Just To Be The Man Who Walked 1000 Miles

Okay, we drove, and it's been 1,001 miles. Still...

I'm writing this from a cheapo motel in Bristol, Virginia. We probably could have gone as far as Roanoke, but decided to wrap-up early and get some much needed blogging done.

Unfortunately, even with Wi-Fi, the connection here is too slow for uploading videos. I can't even open my YouTube page. So pictures will have to be enough until we get to New Jersey.

First let me elaborate on some stuff I only touched on earlier.

When we got to West Memphis last night, we drove around looking for the most secure looking truck stop we could find. Finally found a place that had a store that was open 24/7 and was near a major highway. Very well lit too. We parked in a visible area and arranged the cargo area for sleeping. It wasn't an easy task. There are boxes and boxes of DVDs, posters, and other promo items. Not to mention the stuff we brought. We had to stack every really high on two sides leaving just enough from for two sleeping bags. As it turned out, my height is the exact length of the floor, but with a few things in the way, I pretty much had to sleep in the fetal position. I think Gabe got the best spot between me and some boxes. I was right up against the side of the truck which is metal which conducted the cold from outside very, very well. It really wasn't that bad. I brought my thick ol' Mexican blanket (you know, the two-tone ones that have some sort of animal on them) which kept me quite warm.

The truck stop itself was an interesting place. I took this pic from the door of the men's room stall. I have no idea what it means, but it's different from what you usually find scribbled on a bathroom wall. You can also buy clubs there. Not golf clubs, but beat-you-over-the-head clubs. We thought of buying one, but they were a bit pricey at $15. So Gabe just bought a pocket knife for $5. We also picked up a 6-pack of beer for the night.

I had asked Gabe before if the hatched locked from the inside and he told me it did. He did NOT however tell me that by lock he meant ghettofy the latch with wire and and a screwdriver. I should have bought one of those clubs.

The back of the truck has two vents on top to let out heat and let fresh air in. We had them open for awhile, but I knew it was going to get cold that night so I closed them. Good thing too. It was freezing this morning. I woke up with a sore throat, so I worried I caught a cold. But I'm rather certain now it's just allergies or something.

We had coffee and breakfast at the Wendy's inside the truck stop. That was after washing up in in the bathroom sinks of course. It cost ten bucks a piece to use the showers. Since we were just driving all day, it seemed best to save the money and use it for the motel. Good thing my gf packed me some Axe Bodyspray, and her mom gave us an air freshener for the cab.

I have to mention that so far, everywhere we've been, we've met some very nice people. This morning, a young lady working the coffee station at the truck stop told me about all different blends they had and even let me taste them all. I told her about the trip and the movie. She seemed into it.

We drove straight through to Nashville, TN. Stopped for lunch at Jack In A Box and splurged on 99 cent food items. It's funny, sometimes I really crave a hamburger, I usually try and stick to grilled chicken sandwiches, but it's always a mistake to get one. Even as I was eating it, I thought "This is going to make me sick." And it kinda did. Luckily, my gf also packed us a first aid kit that included Mylanta.

I got my first chance to drive the Green Eyed Monster Truck from Nashville to Knoxville. It only took a few minutes to get used to the weight of the truck moving around. It's really only city driving that's a bit tricky. Of course the video camera battery died just as soon as we reached some really beautiful stretches of countryside. We discussed rigging up the camera to the rear view mirror (can't see anything out of it anyway) so we can just record ourselves talking. Oh, and of course as soon as I type that we've been talking the whole time with no dead air, we run out of shit to talk about.

In Knoxville, we stopped at a Walmart and picked up a few things including a REAL lock for the hatch, some energy drinks, and a gas cap (we lost it in Austin).

Gabe took over driving again and got us to our current stale-smelling motel room. At least we get to sleep in beds, get cleaned up, and have some free continental breakfast in the morning. Only 400 plus miles to go 'til Monster Mania. Hopefully we can wake up early tomorrow. We crossed into the Eastern Time Zone today, and with less than a week removed from Daylight Savings Time, it feels like we're two hours behind... or ahead.