office gnome

Return to New York

Hello again! Welcome to our 'new' blog -- just moved to the *free* micro-typepad format and it's pretty nice actually!

I took a brief trip back to NYC a few weeks ago (actually my second visit since the big move) and it was great to be back.  This is a view of the NY harbor from my cab ride the morning I arrived. I can't wait to go back in late January!

-Sarah

End of the (Road)

IMG_0532, originally uploaded by scarah.

Well we made it. Technically we made it to Seattle 2 weeks ago but I got lazy about posting.

The trip was amazing and surprisingly (mostly) went all according to plan! Arriving in Seattle we were greeted with sunshine and smiling faces. It actually hasn't rained yet since we've been here which is a little odd. Now the real work of job hunting etc. starts!

Craters of the Moon

IMG_0515, originally uploaded by scarah.

Here is a picture of Judah traversing the rocks in the Indian Tunnel cave at Craters of the Moon national monument. We stayed there two nights ago and now are in Boise, Idaho.

Craters of the Moon was really spectacular. It had a really unique campground and lots of fun trails and underground caves. We only explored one - the Indian Tunnel - which was the "easy one" but plenty difficult for out-of-shape me! Now on to Moscow Idaho to visit Dan and Mary!

Very grand tetons

Judah and I are sitting in the Jackson lake lodge upper lobby in the Grand Teton National Park. We just came from a three day trip to Yellowstone. After a week of bad cell reception and poor wifi options -- Judah is posting some more photos to Flickr while I explore the hotel. We stay here in a campground and head to Idaho tomorrow. Just one more state til Washington!

POD #3936 (Formerly Judah and Sarah)

When I moved to New York in 2002 I managed to squeeze my entire life, everything I possessed and couldn't live without, into three large suitcases. Now Sarah and I are moving back to Seattle and we have squeezed our life into one 6' x 7' x 8' storage cube. Seems that my life has scaled appropriately.

Meet POD #3936: 

-Judah

Trip Itinerary

Our trip starts this Friday (May 1st) and ends with us arriving in Seattle on June 1st.  

Here is our itinerary:

Day 1 NEW YORK to BALTIMORE via PHILADELPHIA

Day 2 BALTIMORE to WASHINGTON DC

Day 3 WASHINGTON DC

Day 4 WASHINGTON DC to BEDFORD, PA via GETTYSBURG

Day 5 BEDFORD, PA to OHIOPYLE, PA

Day 6 OHIOPYLE, PA to MANSFIELD, OH

Day 7 MANSFIELD, OH to SOUTH BEND, IN

Day 8 SOUTH BEND, IN to CHICAGO, IL

Day 9 CHICAGO, IL
Day 10 CHICAGO, IL
Day 11 CHICAGO, IL to MARSHALLTOWN, IA
Day 12 MARSHALLTOWN, IA to TWO RIVERS, NE
Day 13 TWO RIVERS to OGALLALA via BRAINARD, NE
Day 14 OGALLALA to DENVER, CO
Day 15 DENVER, CO
Day 16 DENVER, CO
Day 17 DENVER, CO to CASPER, WY
Day 18 CASPER, WY to CUSTER STATE PARK, SD
Day 19 CUSTER STATE PARK, SD
Day 20 CUSTER STATE PARK, SD  to DEVILS TOWER,  WY via DEADWOOD
Day 21 DEVILS TOWER, WY to CODY
Day 22 CODY to YELLOWSTONE
Day 23 YELLOWSTONE
Day 24 YELLOWSTONE
Day 25 YELLOWSTONE to GRAND TETON
Day 26 GRAND TETON, WY to CRATERS OF THE MOON, ID
Day 27 CRATERS OF THE MOON  to BOISE
Day 28 BOISE to MOSCOW, ID
Day 29 MOSCOW, ID
Day 30 MOSCOW, ID to WALLA WALLA, WA
Day 31 WALLA WALLA to ELLENSBURG
Day 32 ELLENSBURG to SEATTLE, WA

The Lincoln Highway

photo via http://www.wqed.org/tv/sebak/lincoln_hwy/

As I mentioned, somehow, not sure how, I stumbled upon learning about the Lincoln Highway and I was intrigued.

When people think of old two-lane old highways, I believe most think of Route 66 and the Lincoln Highway is often overlooked.  The highway is significant as it was actually the nation's first coast-to-coast road and started way back in the early 1910s. You won't see it noted officially on maps as the highway now is just a composite of small roads and interstates (notably US-30) starting right in Times Square, New York and ending in San Francisco.  

I did find a good amount of interesting resources online and in print for the road.  Here are some to check out:

Brian Butko has written several books on the road and has a frequently updated blog:

Lincoln Highway News - Brian Butko

Each state that an association dedicated to the highway... i only list some states here, the ones relevant to our trip:

Iowa Lincoln Highway Association

Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition

Indiana Lincoln Highway Association

Lincoln Highway Association

A recent PBS documentary explored the history and characters along the road:

A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway

Butko's book Greetings from Lincoln highway is of course required reading:

http://www.amazon.com/Greetings-Lincoln-Highway-Americas-Coast/dp/081170128X/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Michael Wallis' The Lincoln Highway Coast to Coast is also a nice read, most notably for the beautiful pictures:

http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Highway-Coast-Square-Golden/dp/0393059383

Planning the Road Trip

I've been planning the cross-country road trip for a long time now so I thought it would be a good idea to explain how I got started and got everything organized. 

After deciding to do the trip, the first decision was of course about the route.

My first purchase was the latest Lonely Planet USA guide.  I always have liked the writing in their books and thought it would be a good start. 

The book is not focused on road trips, but they did suggest some possible cross country itineraries. And reading the book helped me generally figure out the major sights and cities we would want to cover.

Since our trip is from New York to Seattle, the most logical route would be a northern one. I didn't really want to travel on the big interstates however so I tried to look into a smaller highway that would work with.  

Somehow I stumbled upon learning about the Lincoln Highway which coincidentally perfectly worked with all our major planned stops for most of the trip.  More on the highway later...

I also heartily recommend Google Maps if you are ever creating a trip itinerary.  Not only can you place markers on specific points, google has special icons that you can identify each marker with. And they also have a cool line-making feature that now snaps to roads!

- Sarah

USA sitcom map

http://danmeth.com/tagged/popculturalcharts

do you want my computer you can have it

(courtesy http://www.mnftiu.cc/2007/10/08/filing-202/ )

NEWSFLASH!  In case you didn't already know, Judah and I are moving to Seattle in May - well technically June since we leave May 1st and are taking a month-long cross-country road trip to get there.   I'm leaving my job in less than 3 week which is very surreal since I've been working there for almost 6 years.  Today I'm working on cleaning up my computer files and emails.  Fun!