It's been a while since I've taken a weeklong trip. Parenthood will do that. In many ways, we're always testing the waters. When Little Dude was born, it was hard for me to even get away for 24 hours. He is more self-sufficient, so lately, I've found I can get away for an extended weekend.
We decided to try a week. I picked a week in July since I figured I'd have long days. This would allow me to maximize the daylight and visit as many counties as possible. The one thing I hadn't really thought about for July was the chances of extreme weather.
Extreme weather seems to have been a theme, especially in the past year or two. In July, there was a chance of extreme heat. The further south you go, the higher the chance for it. The rest of the country was not immune either. I know certain areas were breaking heat records.
To the east, massive rainstorms and flooding seemed like an issue. To the west, the opposite was true. Drought and massive wildfires were the main threats, making trip planning challenging.
With the extreme heat, it's hard to sleep in the car. I find anything over 75F is hard to sleep in. Worrying about flooding is a big issue, especially with mapping applications. They like to take you on dumb routes. If it's raining and I'm not familiar with the area, I could see how I could accidentally turn down a back road. It could have a low water crossing. I may find myself in trouble fast, especially when driving at night.
What scares me the most are fires. They can pop up out of nowhere and seem to move fast. I've heard of people only having minutes to evacuate after a fire has been started. Seeing the pictures and videos on the news makes it look like hell on earth. I want to avoid areas where there is a high risk of fires popping up at all costs.
That said, it looks like going east would be my best bet. Vermont had received some flooding before my trip, but I hoped the waters would subside. It appeared that the temperatures would be reasonable. Barring any severe storms, this would be the perfect area to visit.
I used AI for my planning and was also able to confirm I'd have good weather on my itinerary.
I also was happy that I was driving. My trip happened when the major computer outages were hitting the airlines hard.
I packed the car and got ready to go. I made sure to swap out the 12V adapter for the GPS with a USB adapter. This would free up more ports to charge my phone or do other things.
Additionally, because I knew I'd be off the grid for a while, I bought a backup device for my phone. The last thing I'd want to do is lose pictures.
I dropped Little Dude off at daycare and then went to Casey's to top off and get breakfast.
Since I didn't want to burn up my phone data, I would primarily use my GPS. I had to use AI to hack things a bit. Manually entering addresses takes forever. I was able to create contacts on my phone with the courthouse addresses. They are displayed in a particular order, so I could easily send them to the GPS via the app.
I hit the road and made it through Illinois and Indiana. I ran into some traffic jams around the Chicago area, but I was in Michigan soon enough.
I tried to find one of the closest counties that I hadn't completed yet to start my journey. I decided to follow a row of counties in Michigan. The first county was Calhoun County.
Southern Michigan seems to be the land of non-descript gas stations. There don't seem to be chains like Kwik Trip there. This generic station was my first gas stop as I made it to Jackson County.
I did some more interstate driving to Washtenaw County.
I appreciated the express lanes on my way to Wayne County. These lanes had limited exits, and I could quickly get downtown to visit the new and old courthouses.
I fought traffic on my way to Monroe County.
I was soon in Ohio and visiting Lucas County.
I could have kept driving a long way on the road I was on, but I had a mission to follow. I was soon in Wood County.
I had to drive slower following a semi on the two-lane roads to Sandusky County.
I started to look for a place to stay for the night after I visited Ottawa County.
Fortunately, the rest stop was 8 minutes away from the courthouse. I made my way there as the sun was setting.
I had packed a bunch of food and used a picnic table to make supper.
After eating, I got ready for bed. I set up my fan and settled in.
Before bed, I used ChatGPT. It estimated the number of counties I could complete the next day based on my itinerary.
When I woke up, I used my 12V water heater to make some instant coffee.
I ended up getting more coffee at a gas station, which I stopped at when I topped off. In many ways, it isn't worth the hassle to make your coffee since coffee is usually so cheap.
After that stop, before you know it, I was at Erie County.
Up next was Huron County.
It was toll time to Lorain County.
I came into the big city of Cleveland to visit Cuyahoga County.
Fortunately, Ohio has Sheetz gas stations, which have an awesome food selection. I got a breakfast sub.
After that stop, I made it to Lake County.
There was some back road driving to Geauga County.
Up next was Ashtabula County. They had a new and old courthouse there.
I crossed over into Pennsylvania and went to Crawford County,
I stopped at a public library to use the bathroom and the internet. If they are open, public libraries are great for this.
I was able to get in some interstate driving on the way to Erie County. This would be the second Erie County I visited today.
I crossed into New York to visit Chautauqua County.
I then zigged back into Pennsylvania to visit Warren County.
I zagged into New York and then got to Cattaraugus County.
A weird thing I observed about New York is their signs that indicated a speed limit ended. Typically, you put up the new speed limit and be done with it. I assumed end 40 meant start 55 based on other signs I saw.
I was soon at my third Erie County of the day.
Interestingly, my brakes started to grind a few counties back. I knew if I could get to Buffalo, a Firestone would be open on the weekend. There were about half a dozen of them in the area. I figured I'd stay the night, get the car fixed on Sunday, and be on my way.
What happened in reality was a series of weird events that delayed me even further. Since it was Saturday, I figured I'd go to Mass. I hadn't slept that well the night before, so I was in a bit of a daze. I used the app to find churches but didn't realize how close I was to the Canadian border. I assumed something less than three miles away was in New York. I luckily caught this when it was instructing me to turn into Canada.
In the meantime, I spilled water on my pants. I found a church in Buffalo and went there. I had time to kill, so I did everything possible to dry my pants.
I FaceTimed Victoria and Little Dude from the car and then entered St. Bernard's.
After Mass, I looked for a hotel. The pricing was insane!
I discovered a hack. I had enough reward points for a free night. The number of points you need to use seems to be the same regardless of the actual price, so I used them instead.
I limped the car to the hotel. It appears I got the last room available, as it was an ADA room.
I put my things down in the room. I brought pretty much everything I bought for road trips over the years on this road trip. I wanted to see where I could use it. I put it in the car quickly, so this would give me a chance to organize it more carefully in the hotel room.
The room was hot since the air conditioning was off. I made sure to crank that.
After that, I downloaded the Firestone app and scheduled an appointment. It looks like I'd have the morning to relax.
Since I didn't want to drive the car more than I had to, I made more ramen for supper.
I then used ChatGPT to see if I was still on course with my original itinerary. If I could hit the road by Sunday afternoon, I would still be able to complete it.
I can see why the rooms were so expensive. When I got to breakfast, the place was packed, and there wasn't much food left. I was the only one speaking English. I could tell this area was popular with foreign tourists. I guess that's a lesson learned when you need a hotel. If you're in an area that is an international destination, it'll be expensive to stay.
They did replenish the eggs so I got a decent breakfast.
I took some more time to organize my stuff. Checkout was at 11, and I made sure to use every minute I had left for the hotel. For lunch, I headed to Tim Horton's. This would be the first time I had Tim Horton's in the USA. Typically, I have to go to Canada to get it.
I asked if they had the BELT (Bagel, egg, lettuce, tomato) sandwich. It appeared it wasn't on the menu, but they were able to make it for me anyway.
After eating, I headed to Firestone. Come to find out, despite the app saying I had an appointment, it did not book one. They were full for the day, so I was out of luck. They offered to try to squeeze it in, but there were no guarantees.
They gave me a few numbers for nearby Firestones, but those were all busy. I was able to schedule an appointment for first thing on Monday. I guess I would be stuck in Buffalo another day. On the bright side, the hotel was cheaper.
I booked the hotel. I now had time to kill before check-in. Luckily, there was a mall next to Firestone. I didn't want to drive the car more than I had to, so I'd spend a few hours there.
The mall was sad and pathetic. You could definitely tell it had had its better days. The lights weren't even on in certain locations, so it was kind of eerie to walk around.
After walking around, I was thirsty. More weirdness ensued. There were two soda machines in the food court. I tried to use my credit card on both and they both failed.
I then tried to use cash. It was $2.50 for a soda. I put in two ones. It would not take the third. I tried a different one, thinking it was the bill. It still wouldn't accept it. I asked for the change back. It gave it to me in the form of 40 nickels.
I then put the dollar that didn't work in the one machine in the other machine. It gladly accepted it. I then paid for the rest in nickels. All this work for a Mountain Dew!
I sat there for a long time. There was a single restaurant in the food court. This pizza place literally had one customer the whole time I was there.
When check-in time approached, I headed across the street to Wegman's. I figured I'd get some Buffalo wings from their deli and a few other things.
I then headed to the hotel. Check-in was at 3:00. It was 3:20. They still didn't have the room ready. I got my stuff and waited in the lobby.
I jokingly said if they put me back in room 115, that would be my old room. Technically, it didn't need to be cleaned. A while later, they put me across the hall in room 114.
I went to put my wings in the fridge. Then I discovered there was no fridge!
I mentioned this to the front desk. They said they could get me a different room, but I'd have to wait until one was cleaned. I'd have to put the wings on ice anyway, so I just did that.
The air conditioning was off in the room again, so I had to crank that.
I sat back and relaxed. When it was supper time, I went to get my wings. Come to find out, there wasn't a microwave in the room either! I was just done with things and ate my supper cold.
I wanted nothing to do with the rest of the day. It was clear I was on an unlucky streak, and I wasn't going to test my luck any more. I just hung out a bit more and went to bed early. The next morning, things were more stocked for breakfast. I decided to eat a bit lighter.
I headed to Firestone and was there before they opened. This gave me time to Febreeze the car to remove any odors.
While their systems had glitches, the people who worked there were very friendly. I ended up getting the work done quicker than they estimated. Overall, it was a good experience. Come to find out, the inner pads had worn out completely, and that was grinding. I made the mistake of looking at the outer pads. I assumed that the inner pads would wear evenly since half the pad was left on the outer pad. I should have known better, especially since these were the factory brakes. I also had almost 170,000 miles on them.
The Firestone people were amazed at how many miles were on the brakes. I guess that goes to show all the highway miles I drive. I probably skipped a few brake jobs in between. When I got the bill, I knew I saved a lot of money skipping those brake jobs. Next time, I'll know to take the tire off and check that inner pad before going on a big trip.
It was about 10 AM, and I was back on the road to the Niagara County Courthouse.
On the way to the Orleans County Courthouse, I had to go to the bathroom. I saw a Dollar Tree and used it to stock up on energy drinks and Laffy Taffy. Dollar Tree is an awesome place to stock up on road trip staples.
I did some two-lane highway driving to Genesee County.
When I got to Wyoming County, the parking lot was closed. It appeared they were repaving it so I had a bit of a walk.
Another weird thing I noticed about New York is its speed limit signs. They indicated what kind of speed limit it was: state, village, city, or area speed limit. I'm not sure why this matters. Maybe it's an indication of what cops might shake you down in a speed trap.
I made sure to stay around the speed limit as I got to Livingston County.
For some, speed limits didn't matter. I got behind some slow pokes on the way to Monroe County.
It hit 90F on my way to Ontario County.
When you typically think of New York, you think of New York City. Where I was was very different than that. I ran into many farms along the way to Wayne County.
The corn was definitely tall on the way to Seneca County.
I was soon in Cayuga County.
I was looking for some gas station pizza. Something quick that I could eat on the road. I was glad to see Fastrac had a full pizza counter.
After getting pizza, I was soon at Oswego County.
The weather looked a bit concerning on the way to Onondaga County.
I seemed to miss that weather on the way to Madison County.
By this time, it was time to find somewhere to sleep for the night. I found a rest stop about half an hour from the next courthouse.
I drove a while and got there right as it was getting dark.
I found that the first light would be at 5:08 AM, which is when I planned to be at the next courthouse.
I went to bed and then got up around 4 AM. I stopped at a gas station to top off and get some coffee. Rain was in the forecast, so I made sure my life jacket was readily accessible. I've started to bring one along due to the flash flooding that has been happening. Better to be safe than sorry!
I arrived at Lewis County right at 5:08 AM. Overall, there was enough light for a picture.
It was a soggy drive to Jefferson County.
I stopped at a 7-11 for breakfast on my way to St. Lawrence County.
A little while later, I was in Franklin County.
It started drying up a little bit on the way to Clinton County.
Another travel tip is that there's no shame in using a port-a-potty. I'm good at spotting them along the road. This one was at a park. I used it on my way to Essex County.
I specifically reactivated the XM radio for this trip. I figured listening to music from that would be easier than messing around with Pandora. Unfortunately, it didn't work well when I got to mountainous or highly wooded areas.
Talking about mountainous areas, it was hard to pass. I got stuck behind some trucks, having a hard time climbing the hills.
I didn't notice too many gas station chains around New York. I did find Stewarts Shops. I stopped for gas and food. I'd say things were good overall, but they were really understaffed. You could tell the staff they had were working their butts off, but there was a long wait.
After my gas stop, I soon crossed the bridge and into Vermont.
I made it to Burlington. Downtown was packed, so I had to park a few blocks away. There was paid parking, but I didn't want to risk it, so I had to download the app and pay 80 cents for parking.
After a bit of walking, I made it to the Chittenden County Courthouse.
I then realized that I had missed a courthouse along the way. I saw I had time to regroup, so I stopped at a public library near where I was parked.
I started putting different scenarios into Google Maps and readjusted my route.
I made sure to avoid turtles on my way to Grand Isle County.
I passed a few cows on my way to Franklin County.
By now, I had hit a wall. I was tired and needed to take a nap. A sign that I'm tired is that other drivers really start to irritate me. I don't know if many of the other drivers were either partaking in the legal cannabis or the wineries. People were just driving really slow.
The speed limits are already obnoxiously slow at 50mph for two-lane highways. It seems like many people were driving 40. It got to the point that driving through half the state at 40 became super annoying.
Luckily, there was a rest stop nearby. I parked under a tree and got out multiple fans. This was the first time I had stopped for a nap during the middle of the day on a road trip. It was a bit hot, but I was able to get in some refreshing sleep.
Lucky I took my nap when I did. It was back to following slow drivers. This time, it was 27 in a 50. We were literally doing half the speed limit!
If I wasn't putting along, I was stopped for construction.
I slowly but surely made it to Lamoille County.
One thing I will give Vermont is that it challenged me to pick out which building is the courthouse. Normally, it's easy to spot. Out there, it seemed like half the buildings could be courthouses.
I drove past the fake courthouse to get to the real courthouse in Washington County.
Most of the towns in Vermont seemed to have too many people for the infrastructure they had, which I think led to many of the traffic jams. The one exception was Montpelier. That town seemed quiet, and it was cool to see the Vermont State Capitol Building. If I were to stay in Vermont, I think Montpelier would be where I'd stay.
I had about had it with Vermont and this trip in general. I could tell I was no longer in my 20s and could go for days on end with little rest. With that and all the other weird stuff that happened, I was exhausted. I decided I'd start heading back towards home and get some counties along the way. I returned to Addison County, the county I had initially missed when I entered Vermont. Of course, it rained super hard and I had to slow way down on the way there.
I then looked for a rest stop in New York and set Google Maps to it.
I was soon crossing the same bridge into New York that brought me into Vermont.
I'm not sure if it was the most direct route, but Google had me go down this really windy mountain road. It was definitely a challenge to drive it, especially in the fog.
I made it to the rest stop.
I made a wrong assumption there would be food along the way. I was glad that New York had upped their vending machine game. There were chicken wraps available.
I originally thought I'd get up early and try to push myself again. I'd find a line of counties on the way back to visit. I had talked to Victoria the night before, and she was also kind of tired from watching Little Dude. I decided to get a few more counties and then head home. This trip had taken a lot out of me.
I slept in a bit, and looking at the fog in the mountains when I woke up was scenic.
Since I didn't have the courthouse address in my phone's contacts, I needed to search for it. Despite specifying the city and the address, it felt the need to search both New York and Ontario.
I got directions and made my way into the foggy mountains. It appears that gas stops were far and few between.
I wasn't going to take my chances with gas. I eventually discovered Mountain Market was the only place in 100 miles with gas.
One thing I find cool about Upstate New York is the sheer number of mom-and-pop places. They all seem to have delis, and everything is made fresh. I got a breakfast sandwich and took my time eating it.
After filling up my car and belly, I reached the Hamilton County Courthouse.
I had to take some real back roads to Herkimer County.
I got stellar gas mileage on the way to Oneida County for mountain driving.
I realized I90 ran right through where I was in Utica, New York. I decided to call it and start heading back home.
I got some coffee and hit the road.
I stopped at a New York travel plaza. It was a bit small inside, but nice.
It had amazing internet speeds!
I decided to get some Shake Shack food. This was the first time I had eaten at Shake Shack, and it was pretty good!
I hit the road, and it started to get cloudier. I eventually ran into some rain.
The rain cleared up, and I kept driving, making the occasional bathroom and/or gas stop. Eventually, I made it to an Ohio travel plaza.
They had a nice food court. I had a hard choice of Panda Express or Sbarro. Panda Express eventually won out.
I wanted to get Laffy Taffy for dessert, but they didn't have any. I got Chewy Sprees instead.
From there, it was more driving. I wanted to make it past Chicago to avoid traffic, but I hit a wall in Indiana. I stopped at a travel plaza there and called it a night.
The following day, I was up around 4:00 AM. I grabbed some breakfast and high-tailed it into Chicago.
Luckily, I avoided traffic and drove straight to Belleville. I backed the car into the garage and unloaded everything. It was good to be home!
This ended up being an interesting trip. I definitely pushed my limits. I do notice I cannot go dark to dark for days on end with very little sleep. I don't know if it's the perpetual tiredness you get being a parent or if I'm just getting older. It's probably a combination of both.
For future trips, I'll probably try to take it easier. I won't be as productive in the number of counties I visit, but the trips will be more relaxing. Also, if weird stuff pops up, it won't further exhaust me.
I will say in this trip I was impressed with Northern Ohio and Upstate New York. I really liked the area. I can't say as much for Vermont. It seemed crowded, and driving at such slow speeds got old fast. I do look forward to future trips. I think I might hold off on going out for this long again and focus on a few days. I'll keep testing more strategies and see which are the most sustainable.
I'm definitely in it for the long run. Here is where I'm currently at with my counties.
