Archive for September, 2007

The Cross Country Trek

As most of you know Wednesday the 26th was the day I left Troy, MI my home for the past 14 years, to move to Park City, Utah to start my new job at Pretty Good Privacy (PGP).  The drive began when I reached I-75 in Troy and Rochester Rd. at about 8:15 AM, it was smooth sailing until 696 which was utterly a mess (as usual).  I’m not going to get into detail about every single state I was in, but I will say I drove through Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and then finally Utah.  I will also say as much as everyone says Iowa is boring to drive through, I’d rather drive through it 10 more times before I drive through Nebraska one more time; that place was hella boring (yea, I said hella).  I also decided that I would keep a little trip tick style journal about my trip, noting the things I did, gas prices, temperatures, etc.  so below are my notes from my three day trip.  Oh yea, and here are the pictures from my three day drive: Cross Country Picture Album

09/26/07

  • 8:00 AM EST – Troy, MI – Gas: $2.99/gal-Total Spent: $21.01-Outside Temp: 63°F
  • 11:30 AM EST – South Haven, MI – Lunch Break: Burger King-Outside Temp: 66°F
  • 12:39 PM EST – Crossed into Indiana – Outside Temp: 68°F
  • 12:20 PM CST – Crossed into Illinois – Outside Temp: 69°F
  • 12:30 PM CST – Hit the I-80 West Toll Road (60¢)
  • 12:49 PM CST – Joliet, IL – Gas: $2.98/gal-Total Spent: $28.80-Outside Temp: 67°F
  • 2:40 PM CST – Great Sauk Trail, IL Rest Stop-Outside Temp: 70°F
  • 3:30 PM CST – Crossed over the Mighty Mississippi River and into Iowa – Outside Temp: 70°F
  • 3:42 PM CST – Walcott, IA – Stopped at the Worlds Largest Truck Stop – Gas: $2.80/gal-Total Spent $10.00-Outside Temp: 69°F
  • 6:09 PM CST – Johnston, IA – Dinner Break: Planet Sub-Outside Temp: 71°F
  • 6:29 PM CST – Johnston, IA – Gas: $2.69/gal-Total Spent: $18.75-Outside Temp: 71°F
  • 8:04 PM CST – Adair, IA – Stopped for the night -Super 8 Motel-Total Spent: $56.21
  • Total Miles Driven: 666.55
  • Day Total: $134.77 (Price does not include food/drink items, only gas and lodge)

09/27/07

  • 7:02 AM CST – Left Super 8 Motel – Outside Temp: 54°F
  • 8:05 AM CST – Crossed into Nebraska – Outside Temp: 60°F
  • 8:27 AM CST – Gretna, NE – Breakfast Break: McDonalds-Outside Temp: 58°F
  • 8:38 AM CST – Gretna, NE – Gas: $2.83/gal-Total Spent: $15.00
  • 10:23 AM CST – Purple Heart Trail Rest Stop (NE) – Outside Temp: 65°F
  • 11:46 AM CST – Lexington, NE – Gas: $3.01/gal-Total Spent: $10.00-Outside Temp: 73°F
  • 12:13 PM MST – Entered Moutain Standard Time Zone – Current Temp: 76°F
  • 12:26 PM MST – Ogallala, NE – Rest Stop – Current Temp: 75°F
  • 1:34 PM MST – Sidney, NE – Gas: $3.29/gal-Total Spent: $30.90-Lunch Break: Kentucky Fried Chicken
  • 3:30 PM MST – Crossed into Wyoming – Outside Temp: 65°F
  • 3:50 PM MST – Point of Interest: Tree Rock – Outside Temp: 55°F
  • 4:15 PM MST – Stopped to look at map
  • 5:05 PM MST – Wagon Hound Rest Stop – Outside Temp: 65°F
  • 6:34 PM MST – Rawlins, WY – Stopped for the night -Days Inn-Total Spent: $96.26 
  • Total Miles Driven: 718.97
  • Day Total: $152.16 (Price does not include food/drink items, only gas and lodge)

09/28/07

  • 9:10 AM MST – Left Days Inn – Outside Temp: 62°F
  • 9:15 AM MST – Gas: $2.89/gal – Total Spent: $25.00
  • 9:30 AM MST – Crossed the Continental Divide (Elevation – 7000 ft.) – Outside Temp: 63°F
  • 10:55 AM MST – Rock Springs, WY – Stopped at K-Mart for throat lozenges)-Outside Temp: 60°F
  • 12:28 PM MST – Crossed into Utah – Current Temp: 66°F
  • 1:30 PM MST – Arrived at the new home – Current Temp: 73°F
  • Total Miles: 271.39
  • Day Total: $25.00

Totals and Averages

  • Total Gas Cost: $159.46
  • Average Gas Price: $2.94
  • Total Lodging Cost: $152.47
  • Total Gas and Lodge: $311.93
  • Average Temperature: 66° F
  • Total Miles Driven: 1,656.91
  • Total Drive Time: Too Long

Utah Bound

In case anyone hasn’t heard, I did get that job at PGP in Utah.  And I accepted it.  I’m leaving Michigan a week from today (Wed, the 26th).  I start working on October 1st and I am quite excited about it, nervous, but excited.  The last few weeks have been crazy, I’ve been trying to buy a car and get things together while the whole time still working at the Camp.  I went to the Pontiac dealership a few days ago and found the car I’m about to buy tomorrow, it’s a 2007 Pontiac Vibe (with upgraded 7 speaker stereo system – fo sho hah).  I can’t believe this is happening, seriously.  I owe my cousin Matt a lot for this job since he’s the one that got me in with the interview and I love him for it.  You know that once I get to Utah this site will be updated a lot more often than it is now since I won’t be seeing everyone regularly :( … So make sure you check it often, I’m also going to be making sure the photo gallary is fully up-to-date as well.

In case you haven’t heard, the going away party for me is this Friday at Camp Ti at 10 PM, if you’re interested in going contact me, otherwise, the next post ya’ll read will be from Utah and the next time ya’ll see me will be Christmas probably… I’ll miss all you guys. 

Utah

I haven’t updated in a while (as usual) and this isn’t going to be a long post.  I just wanted to tell people that I’m going to Utah on Thursday for an interview at PGP (see post below).  I will be there from Thursday evening until Sunday afternoon.  I’ll be staying with Billy T. so  I’m sure it’ll be a interesting weekend.  I’m going to have my laptop there and hopefully a working digital camera so I can take some pics of the place.  Check back soon!