When I decided to go to New York for my first road trip of this blog, I didn’t have a whole lot of time to prepare for the trip. I had thought about the road trip blog a couple weeks from my departure trip, and finalized plans about 10 days before leaving to spend June 14-20 in New York.
Yet one of the most crucial elements of the road trip needed some serious preparation–my car, a gold 2007 Toyota Camry. On the last scheduled day of my previous job, I got into a car accident. While no one was hurt, my car’s bumper was hanging on by one screw (that I could not get off while on the shoulder) and I had a dent to the rear quarter panel. Here’s what my car looked like right after my accident.
You could say my car had a hurt booty.
Fortunately, I am a member of AAA, the American Automobile Association, which provides free towing of up to 100 miles, additional roadside assistance, lodging discounts, travel guidance, and more as part of my membership. A tow truck came quickly and towed my car back to my residence.
Meanwhile, the other driver’s insurance company, USAA, was super helpful to set up estimates, provide a way for repair, and obtain a rental car from Enterprise. As part of my rental car deal, I received a free upgrade to a Cadillac! Kinda made me forget my car accident for a little bit.
It didn’t make me forget, though, that the key ingredient to the road trip, my car, needed some repairs. Life can be absurd sometimes, and that was certainly one absurdity.
Making Preparations for the Road Trip
So repairs on my vehicle started June 4, and I had thought that my New York road trip would start June 14. 10 days of preparation, including the repairs to my car. I started setting up shop, getting Tripping Thru the USA registered as a domain name and on social media channels, and buying supplies for the trip.
I bought an Anker ROAV C1 Pro dash cam from Best Buy to capture video of the picturesque views out of my windshield. It records with a maximum resolution of 1920 X 1440 at 60 frames per second. I also bought two 64 GB micro-SD cards with adapters and a card reader for my MacBook Air. In future posts, I’ll bring you some of the video this dash cam captures and show you my road trips through my windshield view.
I also bought snacks and drinks for the car. I love Dr Pepper, as it is my favorite soft drink. I also purchased Canada Dry Ginger Ale, cashews, Larabar chocolate chip cookie dough bars, strawberries, and UTZ crab-flavored potato chips. It’s always a good idea to have snacks in the car for a road trip, whether you are driving long distances or have kids.
Packing clothes and toiletries weren’t so hard either. As for film and computer equipment, I prepared to pack a MacBook Air with video editing software, a Panasonic GH4 that shoots up to 4K, and some sound equipment to record some reflections while on the road.
Just in Time
As for my car, Bar Harbor Body Shop finished my car’s repairs June 11, a few days before my road trip’s start date on June 14. They did a great job on the car and I’m happy with the results of the repairs, but it also meant I had to return the Cadillac. Still the key ingredient to the road trip–my car–was now available and I finally felt prepared to go on my trip.
In my next post, I’ll talk about a minor hiccup and my drive up to New York.