It took us some time to get ready for the trip. Things that aren't necessary for short trips of 3-4 days become must-have's for a trip that's a month-long. I divided the cargo in two layers- camping gears at the bottom and things we need often on top. I tried to make cargo area very flat so nothing would be blocking the view for the driver. When we were shopping for a car, we had camping on our minds. We can flip forward the back seat of this car and make it completely flat.
Even if we were camping, we would leave few things we don't need inside the car. So I stowed them further away from the trunk door. Things that we need frequently, I stuck them in the gaps and crevices behind seats and between cargo boxes. Some miscellaneous items like baseball gloves, small axe, shovel, map, sun shield for the car, umbrella, and the automatic underwear washing machine was also shoved into those spaces.
Right before we got inside our car, Sumi asked, "Are we ready? Did we forget anything?" "Well, we'll only know when we are on the road," I answered back.
There has to be one or two things that we leave out even if we were trying to be very thorough. And one can only realize after the departure. It's also part of the trip. It's August 27th, 1 PM in New York time and finally, off we go.
We planned on driving 300~350 miles(400~500 km) a day or even less. We have to draw, take pictures, and also write during the trip. The most important mission on this trip is to make a book of our travel. Also the car has to be taken into consideration. As I said before, we are driving 2002 Volkswagen Passat station wagon with 180,000 miles on it. The engine had been replaced and has little over 80,000 miles. Therefore, we don't know what will happen if our middle aged car was under a stressful condition. The latest health checkup showed a good result and our car doctor 'Dr. K' said it would be 'No Problem' to drive to L.A. However, I was reminded only after we got on the road that Dr. K said 'no problem' going to LA, but nothing about coming back.
Let's go! Cross-country America! Can't wait to meet the unknown landscape and people along the way!
Today's Route: Going through Pennsylvania
After three hours of driving, what we first encountered was a firetruck. It had an unusual green and yellow color. It was actually very cute. Cute may not be appropriate for this dangerous situation, but the fire had been put out already and only some smoke was rising from the burnt remains. The firemen looked like they were resting, too. Few thoughts passed through my head. Someone must've reported the fire pretty early on, and the fire truck got there fast enough. The mountains look pretty rocky so the fire must've been slow to spread. The policemen were redirecting the traffic behind the fire trucks, and everything seemed well managed. It seemed as though policemen and firefighters were moving under a tight emergency manual.
Next thing we encountered was an old car at a gas station. It was carrying a canoe on top of it. Because, I was looking at the car with such amazement, the owner came over and started talking to me about the car. It's a four wheel drive and very strong with a great suspension.... You like it and you want to have it. Well, he didn't say the last part. I was just thinking out loud. He looked like he was in the mid 50s. In the States, you can easily spot people driving around with various sports and leisure equipments on their cars. This blue car is probably much more awesome because it's hauling the red canoe. It was as though it came out of the factory with the canoe attached on top. Who knows. Maybe the canoe is just for a decoration, just like the emblem in front of a Rolls Royce.
Then, of course, we started remembering what we had forgotten when we left the house- Dried seaweed, frozen pork belly, steak to cook for tonight at the campground, and…. our cat Kopi.
Actually, Sumi's mother is taking care of him and we left some yummy canned food, too. We would have taken him with us if we were traveling in a large camping car. But our car is too stressful for a cat. Take care, Kopi. Let's go on trips together next time when we buy an RV.
To read Jingoogk's original blog in Korean, click here.
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