Pre-Production: Day 1 - Boston to Erie, PA.

As a warning, this blog isn't going to be that exciting until after leaving Chicago on Saturday.

But Day 1 was solid. It went by quickly and the conditions were perfect - the roads were clear, the sky was blue, the snow was whiter than I've seen it in a while. And mom has been an excellent and easy-going travel companion. Good times. We took I-90 all the way into Erie, which made it easy. We left Boston at around noon, because we stopped at the Northshore Mall so I could pick up a quality ipod FM scanner (definitely got a good one which is amazing - but I'm still mad that no one has invented a bluetooth device that can somehow react with the CD player for better sound quality... for those of us without tape decks!) We stopped in Auburn, NY to see an old friend from High School, Loren. That was great- I'm impressed that Loren is really going after what she wants, and taking risks and moving all over the country to pursue it. That's so commendable, and we all know how difficult it is to pick up and move over and over again. So we had some great sushi with Loren and caught up and before you know it my mom and I were back on the road and in Erie by 10pm.

We're staying at the La Quinta Inn in Erie - it's totally fine and way better than any other off-highway hotel I've ever been to. But this part of the country is FREEZING. Boston doesn't even compare to this kind of cold right now. Actually, Boston's been lucky because it has been cold but hasn't had as much wind as I remember from previous winters. Here, the wind is unreal. The lake effect from the Great Lakes.

Don't really care much for Erie, but hey! That's okay. We're going to be back on the road pretty soon and in Chicago by 4pm Central. I'm so PSYCHED to get this trip STARTED.

Also. How happy are we that Robert Downey Jr. was nominated for "Tropic Thunder?!" SO HAPPY! Hahhh! I never saw it coming but it is SO deserved. Without Downey Jr. in that flick, "Tropic Thunder" would have been another mediocre Ben Stiller movie. But he KILLED it. I mean his performance was seriously unreal. It's so easy to underestimate a performance like that because it's comedic, but he really had to commit to being the black-power-era black guy, not to mention a convincing Australian - both of which he is not. Hah. Anyway. I'm glad it wasn't overlooked.

And with that - back on the road!

Stay tuned for the fun stuff, which is yet to come...