Day 1 of The Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Probably Never Do Again

Thursday, May 15

11:21 am ET: Finished packing up the car and left Brooklyn. I've always had a disdain for the outer boroughs. Things are looking up already.

12:48 pm ET: Crossed the border into Pennsylvania. I'm reminded of my childhood. What's that smell? Well, in Lancaster County, they call that fresh country air. My grandmother used to tell me that when the cows are lying down, it's going to rain. Everywhere we look, the cows are lounging. Rain must be imminent.

1:29 pm ET: Stopped at a Shell gas station and a Wendy's in Hamburg, Pennsylvania. One thing that I didn't think about is the sheer volume of fast food that I'll be consuming over the next two weeks. Perhaps getting a house with a pool wasn't such a good idea after all.

3:54pm ET: Crossed the border into Maryland. F-Train asked about the origin of the Mason-Dixon line. I have a vague recollection of knowing this information a long time ago. (This is what happens when you grow up 45 minutes north of the Mason-Dixon line.)

4:04pm ET: Crossed the border into West Virginia.

4:26pm ET: Crossed the border into Virginia. Three states in 32 minutes. I wish the rest of the trip was going to be this fast.

4:28pm ET: Pulled off I-81 for a pit stop and driver change. Two options: Exxon gas station and something called the Flying J Travel Plaza. F-Train thought Exxon would be cleaner. I opted for the Flying J Travel Plaza because it sounded adventurous.


It was a good choice just for the anthropological value. Slot machines greeted us as we entered! Then we walked into a large open shopping area where there was a mini food court and wares for sale ranging from color TVs to Pringles. The odd thing is that there were no clearly marked restrooms. We saw an area called the Lounge and headed in that direction. More slot machines. Lounge area. Coin-up laundry area. And finally, the restrooms. But across from the restrooms . . . showers! Apparently, this was a major trucker hangout, so you could "rent" a shower for a small fee. The attendant would print you a slip with a code that you had to enter onto the keypad in front of the specified shower.

7:12pm ET: Arrived at the hotel in Roanoke, Virginia. During the prior couple of hours, we learned that cows in Virginia do not follow the same rules as the cows in Pennsylvania. You see, it did start raining. But the Virginia cows remained standing. Not a single one was lying down. F-Train said it was because Pennsylvania cows are lazy. I countered with the fact that Pennsylvania cows are better trained. Burgers AND weather report!

We had dinner at Famous Anthony's (Since 1986) in Roanoke. Nothing too fancy, but it was better than fast food.

9:00pm ET: Signed up for Riverchasers. Made it past the first break but ran into KJ's better two-pair during the Stud-8 round. I think some people were surprised to see me playing. Some even thought that I was already in Vegas. I tried to convince them that I scrapped the Vegas plan and decided to move to Macau instead, but I don't think anyone was buying it. Then again, a flight to Macau doesn't seem like such a long journey . . .

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Total miles traveled: approx. 450
Total miles until Vegas: not even worth mentioning at this point

(Props to anyone who gets the reference in the title.)