Karmel Knocking Around drives west to new home in Colorado
There is something about making a drive out west. And we had romanticized how we were going to make a drive, take our time, explore all of the interesting places along the way. We were going to make stops at specific places in each of the states we would be driving through. We were going to stop in Galena, Illinois. See all of the Bridges of Madison County in Iowa. An ice cream cone-shaped building in Ohio.
None of that would happen.
I didn’t give a thought about the speed at which we would be driving. The 4 x 8 U-Haul trailer is clearly marked “55 MPH” and, yet, I didn’t think about that until after I had finished loading the damn thing. So now I had to do a 5th grade math problem and realized that what would have, or should have, taken three days of driving, would now be four days. The time that we would have taken to stop along the way would now have to be calculated into the driving time.
Thank God for podcasts.
Day One Friday 95 miles
Old Bridge, New Jersey to Tannersville, Pennsylvania
We got off to a late start. I mean, who leaves to get out on the road at 5:30 p.m.? But we did pull out of Del Boca Vista (our code name for Alter Cocker Estates) and quickly stopped at the nearest Wawa to get our favorite coffee. We knew we had little daylight but we figured we would at least get a head start before the official beginning of the weekend.
It was going to be an almost straight shoot on I-80 and that road is a tad north of Old Bridge. So we headed north and jumped on 80, only to encounter a boat-load of traffic because of the massive sinkhole that had opened up on the eastbound side. It would be only a few days later that we would hear that yet another sinkhole would develop on the roadway that we had just passed over.
By nightfall, we had crossed the Delaware River and made it into Pennsylvania, right in the Poconos. We are familiar with the area and stopped in at Billy’s Pocono Diner in Tannersville for dinner. We were the only ones in there. Service was great as usual and we settled for a light dinner.
We spent the night at the Best Western Plus up on a hill in Tannersville, right off the exit of I-80. And what was our room? 105. That’s our apartment number of our new place.
Thus far, parking was easy with the trailer. The parking lot was completely empty at the diner and almost as empty at the hotel.
Day Two Saturday 476 miles
Tannersville, Pennsylvania to Maumee, Ohio
The next morning we treated ourselves to the free breakfast at the Best Western. It was not great. No wet eggs, they were actually good, and they DID have a waffle maker…not a “Mickey” waffle but rather with their own BW logo.
We had to top off the gas tank so we went to a nearby Wawa to do that and for our last bastion of Wawa coffee (other than the bags Beckie got for us to lug to Colorado).
It was our first full day on the long road ahead. And it would feel even longer. Because while we have taken a lot of LONG drives, those drives are done at 75, 80, even 85 MPH. And those are the speed limits. When you realize that you are relegated to 55 MPH, on cruise control, it feels like you are playing a 45 rpm record on 33 speed.
And it was boring. Nothing really to see. Literally. Because for the first hour or so…we went straight into fog. It never seems to fail that no matter where we go, no matter when we go, we drive right into bad weather.
We stopped for fuel and then something to eat at The Family Cottage Restaurant in Mill Hill off Exit 173. Typical “greasy spoon” with less than desirable bathroom facilities. Let’s just leave it at that.
The State of Pennsylvania is VERY long and, for the most part, I-80 is just a major thoroughfare that is obviously used for the biggest tractor trailers to keep the wheels of commerce rolling. The biggest feature we saw was the sign that indicates the “Highest Point On 80 East of the Mississippi River ELEVATION 2250 FT.”
It was like a sense of relief when we finally hit Ohio. We stopped in Hubbard, Ohio for fuel and finally nice bathroom facilities. There was a Dunkin Donuts and I needed coffee. The wait at the Dunkin Donuts was 23 minutes wasted and that we’ll never get back. And the coffee was awful. Moving on…
I was sort of ambitious and wanted to make it all the way through Ohio and into Indiana but it was getting dark and I was exhausted. It would turn out to be the longest drive of the trip and we found a place to stay near Toledo, a Courtyard by Marriot off I-80 in Maumee.
We first went to dinner at a Cracker Barrel right across the way which had parking spaces specifically for RV’s, tractor trailers, and cars pulling trailers like us. It was easy. Pull in…pull out. The hotel, exact opposite. No specific spaces for anything larger than a big SUV.
I asked the front desk person about the parking as I had pulled it up to the curb opposite of the way you are supposed to park straight in. She looked at the monitor and saw that I was parked in the back of the building and told me it was fine. I even went to check on it later in the evening. The parking lot was half empty with plenty of spots at the front door.
Day Three Sunday 384 miles
Maumee, Ohio to Davenport, Iowa
Next morning, looking for an early start, and I looked out the window and there we are…BOXED IN! The morning front desk person was frazzled. At first, she gave me a hard time telling me that there was nothing she could do. This place doesn’t take information about guests’ vehicles. And, so, she had NO IDEA which guests belonged to these two vehicles.
And from the way the two vehicles were parked, it was obvious that it was done intentionally. As it turned out, a guest would reveal to us that the culprits were two guests from the wedding party that was also staying at the hotel. They knew what they were doing because they packed up early and left their cars there in the lot and went to the Cracker Barrel for a very long breakfast.
Meanwhile, Tracey, the front desk person, called 71 rooms, and knocked on all of the doors, in an effort to find the responsible parties, an effort in futility because they weren’t IN the rooms.
Finally after over two hours of Melissa ready to go all “Jersey” on someone (HER words), the Maumee police had to come to assist. The officer ran the plates to find that they were rentals out of Newark, New Jersey. The officer asked if I wanted him to help me unhook the trailer and while that would have worked to get us out of the tight spot, we would not have been able to lift it back up to the Jeep again because it was too heavy.
He then said, “They’re rentals, why do you care if you mark them up. I will direct you, just don’t damage YOUR vehicle.” And so I got in and with his direction, made a few moves and managed to get out without any damage to MY vehicle.
I left the two jerks a message, though.
And some sageful advice from Patti Kohrmann helped moving forward. I will never find myself trapped like that again.
There was no free breakfast at this Marriott. They had a breakfast “bar” where you could buy coffee, bananas, and yogurt parfaits. At least the banana was good.
We decided to stop at Barry’s Bagels and get bagels before getting on the road. We THOUGHT we were getting bagels, anyway. It would be our first time experiencing one of the things we are going to miss moving away from New Jersey. A piece of bready material labeled a bagel but of some other consistency.
I’ve had enough. Back on the road and not long before we hit Indiana. And more bad weather.
We drove right through a rain and snow mix with low visibility.
We were going to be passing through the Chicago area and Melissa called ahead for Erin and Nick to meet us off of I-80 in Frankfort, Illinois.
Frankfort is a pretty nice town with a cute downtown area. We met up and ate a late lunch at Fat Rosie’s a popular Mexican restaurant. The place had a nice vibe and an interesting menu. We ate, kibitzed for an hour, and jumped back on I-80.
The weather cleared up but it was getting dark. Heading west, you are heading directly into sun glare at the end of the day. We were getting close to the state line and the timing was such that we would hit the Mississippi River right at sunset. Well, we missed by two minutes. But we did make it over and we were finally “west.”
We hunkered down at a Comfort Inn in Davenport, Iowa, just over the Mississippi.
Day Four Monday 449 miles
Davenport, Iowa to Grand Island, Nebraska
Not far down the road is Walcot, Iowa, home of the world famous Iowa 80 Truck Stop. Started the day with a great breakfast at Gramma’s Kitchen directly across the street from Iowa 80. The food was really good, and the service was even better. Super friendly and very accommodating.
Iowa 80 is an amazing place with everything – including showers, a dentist, and even a chiropractor. It’s a showplace with a museum, but has everything a trucker, or any traveler for that matter, would need or want when you are spending so much time on the road.
Melissa would spend her time working in the car while I concentrated on the road and trying NOT to concentrate on how slow we were going.
Then once back on the road we saw Brooklyn…Iowa…not New York. The same US 6 which is in the Borscht Belt in New York runs along US 80 on and off along the way.
We made it into Nebraska, passing through Omaha, and passed Milford…Nebraska not Pennsylvania…but also on the very same US 6 as the one in PA.
We stopped for some BBQ at Parker’s Smokehouse in Ashland…population of about 2,400…and decided to go another 100 miles. Finally called it quits in Grand Island, Nebraska.
We got a room at a Suburban Extended Stay Motel, Grand Island, Nebraska. Unfortunately…it was already occupied.
Melissa said, “Wow, they have music playing for us. Oh, the TV is on. OMG there are clothes on the bed! Someone’s in here!”
Whoops…
Day Five Tuesday 403 miles
Grand Island, Nebraska to Longmont, Colorado
The last leg of the journey was filled with anxiety. Just because there was still about 400 miles to go and we just wanted to get “home.” And we had to unload. AND we had to return the trailer to U-Haul in Longmont.
We enjoyed a free breakfast buffet at the hotel before starting out. Melissa worked again while I counted the miles. We would have another 200+ miles to go on I-80 before getting to Exit 102 when we would hit I-76 and cross the border into Colorado.
The anxiety of the trip transcended into excitement as the Welcome to Colorful Colorado sign came into view and I pulled over to set up the tripod and take a picture. Vehicles drove past honking their horns.
It was like getting into the amusement park, but now you have to make your way to that ride you so desperately wanted to get on.
We made one more stop for a bite at another Mexican eatery, El Valle in Fort Morgan.
It wasn’t long before we were finally home. The weather had gotten bad…what else is new…and we had to unload. It was VERY windy, with gusts around 40 MPH. Because of where our front door is, there is no place to get close to the front door, and there are no dollies or hand trucks. It was just us. And believe it or not, we did it in less than 45 minutes. I mean, we were feeling the altitude but the adrenaline had kicked in.
We quickly ran and dropped off the trailer and back to our new home.
The trip was 1,807 miles of highway driving plus 45 of off highway miles for total of 1,852 miles. It was not exactly how we had romanticized it. There’s always a story.
Welcome to Longmont!
