Roll Out

Last night turned out to be a late one, so I didn't update. I'm sure that it was very trying for you all to get through the day without knowing what Jon and I ate. I'll catch you up, but fair warning, this will be a long one since it covers both days. Before I get started though, I'll give a plug to Jon's competing blog on the same trip, which can be found here - http://psychoroadtrips.blogspot.com/. He's made a bit of a career out of being a co-driver lately, so you can also learn all about his adventures through Alaska and the Yukon if you're curious.

Jon, Mom, and Me

We started Monday early in Becket. Sunday night we had decided that breakfast at Joe's was a good start to the trip. It was supposedly the inspiration for Norman Rockwell's The Runaway, but this article seems to dispute that. Either way, it is a Berkshires institution, was a favorite of my dad's, and is near the on ramp to the Mass Pike. It is all of those things. Unfortunately, it is not a very good diner. I think the place survives on nostalgia, or because of a lack of better options.

On the way in though, we got an opportunity to stop and explore the curious shed sales lot across the street from the Outlet Mall. I was intrigued by the idea of a finance plan for a shed. Repo'ing them must be a nightmare. If the finance company has to come get one in the dead of night for non-payment, do they get all the stuff inside? Do they auction it off? Will there be an A&E show? 

My tuna sanwich

The goal for the day was to get to Rochester in time to eat a DiBella's sandwich before heading on to the RIT campus, where I was going to drop in on a class in my old program, have some work-related meetings, and then meet up with a couple of my old professors. We got a bit backed up and I wound up having lunch on campus with Nitin Sampat instead, which was great. Jon made up for the DiBella's miss later. It was also good to catch up with Scott Williams, who met us for a beer after my meetings. I neglected to take any pictures at all at RIT, but couldn't believe the place. I haven't been there in about 10 years, and I think there are as many buildings that have gone up in that period as there were total when I was a student.

The massive new DiBella's

Once we did get to Dibella's, I realized that it has gone through roughly the same transformation as RIT. It used to be a single location sandwich shop in a strip mall by campus. Great bread, which makes great sandwiches. In addition to a vastly larger and fancier space in Henrietta, they now have a whole bunch of locations. More on that later. I was raving about this sandwich, so we pushed off our departure to have one for dinner. Jon actually had two, which I'm pretty sure validates my opinion of the place. And then we headed to Cleveland. It was an uneventful drive, but got us in at midnight.

Oh, and as we pulled off the highway, what was right across the street from the hotel? One of those new Dibella's locations.

Total mileage for Monday: 565

We decided to get some sleep since the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame doesn't open until 10. The idea was to get there when it opened, and then get out of Cleveland in time for a decent dinner. Didn't happen. Turns out there were a few things that we each needed to get done and we finally decided that instead of lunch in Cleveland after the museum, we'd eat a big breakfast and skip lunch to get back on schedule. So that took us to this place, which the desk clerk at the hotel suggested:

Jon and I have both lived in SoCal for quite some time now, and neither one of us could figure out what was remotely L.A. about it. They didn't even offer to put avocado on anything. Once again, a generally disappointing breakfast. Jon was a little sick. I got them back by changing my T-Shirt in the parking lot after getting yolk on it. I'm sure they enjoyed watching that.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was better than expected. The place has been mired in controversy and seems to have totally arbitrary criteria for induction. Green Day is inexplicably in, but Dire Straits, Yes, The Cars, and Warren Zevon are not. Despite my feelings on those and many other choices, it was an entertaining and informative way to spend a chunk of a day in Cleveland. The Herb Ritts exhibit was particularly outstanding, and I picked up a few new bands that I have to find out more about. Did you know that Eddie Vedder once played in a band with the Finn Brothers to support Oxfam? Neither did I, but if anyone's got a copy of the live recording they released in 2001 I'd love to hear it.

It turns out that the truck isn't getting great gas mileage. I haven't bothered to figure out the exact MPG, because I really don't care, but range is under 250 miles on a tank. We've been trying to top up before long stints to minimize stops. The BP between the HOF and the I-70 ramp has to be the worst gas station in Cleveland. It is right in the middle of downtown, and appears to be busy but includes the following outstanding features:

- A port-a-potty for a bathroom.

- A padlock on the port-a-potty, so you have to get the key and hold onto both the key and the lock while using the port-a-potty.

- No functioning card readers at the pumps

- Not enough coffee to fill a large size cup at 3:00 PM on a Tuesday.

On the upside, they had Slim Jims, and so in a nod to my dad, I ate one. When we were kids and went on a road trip, it seemed like every time we stopped for gas, everybody got a Slim Jim. When I moved into my first off campus apartment in college and we hit Costco so my parents could help me stock up on groceries, my mom actually loaded me up with groceries. My father's contribution to the cart was a box of Slim Jims. So, partially gassed up with the $20 worth they could sell me from the counter, we headed to Cleveland.

Since we were running way too late for dinner in Indy, we started researching for something halfway, and found Henry's outside of Columbus.

Henry's

Apple Pie

According to the local at the end of the counter, it has been there since the 50's, when the road it is on was the main East/West thoroughfare. It has probably suffered since the Interstate was built, but has survived on the reputation of the pie, which is well deserved. The corn nuggets were good too. Basically deep fried balls of cornbread batter. You've all seen Cars. So seriously, get off the Interstate and find something interesting. Use Roadfood.com or a million other resources. Yes, we've been driving on the Interstates, but trying to eat off of them. The sameness of the stuff you see along the sides of major highways is just depressing. Okay, off my soapbox.

We needed to make another gas stop, so pulled in at a truck stop/gas station. While I filled up, Jon ducked inside for what I assumed was a Coke Zero. He was gone a very long time, and finally emerged carrying a bag that was not Coke shaped. Turns out they had a CD rack. Do you buy much music at truck stops? I'm guessing you don't, because you are at least a little sane. Jon seems to lack the impulse control that keeps him from doing things like this, so I spent the remaining 2+ hours to Indy listening to Vanilla Ice, The B-52's, and Debbie Gibson. The B-52's were fine, and Debbie Gibson was tolerable. It is remarkable to me that there is a record executive out there somewhere that thought

releasing Vanilla Ice into the world was a good idea. I am sure that Elissa will chuckle at this, since she finds his shows on HGTV amusing. I assure you that his music is not, but the passenger controls the music selections. (A note about Jon - He actually has very good taste in music. He was being ironic and/or trying to torture me. I think.)


Finally, we rolled into Indy after another full day.


Total mileage for Tuesday: 352


-