A New Adventure

Adventures on the road

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I have to admit that occasionally I have broken the speed limit. I know that to some of you that may come as a shock.

Last month Connie and I spent 40 hours, and over 2,300 miles, in our Dodge Grand Caravan over the course of four long days. The reason for the self-inflicted punishment was not a much-needed vacation to some secluded beach or mountain retreat. It was to help relocate our son Ethan and his wife Hillary to Princeton, New Jersey.

The first leg of our journey was north to Madison, Wisc. That was on Thursday in only seven hours — an easy trip that we have made several times in the last four years.

After driving to the home they’ve rented for the last two years we helped them finish packing the 24-foot U-Haul box truck. They treated us to some very good Chinese take-out food for dinner.

On day two we arose at 5 a.m. to put their Toyota Avalon onto a U-Haul tow dolly and connected it to the truck. It’s wasn’t long before we were on the road.

Ethan and Hillary were in the lead driving the U-Haul. This was not Ethan’s first experience driving a box truck but his first one while towing a car.

Connie and I followed them in our van with their two cats Toby and Penelope behind our seats in their carriers. Fun.

When they picked up the U-Haul with the tow dolly they received instructions. When towing a car the top speed limit was 55 miles per hour.

Immediately Sammy Hagar’s song went through my mind — “I can’t drive 55.” 

Ethan is our middle child. I didn’t know that one characteristic of a middle child — at least it is of Ethan — is following rules.

According to Google the distance from Madison to Princeton is 938 miles with a drive time of 14 hours and 29 minutes. That assumes an average speed of around 67 miles per hour. To make it in that time you also cannot stop.

Of course, we did stop. We also didn’t go over 60 mph. We stayed the night in the town of Breezewood, Penn. after driving 16 hours. There were another 221 miles to go which would take us another 4.5 hours.

During the trip, we passed one car.

One thing Ethan was able to check off his bucket list — and everyone should try this at least once — was driving through the middle of Chicago in a 24 ft. U-Haul box truck while towing a car.

He did it, without any problems, or accidents. 

On day three we rose bright and early to complete the journey to their new apartment. I did  notice that Ethan felt more comfortable in the truck on Saturday as our speed topped out for a couple of miles at 65. 

After unpacking the truck Connie and I rested for a couple hours and started our return trip home, so we could make to work on Monday morning. 

Google said our trip home would take 15 hours and 22 minutes. It didn’t. To give you a clue the van averaged 35 miles per gallon on the trip from Madison to Princeton. On the return trip to Owensville, we averaged only 27 mpg.

The things we do for our children. Hopefully, we’ll never have to make a long move like this again.

On short trips, I obey the speed limit. On a longer journey, I tend to push the limits. Speeding or not, a state patrolman on the side of the road has the opposite effect. I’m sure you have had the same experience. 

After weeks of Democrat leaders berating law enforcement and calling for defunding police departments in many cities, how can anyone be surprised that major crime and violence have increased during this same time? When elected politicians don’t respect the police, we can’t expect criminals to.

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Two more organizations need to be renamed because of their past — Sierra Club and Planned Parenthood. Turns out that John Muir, the co-founder of the Sierra Club made racist comments. Never mind the good he did in helping establish our national park system. His name is now going to be erased from history. 

Planned Parenthood’s founder Margaret Sanger was part of the eugenics movement. This is something many pro-life supporters have known for decades. This has only become a problem for the abortion crowd in light of today’s cancel culture.

More evidence of the Democrat party’s racist past also turned up. During the 1992 presidential campaign, there were campaign buttons featuring Bill Clinton and Al Gores’ heads superimposed on confederate soldiers’ bodies with the phrase, “Sons of the New South.” Looks like they need a new name.