I’m a little more than a third of the way done with my cross-country trip. I’m driving a 14-foot U-Haul; I was originally going to get the smaller truck since I’d gotten rid of so much furniture, but I took a look at my boxes, then at the five-foot-wide, not-very-high truck, and decided against taking my chances.
The move-out had some issues. First, I showed up at the U-Haul facility shortly after 8 am. Movers were coming at 9:30 to load me up, so I should have had plenty of time. There was nobody there, however. Except a guy who was also trying to rent a truck. Several calls to Regional later, I had a new truck at a nearby facility where the staffers actually showed up to work on time, and was late to meet my movers.
Make that “mover.” Only Hector had shown up on time; the other mover (whom I started calling Skippy because he was so white-college-boy, and never told me his name) was over two hours late. But Hector got started right away, moving boxes and one-person items down the stairs. He told me he got paid from the time he showed up, but I wouldn’t start getting charged until the whole crew checked in. Plus, Hector got Skippy’s pay as well for that two hours. So it all worked out well for both me and Hector, at least in terms of money. In terms of time, U-Haul and Skippy put me behind schedule.
To get out of Brooklyn, I had to take the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel to the West Side Highway and then the Holland Tunnel to the Garden State Parkway (Rte. 78). On the map, and on all my directions, it sure as hell looked like you could get in the left lane at the Holland Tunnel and then take an immediate left to access 78. Except for the part where you first have to, if you are driving a commercial vehicle such as a 14-foot moving van, go the long way around to the special checkpoint entrance to the Brooklyn-Battery and show your rental agreement and license (after messing up and having to have the Port Authority cop who just sent you around and is surprised to see you in the same place he just sent you away from move the traffic cones and stop traffic to let you into the right lane) and then, at the Holland Tunnel, get out of the van and open up the back for the cop, who is not very happy to be there, and is certainly not happy your dog is barking at him. Oh, and except for the part where they’ve closed that left-hand turn and now, even though you’re in the extreme left lane, in order to get 78, you have to be five lanes over to the right really fast. In a 14-foot truck which you’ve been driving for less than an hour. In heavy, heavy traffic.
So I got lost for a while in Jersey City. In parts of Jersey City I don’t know at all. In parts of Jersey City with hills and narrow streets and no signs telling you which direction 78 might be in. I drove over the curb in a few spots, even, since I had no sense of where the end of the truck was. I finally stopped for gas and asked for directions (but the guy was no help), and then got the maps feature on my iPhone to cooperate. I found 78, then found my way to Pennsylvania. I’d hoped to get to Pittsburgh before I stopped for the night, because I had to be in Lafayette, IN the next day, but I’d gotten such a late start that I got no further than Carlisle, PA before I had to call it a night because I just couldn’t see.
The next day was a long drive followed by meeting Lauren and an unfortunate incident with Junebug and a waitress who had picked up the bag of food she’d just brought out and set down to make sure we had our whole order. No skin was broken.
Junebug has not been an easy traveling companion. Tolltakers are out to get her. So are the Port Authority cops and the poor waitress. I’ve gotten her a harness which can be strapped down by the seatbelt. I thought this might be a good way to keep her restrained when I got out of the truck, but the first time I left her belted in while I pumped gas, she chewed partway through the seatbelt. She’s also put a small hole in the vinyl seat, though that could have been me, too. Good thing I took out the super-duper damage policy. After the first day, when she was terribly, terribly anxious about driving, I have given her tranquilizers, which make her a little dopey and slit-eyed like a stoner After the drugs, she’s been pretty content to spend most of the ride with her head in my lap, though she has chosen some inconvenient moments to start nudging her head under my elbow to get me to pet her. Like construction zones.
Zuzu’s been tranquilized the whole way. And while she had a few scary moments the first day — it is NEVER a good thing when a cat pants open-mouthed — that could have been due to having a high anxiety level from the whole move experience. Also, it was hot. But she’s been better since then; she’ll have a few minutes of meowing and trying to climb out of the crate about an hour after we get underway, but she settles right down and naps.
I’ve gotten much more comfortable with the truck as well, which I find kind of amusing since I haven’t owned a car in 17 years, and I don’t really drive at all. I’ve figured out the mirrors, which make lane changes much easier, and I rather like being up high. Tractor-trailers bother me less when I’m looking over at the cab doors rather than at the tires as they go by. They do cause me some problems when they come alongside me, since their air currents push my back end. The truck’s a little light since I don’t have all that much stuff back there, so it does some fishtailing. But it’s not awful. And I’ve even gotten fairly comfortable with it at gas stations and on local roads — as long as I don’t have to back up or do much in the way of lane changing. And somehow, it’s not wearing on me to drive eight hours a day, as long as I break it up.
Also? The iTrip is the best thing ever.
I’ve got four more full days on the road, and four more nights in hotels, before I reach my final destination. Right now I’m in Iowa at a hotel which provides free wi-fi. I’ve downloaded the first three seasons of Mad Men and plan on watching a couple episodes before I crash.
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