Day 5: Parents in Pittsburgh

On Sunday morning, Brett and I left Ithaca en route to his parent’s house in Mount Lebanon, PA just outside Pittsburgh. We headed out mid-morning in order to make it to Pittsburgh for an early evening clambake with his parents. It was a smooth drive over the slow rolling hills of Pennsylvania and Upstate New York. There were very few cars on the road and no police cars in sight. The biggest road hazard was us! (See Below)

It was a hassle to put up with the usual Sunday drivers, but for us, the driving experience was enhanced by the mobile command center in the front seat of the car. In order to aid us on our journey, we have the following technology:

1. Garmin Nuve 200 Global Positioning System (GPS) with the soft gentle directions of Shannon the GPS voice. She always knows how to get there no matter how many wrong turns we take; not to mention she knows how to get to all of the gas stations, restaurants, and local attractions.
2. Passport 8500 Radar Detector, which alerts us to all of the laser and radar speed tracking devices. The pigs ain’t got nothin’ on us!
3. Fast Lane Console (EZ Pass) for “free, easy, and efficient” tollbooth travel.
4. 30G Color Video IPod with an AV cable that connects directly into the car stereo system for unlimited rap music enjoyment.
5. Internet access via my Blackberry 8703e that provides unlimited nationwide access to fantasy football statistics for trades, trash talking, and the like.

GPS, Fastlane, and Radar Detector.
(IPod not pictured because everyone's got 'em.)

Yes, we do have unlimited internet access in the car.
Newsflash: It's faster than wireless!

The hilarious part of the mobile command center is that it is probably worth more than the blue book value of the car if you add in the computer. You can mock us now, but we won’t be getting lost, stopped for speeding, stopped for tolls, or bored along the way.

Pittsburgh in all of its splendor and glory!

On Sunday night after the clambake, we headed to The Saloon in downtown Mount Lebanon with Brett’s friends from high school. They traded war stories about girls from the past, high school cross country races, and drunken Thanksgiving night disasters. It is always hilarious to watch a group of people recount stories about each other as they bicker over useless facts because no one can remember the exact details. Even I enjoyed adding my own ridiculous takes on the arguments especially since I had no stake in the stories. Who doesn’t love Sunday night pitchers on a three-day weekend?

On Monday, we spent a relaxing Labor Day with the Richey Family. We watched U.S. Open tennis, went for a four mile run, and then had a Labor Day barbecue. It was nice to spend some quality time with Brett’s parents. We did our laundry for free, ate home-cooked meals, received additional food for the road, and best of all, received sound advice from our elders. In fact, as a librarian at The Mount Lebanon Library, Brett’s mother, Cynthia, had collected a wealth of information from her travels and for travelers in general; she gave us guidebooks, hand-written advice, and other newspaper clippings.

It is nice to have supportive parents, especially when you quit your job and shirk off all other responsibilities to embark upon a 3000 mile cross country voyage. Fortunately, both of our parents know that we are not just degenerate failures looking to escape the cruel realities of the world, but rather excitable journeymen hoping to conquer this country by car!