Welcome to D.C.

Day 1 = Success

We drove from Detroit to Washington, D.C. No problems. Here are a few highlights from out first day on the road.



Coincidence?

Yogi Berra once said "that's too coincidental to be a coincidence." I'm not quite sure what he was referring to, but as merged onto I-696 yesterday morning, we experienced something beyond happenstance.

While we were on the on ramp, the opening notes of "House of the Rising Sun" started played on the radio. Since the climax of our road trip will be a weekend in New Orleans, I can't help but think something beyond pure chance was at play.

I'm probably wrong, though.

Let down by The Wolf

With the advent of iPod and the technology that allows you to connect them to your car stereo, the importance of the car radio has lessened. You no longer have to scan the entire spectrum, looking for a song that appeases everybody in the car. Instead, you can put your iTunes library on shuffle.

But when I drive in Ohio and Pennsylvania, I turn off the iPod and listen to the best classic rock station in the Big Ten, 93.3: The Wolf. Every time I go through this part of the country, I tune in. And it has never let me down. I felt as if the station knew exactly what I wanted.

But times have changed. No longer routinely playing hits from the 60s and 70s, The Wolf now features heavy metal and modern rock.

The cheapest Quizno's sandwich ever

Ninety minutes into the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Danny and I got hungry for lunch. We pulled off at the service plaza. But meal options were relatively slim. There was a Roy Rogers, Starbuck's, and Quizno's.

At Quizno's, the only vegetarian option was the $6.59 Vegetarian sub. For me, that was a bit too much to spend on a mediocre sandwich. I had sandwich fix-ins in the car. All I needed was some bread. So, all I did was buy a piece of bread and put some of my lox on it.

Danny also bought some bread. But instead of fillng it with stuff from the bar, Danny made a sandwich from the pepper bar.

A taste of Kandahar

When we got to D.C., we went to dinner at an Afghani restaurant with our friend, Naomi. Neither of us had ever eaten Afghan food and didn't really know what to expect. The menu was full of grilled meat and other Central Asian favorites. There were a few vegetarian items on the menu, mostly featuring eggplant, sweet potato, and spinach. There was also a delicious dip served with the bread before the meal.

Overall, the meal was pretty good. I don't think I will travel to Afghanistan just for the food. I will need another reason to go.

Party foul

After dinner, we went to a graduation party for Naomi's friend. It was pretty much your standard apartment party. I met a bunch of interesting people and had a good time. But we witnessed something rather atypical.

It's always nice when you can bring a beverage to enhance the party — it's just part of being a good guest. But three girls came into the party and just brought mixers.



Now, I understand that you might need to bring a mixer to dilute/add flavor to the alcohol you are drinking. I find it completely inappropriate that these girls would bring four mixers and no alcohol to the party.

What's he going to do with the leftover Diet 7Up?

Drinking games without the mess

Naomi's friend lives in a nice apartment, but from all appearances, it doesn't look outfitted for people to play drinking games. There is plenty of space, but it lacks the front lawn for cornhole or a table long enough for beer pong.

These problems can be remedied with Wii Sober. This is a beer pong and cornhole video game. Brilliant.

We can't wait for Wii to upgrade its game with a flip cup and lawn darts.