Joe's Roadtrip

Allan and Linda

In total there were 12 of us together, and we all were able to joke around again as if I have never left the place.  These were some of the folks I started a career with, and I was lucky to have that chance to work with them in those early days of my brief four-year corporate experience.

The generosity of this group was something beyond touching.  Not only did they get me a nice card that everyone signed, but after the card came a box wrapped in an outdoors/wildlife theme.  I was blown away with what was inside.  For one, knowing that I would be encountering all kinds of bugs on this trip and next year’s adventures overseas, they got me a couple mosquito nets for the head, and then a big one for sleeping under.

West Nile and Malaria be damned

Also inside the box were a number of gift cards.  Several Exxon gas cards (because there are Exxon stations in Alaska, as they researched), a gift card for Dick’s, and a VISA gift card.  Unreal.  Such a thoughtful group of people…I haven’t seen most of these guys in about two years, and here they are with all these amazing gifts to help me along in my travels.  I was speechless.  Add this to the fact that all of them took time out to have lunch with this wandering fool.  What a wonderful group.

With hugs and heartfelt words of encouragement, we parted ways. As many have said earlier, I am indeed “rich.” A big thank you to my friends in Owego.

Met up with some friends to play some ball while was in town.  It certainly wasn’t pretty, as I was about 1 for 28 on the night, but still a great time.  With my group of friends, we have some competitive games, but it’s still all in fun.

Chico, Dan, and Dan

The three Dans. Congrats to the Dan on the left, as he is getting married next week.

Don showing his Celtic Pride

Ended the night with a nice time at Moon Star chinese restaurant, followed with some sitting in some cushy chairs at a local lounge bar.  The fun night ended, and I returned to my woefully unpacked state of a bedroom.

The following morning I dropped off my car for some maintenance work at Mike Shara’s in Endwell.  Mike’s shop has taken care of my family’s cars for years, and we’ve only been treated with friendliness and professionalism from day one (quite a bonus when the shop is just down the street, too).  I requested an oil change, and also asked they take an overall look at the car to see if anything might be needed before this journey expands further across the country.

After dropping off the car, I met up with friends Tony and Katie, along with their son Anthony, for breakfast.  Tony’s family and my own have known each other for years, but I didn’t really get to know Tony until we both started working around the same time in 2006 in Owego. Since that time I’ve gotten to know him and his wife well, and then not long after, their little guy.  And Anthony’s vocabulary has grown exponetionally since I last visited with them.  I was impressed.  What an enjoyable time eating with this family.

Little Tony

After a delicious breakfast of stuffed french toast (gotta be careful, I’ve been eating far too well in this stay at home), I said my goodbyes and headed back home for some more organizing.  I’m happy to know that my car will be less full when I hit the road on Saturday, as I’ll only have roadtrip-specific items in there (as opposed to items I’m also moving home).  However, getting all of that together properly has been a slight challenge.

I was informed by Rick at Shara’s that the car was in good shape, though he advised me that in about 15K miles, it’s recommended that I replace my spark plugs.  I figured since I’d be out West somewhere by the time I reached that point, I might as well take care of that now, and they went ahead and did the work.  Thanks again to the kind folks at Shara’s for helping take care of the Mazda.  On my last trip in 2005, they helped make sure my Neon was in tip-top shape (as tip-top a shape you can get a Neon to be), and I had no issues that whole trip.  I have even more confidence now with my newer Mazda, along with the good luck touch that comes from the guys at Shara’s.

Thanks to my friend Melissa, we had a dinner outing planned that night at Sakura (sushi) in Endicott.  Before that, I went to check out her new place and her boyfriend Ed’s new place as well, both within walking distance of my home.  An added bonus was getting to meet their dog, Niko, whose fun misadventures can be read here.  Niko is a well-behaved Shiba Inu dog who is very smart.  He even knows some unique ways to greet people:

Had the chance to walk with Niko, Melissa, and Ed.  Niko was so well behaved on a pretty decent walk for a little animal.  What a good dog.

Happy Family: Niko, Melissa, and Ed

Before we knew it, it was time to meet everybody for some sushi.  Just another great time sharing good food with some old friends.  Thanks, everybody, for coming out.  Looking forward to the fall when I’ll be back for some more good times.

Lyndsay and Raul. Raul is another buddy I've had since the Kindergarten days. Have fun on the honeymoon, you two.

Tonia and Me. Don't let Tonia's small stature fool you - she is a force to be reckoned with in dodgeball

Team Sushi

Later that night I met up with my buddies Brian and Giacomo, and we enjoyed some good conversation as Game 7 of the NBA Finals played in the background (lucky break this year, Lakers).  Giacomo is a guy I originally met when I spent three weeks working in the UK back in 2007.  His father, Gianni, was my host at the job site and quite possibly one of the kindest, most gregarious people you’d ever meet.  I still remember one of his many unique quotes:

“Variety is the spice of life.  What is the secret of your success, Joe?

Tabasco sauce.”

Gianni has a positive spirit that is hard to top, and his son Giacomo embodies that spirit, also.  Giac ended up moving to the U.S. not long after I met him in the UK, and we’ve since had several fun times hanging out, despite my usually fleeting presence in the area.

There's Giac "taking the pi$$"

I’ve been blessed to know some amazing people, be they from New York, other states, and even other countries.  Friday is my last full day in the area before the roadtrip continues.  I’m glad I’ve been here these past several days to reconnect with everybody.

joe

Location: Endwell, NY

Miles Driven: 208

Total Miles: 3,367

Greetings from upstate New York.  I am sitting in the comfort of my parent’s living room, remembering all the nights I’ve been up late working on computers from high school and all those subsequent years.  Now this time it’s not a paper for a class, nor is it some project for a job, but it’s just fun time now – updating this website.

Woke up early this morning at Sam’s after a peaceful sleep on the couch, and I headed over to the Mt. Laurel, NJ area to meet up with my friend Keith for breakfast.  Keith and I met in an interesting fashion just over a year earlier.  He was an instructor at a work conference in Bethesda, and after his class got to chatting for a bit as he worked in Owego, NY just like I had.  Much later that night, I was watching the NBA Finals with friends at the hotel bar, but the bar closed and we were forced to watch the game in the lobby area.  Keith walked in and the group of us conference attendees watching the game flagged him down, as we found him to be one of the most engaging instructors in the whole conference.

See, the session Keith instructed was about uncomfortable work situations between a manager and a subordinate, and all of the situations we had time to discuss were role-played.  Here’s some of the situations we covered:

• Employee shows up consistently late, and mgr. has to address it.  (Mgr does not know employee’s son has cancer)
• There’s an employee in the office who has a body odor issue
• Theft on the job

Keith led a great session on all these situations that are very real in the corporate environment, and the role-play in our group got pretty intense (I played the father of the kid with cancer).  Keith brought a great real-world perspective to these types of issues and I think that’s what made it the top-notch session it was.

So anyway, the group of us are sharing work stories, Keith’s sharing more of those uncomfortable situations he’s encountered over the years, and eventually my buddies are heading off to bed.  Keith and I find we have a few more things in common such as a couple mutual acquantainces, etc., and so we had a lot of laughs telling more stories until the early hours of the next day.

Kept in touch with Keith over time, and here we were again sharing some stories over breakfast at a Panera.  He’s been a big supporter of what I’m doing.

Me and Keith

After we parted ways I headed back to Sam’s place.  There I got my stuff together and played a little FIFA World Cup on PS3 (It’s a great game, by the way, but sadly, my stacked Spanish national team lost to Sam’s plucky American Samoan squad.)  Sam and I said our goodbyes, and I hit the road shortly after noon to make my way towards the Valley Forge National Historical Park near King of Prussia, PA.  Thanks to Sam for some more fun times in NJ.  And congrats to the same guy who just dominated the NJ Bar exam.  Nicely done, buddy.

Arrived in Valley Forge about an hour later and pulled into the parking lot of the historical site.  Despite growing up just a few hours away, and having visited the Philly area a number of times, I never visited this park.  My knowledge of what happened at Valley Forge was pretty shameful, as well.  All I could recall from some history texts was that the Continental Army had a cold winter winter here during the American Revolution.  I couldn’t even recall if a battle took place here (I’m much more up to speed when it comes to Civil War confrontations).  So to get more familiar with this place, I visited the theatre where they played a 20 minute movie about what happened in the winter of 1777.

Unfortunately I was a little tired and nodded off a bit during the film, but I learned some of the major details about Valley Forge.  At first some 12,000 men were there to encamp during the winter, and by spring of 1778 about 2,000 men had died from a host of diseases.  There was no fighting that took place at Valley Forge, but from there George Washington and the Continental Army could keep an eye on the British who had taken Philadelphia (about 18 miles away).

After leaving the theatre, I joined a ranger walk to learn more about what happened.  I was the only dude in a group of junior high girls and their moms, but it was a valuable experience.  Sara, the ranger, felt the story of Valley Forge contains a lot of myth and that myth gets spread in history textbooks, which claim that the conditions were freezing, men were dying of frostbite, and there were several feet of snow to deal with that winter.  According to the records kept, Sara said, there is no evidence of men dying of frostbite or that it was a particularly brutal Philadelphian winter.  The men built huts, to George Washington’s specifications, in order to stay warm.  The problem there was 12 men living in close quarters, with little ventilation, and that is what helped disease spread.

The walk lasted about 40 minutes, and she took us to an area with some reenactors near hut replicas.  I walked around and took a stroll amongst the nice scenery.  Unfortunately, it was getting late in the afternoon and I wanted to leave the KOP area before traffic got too bad.  Definitely glad I came by here.  I highly recommend it, and it’s all free – there’s no admission charged, the movie is free, and the ranger walks are free.

Checking out the huts

Great green scenery

Got some gas and blazed a trail for home in Endwell, NY, just under three hours away.  Faced a little traffic on the route close to Scranton, PA, but found a detour and it was smooth sailing from there, and I had some great weather to enjoy the rolling hills of Pennsylvania and New York.  It was certainly an interesting contrast to driving in flat-as-a-pancake Florida just about 10 days prior.

Cool cloud formations

Approaching New York

On my drive around Kamikaze Curve in Binghamton, just minutes from home, a song called “So Far Around the Bend” by The National came on my ipod that’s connected to my car stereo.  I found it pretty ironic, as one of the repeated lines in the song is “There’s no leaving New York”.

Made it home after 7pm and was greeted by Dad at the house.  No one else was around, and he went out for a walk, so I headed over to Endicott to visit my brother Brendan and his wife Nichole.  Caught up on some stories and shared some laughs.  For one reason or another, we got talking about Conan O’Brien and some of the crazy sketches he’s done over the years.  If you have a few minutes, check out the video from his visit with some old-timey baseball reenactors.  Hilarious.

Came back home briefly, saw Mom and my sister Colleen (who, perfectly timed, just moved back from Syracuse with a jeep full of her belongings).

Home with the parents, excited for me to unload the boxes I've been hauling

And from there I headed out to meet up with my buddy Brian, a guy I’ve known since the days of Little League baseball.  I’ll be seeing more of Brian this week, but it was good to have the chance to catch up with an old friend.

Hanging out at the Galley

Soon it was time to sleep, and I was beat from the drive.  Good to be home in New York.  I’ll be here the next several day seeing old friends, taking care of some personal business, along with unpacking a few boxes I’ve shipped from Georgia.  Then on Saturday morning the trip resumes when I head towards New York City.

I’ll try to periodically post on here over these few days I’m back in town.  I had a real nice home in Georgia, and here I am in another nice home 900 miles north for a short respite.  Looking forward to seeing some familiar faces.

joe

Location: Haddonfield, NJ 

Miles Driven: 190 

Total Miles: 3,159 

3000 miles!  A definite milestone, I think.  The first thing I could think of is a song by one of my favorite folk musicians, Ellis Paul, entitled “3,000 Miles” 

Left Bethesda around noon, said my goodbyes, and headed Northeast towards southern NJ.  I knew I had to be back in the North when I paid around $15 in tolls to travel for under 180 miles of traveling.  I failed to hit up an ATM before getting on the road, so I had to reach into the big bag of coins to pay most of the tolls (I imagine the lady who accepted $5 worth of  coins was not too happy with me). 

Some bug splatter up front, but the Mazda is doing great

Back in somewhat familiar territory

My plan was to head towards the town of Medford, NJ where my friend Kelly’s parents and brother have an ice cream shop called Coneheads.   It worked out that ice cream was the exact pick-me-up I needed, and I couldn’t have met a nicer group of people.  Kelly’s parents, Ken and Mame, and her brother, Brian, were so very welcoming.  They made a great waffle-cone brownie sundae for me, and I enjoyed that while chatting with everybody. 

Me, Ken, Mame, and Brian

I even got a tour of the operations, learning how ice cream gets made.  It was like I was in the TV show “How It’s Made.”  If anyone is in the southern Jersey area, I highly recommend a visit to Coneheads.  Great people, great ice cream, and some great artwork inside.  Here’s one of my favorite paintings that hung on the wall: 

I love the subtle replacement of his microphone

So go check it out!  You won’t be disappointed  

Coneheads 

617 Stokes Rd.  Medford, NJ 08055 

Had just a half hour drive from Coneheads to my buddy Sam’s place in Haddonfield.  Hadn’t seen Sam since New Years.  We arranged a small get together at a nearby bar for my friends in the Philly/Moorestown area to all meet.  It’s been years since I’ve seen some of these guys. 

Jenna and Adam. On my last trip in 2005, saw these guys just a day or two into the trip. Glad we got to meet up again.

Breton (Sam's roommate) and Sam

Chloe and Nachiket. I went to grad school with Nachiket, and this was the first time I got to meet his wife. Turns out she has a brother in Alaska that I'll be able to link up with in Anchorage. Very cool

Best friends since Kindergarten

Thanks to all my friends who came out last night.  What a great time.  The plan for Monday will be to check out Valley Forge, and then I’ll be fixin for home in Endwell, just about a three-hour drive or so away. 

joe

Location: Bethesda, MD

Miles Driven (since Newport News): 310

Total Miles: 2,969

As I write this, I’m sitting in my old apartment in Bethesda.  My friends are gearing up for a conference that runs all week; a conference I would attend if I was still working.  Since everybody was going to be in town the weekend before, this was a definite “planned” stop along the way (as non-schedule driven as I like to be).

As un-emotional of a guy I like to think I am, it’s been a fairly emotional weekend for me.  I’ve become pretty close to a great group, not to mention the people I spent time working with (I worked at three different sites during my year and a half stint in MD).  Many have already gone their separate ways, and some will be moving soon, so it’s strange thinking this group might not get together again for a while.

When I originally left Maryland for Georgia this past January, I don’t think I felt the same way.  I was pretty opimistic we’d all be getting together again shortly afterwards, and sure enough we did, in Atlanta.  Granted, during that move, I didn’t know I would be going to Asia for two years come next January.  I suppose the reality of that has sunk in a little bit, and it’ll be hard for me to say goodbye, I think.  I didn’t think I could get attached like this in a short amount of time, especially with the folks I shared a home with. 

Goodbyes or no goodbyes, I am truly lucky to know such people.  Although it is a little tough to say adios for the time being, there will be fun times in the future, I’m sure.  I’m reminded of a tradition I once experienced at my friend Nick’s wedding in Taiwan:

The day of the wedding, the families and close friends of the bride and groom get together for a big lunch.  Nothing unusual.  But then, after most of the lunch is over with, the groom’s family and friends get up to leave the lunch, without notice.  And I was told not to say “再見” (goodbye).  We left, and we didn’t even acknowledge the bride’s family.

It seems odd at first, but once you understand the reason it makes sense.  Saying goodbye implies you may not see that other person(s) once again, so we leave and get up because we’re eventually going to be together once again, just as if I got up to go back to work after a lunch outing.

Not to say I’m going to just up and leave without notice, but keeping in mind that there will be opportunities to get together in the future is what makes this tough time a little better.  And, of course, the magic of the intertubes helps keep everybody feeling connected no matter how far apart.

Now that I’m done being an emotional mess, let’s continue with what’s been going on:

I arrived in the area Thursday morning after a quick three hour drive and drove straight to my old work site in Bethesda.  There I met up with my friend Frances who has been a big supporter of this trip from the very beginning.  She loves Maine, so I’ve been learning a lot about the state and the area near Acadia National Park from her.  She shared with me some amazing pictures from her past trips, and also gave me some tips on places to see and restaurants to check out.  After that, I went upstairs to say hi to some old work buddies – Jeff, Saj, Mila, along with the nice admins who always looked out for me – Shirley, Karen, and Camille (and Frances).  It was a little odd being a ‘guest’ in the place I used to work, but also liberating at the same time, knowing I didn’t have to return early in the morning or be there til late at night.

Left Bethesda to meet up with some old coworkers for lunch in Gaithersburg.  Great times at the Old Country Buffet.  I owe a lot of thanks to Steve for helping me with my initial camera purchase back in February.  He is really skilled when it comes to photography and has given me some great tips and insight in my continual learning of how a DSLR works.

Jenny, Me, Don, Steve

From there, I drove to my old apartment in Bethesda.  Once again, I was going to be a guest in a place I used to know so well.  Ashley, my former roommate, kindly left a key out for me.  It was good to be “home” once more.  I then picked up our friend Kelly from the airport, came back, and the old gang was together – Kelly, roommates Matt and Ashley, and myself.  Fun times.

I had to head out once more as I was meeting my friends Bea and Jon (aka “Intern”) for a dinner at a local Malaysian restaurant.  I used to work with these guys in Rockville and I had the fortune of sharing an office with these two.

Me, Jon, and Bea

I don’t think I ever had Malaysian food, and I’m glad I had the chance with these guys.  Jon knows his way around the menu and we ordered some tasty dishes. 

Roti Canai (Indian bread)

Char kway teow

Dessert: Es chendol (shaved ice)

After dinner, I met up with my friends Christelle and her brother Dag.  I’ve known Christelle for a few years, and actually met her when I was in Colombia for my brother’s wedding in 2006.  Turns out she had been in Rockville all along when I was in the area, but unfortunately we didn’t start hanging out until it was closer to the time I was moving. Dag’s another cool dude (despite his passion for the Lakers) I’ve hung out with while living there, and we’ve commisserated over several Washington Wizards losses.

Me, Christelle, Dag

P.S.  If you ever cross paths with Christelle, be sure to ask her for her delicious fried plantains recipe. 

Went out afterwards to my favorite Irish pub in Bethesda afterwards with the group.  I made plans to meet up with my friend Carolyn who had just moved to Maryland along with the folks staying at the house.  Our paths barely crossed, as she was heading back to NY the same day we were heading out for the hike. 

Returned to our home for the weekend to hang out for a bit and then crash, since the plan was to wake up early Friday morning for our drive to Shenandoah National Park in western Virginia.  The planned hike was to Old Rag mountain, and it would be key to get an early start since it’s a pretty popular hike.

Along with Jordan, another friend of the group, Kelly, Matt, and I headed to the park the following morning.  Matt drove.  It was nice going for a long ride without having to be the driver for the first time in a while.

The hills of western VA

It was a beautiful day for a seven-mile hike.  For those who haven’t done it, Old Rag is fairly strenuous, and has a great 1.1 mile section of what’s known as a “rock scramble”, where you work your way jumping, climbing, sliding under, and spider-crawling amongst boulders of various sizes as you get higher up the mountain.  Worked up a real good sweat, and had fun in the process.  Here are some of the highlights from the hike (credit to Matt for some of these photos):

Jordan, Me, and Kelly lingering in the back

Tall trees

Matt ready to get the perfect shot (of Yours Truly)

Taking a break - Jordan, Kelly, Me

Kelly and Jordan navigating the boulders

Group shot along the rock scramble

Amazing views near the top. From this height, you are looking down at birds in flight

Jordan checking out the long drop off the cliff

Almost near the top

I took a movie to hopefully provide a sense of perspective about how high this hike goes.  Old Rag Mountain has an elevation of 3,200 feet, so you are definitely flying fairly high.

I think it was close to four hours we spent on the hike.  Pretty tiring, but a great experience being in the outdoors with friends.

On the way back from the tour we stopped at a winery those guys had visited in the past.  I had never done a wine tasting before so I figured I’d give it a shot.  Actually was pretty fun, and I learned a little bit about the process.  I am no oenophile, but I enjoyed learning how the different wine flavors are created.

Attempting to be a wine snob. "I suspect the grapes were picked a day late..."

Returned home a few hours later, relaxed a bit, then it was time for a night out in Bethesda. Great fun, once again.  The following day, I met up with Bea again.  She took me to a Chinese grocery store to buy me some snacks for my travels (trailmix was running low).  She stocked me up on some great items that will probably last me a couple weeks.  Thanks Bea!

That night, after the US vs. England World Cup game, we held a party in the house – “Shindig off Sugarbush.”  Had the chance to meet up with some old friends and coworkers.  Between the prior night out, and this party, got to see a lot of familiar faces. 

I was thinking I’d post the photos from my camera and Matt’s from each of these separate nights, but there are way too many I’d like to share.  So I put together a slideshow here to recap different activites from the entire weekend, along with the previously mentioned meetup in Atlanta.  It’s sad that I might not see some of these guys again for a while, but how lucky I am to have had this time with them.  Call me sappy, but this is a good way to put all those fun times together.  The music I chose is the song “This” by the band No More Kings.  I like it because I take it to be a song about enjoying the simpler things, and moments, in life.

joe