When all the parts equal more than the sum

Packing always takes longer than you think it's going to take. I've found that, ironically, the better pack-rat you are, the worse packer you are. This is because if you truly excel at storing your belongings in a given space, you will not be able to accurately assess the amount of time it will take to re-pack said belongings into small containers, because they are so well hidden within said space.

I didn't finish loading everything into my car until about 7:30am on Saturday, which left very little time for sleeping since I had to show the room to a potential subletter (no dice) at 9:45am.
Immediately after the open house presentation I hit the road. I wore my special driving socks.
If you're planning a road trip and want to get the most bang for your buck, upstate New York, along the I-90, is your best bet. I went through Whitehall, Ticonderoga (home of Fort Ticonderoga), Saratoga (home of Benedict Arnold's boot), Schenectady (home of Synecdoche, NY), Erie Canal, Syracuse, Seneca Falls (home of 1st Wave Feminism), Rochester, and Buffalo (home of Antonios Dimoulas). If I had more time, I would've detoured to Niagra Falls and the state capital. It's a haul to do in one sitting, but it would make for an awesome weekend retreat.



I divided my trip into two days and spent the night in Ohio. I don't know if every Red Roof Inn does this, but the one in Cleveland gave me a coupon for a free breakfast from Burger King when I checked out. Score!

Indiana punishes people for driving across their state.It cost about $10 to drive laterally across the Hoosier state. It was literally highway robbery. Had I known that would be the cost, I would've paid to have me and my car loaded on a plane and flown from Toledo Express to Midway, just to spite that eyesore of a state.

You can't really tell from this picture,...but one of the visitor centers I drove past housed a Red Burrito which, for the uninitiated, is horrendous. It serves the worst Mexican food/food I've ever had. I have no idea how this chain exists. It's hard to imagine that a Mexican fast food franchise that serves lower quality chow than Del Taco can keep it's doors open. I guess it makes sense that you can only find them in the middle-Midwest where the greatest culinary triumph of the last 6-centuries is corn on the cob.

You know how there's those KFC/Taco Bell combination restaurants? Red Burrito is what KFC and Taco Bell would be if, not just their addresses, but their menus were combined, and then sluiced with mayo.




Eventually I made it to Chicago. My new domicile.