels) while taking our first rain delay.

8:49 – First near-slamming of an Apple product. Apparently, Laura’s iPhone isn’t as fast as it should be.

9:22 – First audio book: James Patterson, “I, Alex Cross.” Fast-paced fun; very short chapters.

9:58 – First rain-clearing begets first second wind.

10:47 – First encounter with a less-than-friendly tollbooth guy. “How much,” asks the driver. “It’s on the sign, SIR.” Driver misreads the sign and hands over $4 for a toll believed to be $3.50. “It’s $8.50, SIR.” On second thought, perhaps driver needs to get with the [bleeping] program.

11:04 – First hotel check-in. $75 online. Something-much-more-than-$75, in person. First real lesson of the trip: book rooms online [Editor’s note: but challenging to do when your iPhone is so flippin’ slow. Believe me, I tried].

11:22 – First meal ordered: Outback Steakhouse appetizers and $1.95 10oz mugs of Bud. Perfect.

An eventful day. A great day. The first of 77.