drivetofive

Odometer:  484,002 Miles

Trip Mileage: 2,908 Miles

Other Stats (In case you were wondering):  Moving time was 41 hours, 27  minutes.  Max speed was 108 mph (CA somewhere I think, on a desolate stretch of I-10).  Moving average mph was 70.

I’m heeeeeeere.  It’s been a long haul but I made it safe and sound to my destination this afternoon.  I’m posting from the Best Western Morristown Inn, having finally made the voyage from California to New Jersey in one piece.  Life on the road is exhausting so I’m glad to be able to spend a bit of time in/around this area for at least the next little while.  The hotel’s in a very nice neighborhood with lots of large estates, including the mansion where George Washington wintered in 1779-1780 just a block away.  There’s so much history out here!

Right off the bat this morning I zoomed out of Ohio and through a small sliver of northern West Virginia that only lasted between 10-15 miles.  The entry sign into W VA was overhead on I-70 and the picture that I took is hardly worth posting but I haven’t missed a state yet so here it is.

Then on into PA.

Pennsylvania felt like it crept along at a snail’s pace – a combination of repeated 45 mph construction zones, pockets of heavy traffic, winding roads, hills, and tollway stops made things take a little longer than any other state I drove through on this trip.  When you enter the I-76 toll road, you pass through this gate to pick up your ticket/pass.  I happened to be behind a truck hauling a bunch of new Mopars at the time.

Shortly after entering PA, there’s a (very) small town called Bentleyville which I had to document because I have a brother named Bentley.

There were a number of neat tunnels that I passed through on I-70 and I-76 eastbound, including this one – the Allegheny Mountain tunnel.

Once underway on the tollway, if you leave at a major exit you’ll have to pay when you leave and then get another ticket once you enter the roadway.  To avoid this hassle, there are “service plazas” along the way that are literally just gas/food stops that you can easy-off, easy-on without worrying about any tolls.  Here is the inside of a service plaza.

Interstate 76 after leaving the Sideling Hill Service Plaza on I-76.

The when I went from I-78 to I-81, I left the tollroad and was charged $12.45 for the experience.

I wasn’t able to stop at the NJ welcome sign since it was in the median, protected by a guard rail, and I was on the far right lane of 3 lanes of traffic as I whizzed by.

I’m so close to New York City!  One day I’ll drive through Times Square.

Starting to see signs for Morristown!  Finally!

When I rolled into the Best Western, I was only 1.5 miles away from rolling 484,000 so I invited my friend Ken from New Jersey (who’d said he wanted to take my car for a spin) to drive us around the block and complete the milestone.  Tom and Nick (the King!!  Look at his crown) took the backseat.

You can just barely see the 484 rolling over here.  This is right near that house of George Washington’s what I mentioned earlier off the 287 freeway.

Some of the guys chatting it up in the BW parking lot.

Celebrating my arrival with The King himself!  Nick lives here in NJ and drives the Sherwood Green Legend GS sedan parked behind mine.

Let the games begin!   Here’s the lineup of Acuras that welcomed me when I arrived.

I put my friend Alan (from Floral City, FL) to work helping me clean up the car when I arrived.  He was happy to oblige.

Here’s my friend Tom from CT inspecting some of the “JDM” (Japanese Domestic Market) goodies on one of the cars here.  This particular toy is a pole that extends from the front bumper to assist in parking.

I soon learned that I was far from the only person here obsessed with maintenance & recordkeeping.  Alan busted out his binder complete with Excel spreadsheet for his extremely mint condition, sub-100k mile 1991 Legend LS sedan which I had the privilege of taking for a spin today.

I have a tradition with my friend Miles back home that each time we pass one of those huge mirrored/reflective semi tanker trucks, we take a self-picture as we’re driving past!  I captured this one on the 76 today.

I was happy to learn that one of my blog followers actually works for the dealership that was next to my hotel last night – small world for sure!  Thanks again for the shout-out, Brandon!  I’ve got an appointment tomorrow morning with the local dealership, Bridgewater Acura, for an oil change.  I may also have them take a look at the rear ball joints on the car as a few of the guys here say they look worrisome and I have a long way to go until I get home.  Otherwise no major concerns so I’ll keep on rollin’.

This entry was posted on July 22, 2011 at 3:02 am and is filed under Legend, NALM, Road Trip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.