Glen Cove, NY through Smithville, NJ

Nick: So as it turns out, Andreas was unable to get his grad school stuff together in time to join us, so we will meet him in D.C. sometime next week. I left to go pick up Brian in Manhattan as he had left the garden with Max the previous night. It was strange to be driving solo. I didn’t like it. United again, we set our course for New Jersey where my senior year roommate Paul lived. After spending a small fortune-

Brian: Did you know bridge tolls could be eleven dollars? It sucks.

Nick: Yeah. Big time. But we made it through them and then found ourselves on what I feel is one of the worst highways in the country. Highway 9. Thousands of stop lights. Millions of pot holes. Also, my co-pilot was out like a light. Also, I’ve never seen so much rain in so short a time. Eventually we made it to Paul’s though, and after some corn hole (I was awful… the platforms were a lot farther apart than I’m used to) and some pork kabob from the nearby Octoberfest, it was off to Atlantic City to see what it might have to offer.

Brian: I’ve never been to Vegas, but I’ve heard that AC is like a miniature version. Yeah, it was quite well lit. I doubt the 5 or 6 wind turbines outside the city generate even a fraction of a percent of the power that city uses. But AC was on the list so we lived it up. Paul took us to a couple sports bars and a cool Irish pub. It was tempting, but we didn’t gamble. All of Paul’s friends were at a local bar called JD’s back in his home town so we left Atlantic City early and headed to meet them. It was there I determined my fate for the next 24 hours.

Nick: Waiter: “What do you want?” Brian: “Hot wings.” Waiter: “Mild, medium, hot, or devil.” Brian: “Devil.” Waiter: “You can’t return those.” Brian: “Bring ‘em on.” Waiter: “That a boy.”
I didn’t think it was the best idea, but we had talked a lot about spicy food in Atlantic City for some reason, and so I think Brian just needed a quick fix. Like how if you get a song stuck in your head, it helps to listen to the song once or twice.

Brian: Big mistake. They were intolerably hot. Being the man that I am, I decided I couldn’t back down to a six pack of boneless tenders, so I ate them in spite of the intense searing sensation between my mouth and stomach. Nick had one of them to help me out; I ate the other five. Stay tuned for the next post to hear about the aftermath.

Nick: Brian and I know our way around a Jalapeño pepper. We’ve tangled with the Habeñero and emerged no worse for the wear. I don’t know what they used to kick those wings up, but even after just one piece I felt like I’d swallowed a coal for the rest of the night. After more corn hole, we left J.D.’s and ventured to the nearest WaWa. It’s like a convenience store with a sleek body kit and spoiler. No, it wasn’t Asian. It was just stepped up. On an unrelated note, the song of the day was “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus. Now I can hear you readers saying “But Nick, Brian, isn’t that the song of the trip? Isn’t it therefore, the song of the day every day?” To be honest readers, we were having a little bit of a rough patch with Miley. We saw the music video, which was just awful, and several people on this trip haven’t really been feeling us on this tune. But now she’s back in our hearts, heads and in our radio. Just keep being Miley. Brian and Nick out.

Scranton, PA through Gifford State Park, VT

Brian: Even though ninja camping was awesome, (thanks again deer/spirit guide) the sleep was restive (which means we didn’t sleep well, oddly), and hopefully it’s not something we have to do more than once a week. Thankfully our only goal for the next day was to make it to the Adirondack Park Preserve by the early afternoon, and whittle away the remaining hours of the day fireside with beer, rum, and cupcakes. For energy, we stopped at the Rudest Arby’s in America, where I attempted to order before my cashier was ready, and was promptly put in my place with a snappy retort. Allow me to issue the second personal apology of the last couple days to my overweight cashier: I know how early you have to get up because Arby’s opens at 10 am (we were there at 10:03 by the way), but reconsider the sign on the door that says “All meals come with a complimentary smile.” I would’ve asked for mine but I didn’t want a sarcastic one, and the sign didn’t technically specify. All’s well that end’s well, though, because had we not pulled off the freeway for junk food, we wouldn’t have seen the awesome series of hand painted billboards for the Secret Caverns.

Nick: A note about the billboards: There were normal signs for an apparently popular destination called “Howe’s Cave.” The psychadelic signs we saw were advertising an entirely different, and apparently very competitive, hole in the ground. Just goes to show, you’ve got to take your advertising seriously. We wouldn’t have given Howe’s Cave the time of day after passing their hum-drum signage. If they won’t make the effort, neither will we. Hey are a few of the numerous samplings found along the side of the road:





Brian: More photos of the Secret Cavern signs are on Facebook.

Nick: Definitely worth checking out.

Brian: The guide for the tour was clearly a stoner and a major Mitch Hedburg fan, and he wittily led us 115 ft underground to the bottom of a 100 ft waterfall, which was cool despite the fact that I had a secret paranoia that I would accidentally remove the keystone of the cave and be buried underneath thousands of tons of solid rock. Deep breaths, Brian, deep breaths.

Nick: After the caves, we made our way to the State park around Lake George where it seemed camp grounds would be in great abundance.

Brian: A word of advice: unless you are a fat New Yorker that loves plastic pirate ships and putt putt golf, never go to Lake George, NY. I guess “Park Preserve” means different things in different states. It was the most kitschy, touristy, man-made place we had ever been, and it only took an hour of driving around looking for a campsite to realize that we would be much more fulfilled by camping in Vermont.

Nick: We should have known immediately when we passed no less than THREE pirate ship themed mini-golf attractions in as many miles. Do all New Yorkers love knocking rainbow golf balls around fiberglass mermaids this much? That can be your riddle of the day readers. As of yet, we have no answer.

Brian: We left New York at 5pm and by 6 our tent was pitched in a beautiful state park just across the border. So began Pee-In-The-Woodsfest 2009. Fire + beer + cupcakes + rum + best friends = good times; enough said.

Nick: That’s cute. But it really was quite a nice evening.

Brian: We woke up feeling surprisingly great, especially after we roasted a couple of breakfast hotdogs over the remainder of our firewood. Hit the road at 10 and spent the midday finishing up a new blog post at a local coffee shop on the Vermont/New Hampshire border. Life is good.

Nick: As are oatmeal cookies. This is a fact. Song of the day: A twist today, actually. Today we reveal that, after much deliberation-

Brian: Actually, there was very little deliberation.

Nick: Haha, true. When it’s right, it’s right. What is there to talk about?

Brian: The song of the trip, nay, the anthem of the journey, is now and forever shall be “Party in the U.S.A” by the inappropriately attractive Miley Cyrus.

Nick: She’s 18 in a couple years. That’s not too bad, right?

Brian: Not bad at all my friend, and those next couple years can’t go by fast enough. In the meantime, just keep being Miley; Brian and Nick out.