Mile 836: Blogging from the Road OR The Magic of mobile broadband

This is our first post from the road. Literally. Mamta is driving and I am typing this on the passenger seat. The kids are remarkably well-behaved. At the moment. Three minutes ago, they were tearing at each other. Then we put the Lagaan cd on, ensuring relative peace.

Friday evening, despite my best efforts, I was not able to leave work before 5:30 PM yesterday. Took the subway to Times Square and then walked over to 43rd and 11th. Thats where Mamta was parked, after having loaded the kids and the car up and driven down.

Its been a great twenty four hours. We have made good progress, but that has not been for Lincoln / Holland Tunnel not trying their very best to hold us back! Getting out of NYC has been the toughest part of the drive, so far. Well that, and trying to stay awake at 2 in the morning, driving through rural SW Virgina. Little did Jeet Chowdhury, whose work we are about to show in London, know - that he was not only chatting about art with me, but also helping me stay awake.

It was a tough drive, after a full day of work. We reached Blacksburg at 2:30 in the morning. But it was great seeing Kay and Moira. Reconnecting with Kay, after a decade. We used to be very good friends, back in New Haven when we were both working for Cesar Pelli. Since then Kay got a second graduate degree at Yale and became an academic, teaching architecture at Virgina Tech. More of that in the next post.

The kids, all bundled and not entirely sure what their parents are dragging them into.

The starting clock. We will check back in later.

Early morning

Its early morning - I have been packing for the trip. Like all things - it's a fine balance to have everything we could possibly need and still have room in the car! We would primarily like to enjoy the places, the drive and the scenery but in the age of electronics, it is tempting to bring various paraphernelia along. But wait...what if the drive is not exciting enough and we run out of conversation. How about muti-tasking - I could catch up on some new music, make some phone calls on the road, even work on my next crochet project! And there are options for the children too - Leapster and Nintendo DS, IPod, books, CDs and a DVD player. The DS and DVD player have been esp. purchased for this trip - we have managed wonderfully without them so far!

I was tempted by the idea that we go without any electronic devices and enjoy some old-fashioned boredom - the joy of staring out of the window or playing word games or singing in the car. As we did on road trips as children. Yes, we were sometimes bored but often inventive. And Keya and Ayon experienced some of this on our trip to Nainital and around this past summer. It is true the view in the hills was spectacular and the childern were often restless. We will see how this drive pans out in terms of activities in the car!

The Map

So, the big day is almost here.

We have wanted, for a very long time, to drive cross-country. Have made somewhat serious plans at least once before and posted it on the refrigerator, only for the route to fall off the metal in time. Never to be found.

Finally, our hand has been forced by an automobile lease about to expire. After having spent a lot of money to (mostly to garage) drive very little in the past two years, we have decided to become like most other Manhattanites - proud non-owners of an automobile. But wait, between that time and now, we have several thousand miles to burn on the lease, a milestone at my work (more of that, later) just behind me and a somewhat enthusiastic wife and kids. So, after a little more talking up each other's courage, we have decided to bite the bullet.

Tomorrow, after work, we set of on the drive of a lifetime.