Just woke up and thought I'd say good morning.

After lunch, we headed to Independence Hall and the historic areas of Philly.

A semi-interesting tour exposed how much more 5th graders know about colonial America, in comparison to their parents, and pretty much everyone else. Since it was a gorgeous day, we couldn't bear being inside too long, and began wandering around on our own.

The area was chock full o'statues, with one featuring Jay's last name. We peered down into the rubble foundation of Ben Franklin's old house, and ventured into an underground museum, which had only one other person (the guard), a small scale animated model of Independence Hall, and a curious array of telephones on pedestals.

We stopped for orange creme sodas, then trekked it over to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Liberty Bell, and were heading back to the car when we spotted an anti-war rally, complete with carneys toting animals heads on sticks, and a George Bush caricature riding a missile. This parade encircled the Free Tibet protest, which bordered the opposing factions of the Hillary/Obama area. Topped off by 5 helicopters, this was a peaceful hotbed of political activism we were happy to see.

On our way out of the city, we swung by the Franklin Institute (they really love that guy in Philly), and gave a shout out to Rocky as we gazed up the steps of the Art Museum.

Hungry, we went to a nice casual restaurant, Gullifty's, near Villanova. We shared a few ice-cold Yeungling's (on tap no less), some dynamite ribs, and a buffalo chicken pizza.

Now, we're back at Heather's apartment regrouping and recharging before going to her theatre production after-party.

Busy day. Hope they're all this good.

You can't go to Philly without getting a cheesesteak. For good measure, we decided to get two.

The first cheesesteak was created by a guy by the name of Pat Olivieri, circa 1930. He opened up a shop on the corner of 9th Street and Passyunk Ave, in South Philadelphia. Some years later, Geno's opened up on the opposite and facing corner of 9th and Passyunk, launching this particular chapter of the cheesesteak war.

Customer service is not a priority. And there's little patience for rookies, so we're glad things went smoothly.

When ordering, you need to first specify with or without onions. Then, your type of cheese: american, provolone, or the classic, cheez whiz. A simple two words is all it took. "With whiz" and $7.50 was enough to get us a cheesesteak from Geno's. Done.

We decided to branch out at Pat's, and got a "Mushroom Pepper Steak Onions Whiz." 30 seconds later we had our sandwich in hand.

All in all, we liked Geno's for its simplicity and construction. Very tasty and well done for a slab of bread with some meat and fake cheese on it. Pat's was nice because you have more options for toppings (mushroom, pepper, etc) which allows you to expand your cheesesteak palette. But in the end, we give a slight edge to Geno's.

Day one, and we've already covered a few states.

We began by getting a pair of haircuts in RI. Yes, even me. Then, at long last, we gathered the last of our things and headed to Connecticut.

We contemplated camping on the beach of Hammonasset State Park, but opted for a delicious (albeit unhealthy) fried fish dinner and met up with Jon (Jay's old boss) in New Haven, CT. We walked around Wooster Street and past the famous Pepe's pizza, before heading over to the Yale campus. After nearly getting locked in the campus (confusing gates, don't ask), and some brief shadow-puppeteering with Greta (Jon's adorable daughter), we made tracks towards Philly.

Despite an inadvertent 20 mile detour, we arrived at 1:00. And we learned that Jay's gas tank has a generous fuel reservoir, even below the E line.

Wow...I never would have thought I had so much stuff. After two days of non-stop packing, I'm ready to blow out of here and close the 'Connecticut' chapter of my life. Two more days of work ahead between unpacking all my stuff, packing for the trip, and packing the car...

Excitement begins to sneak in.

Jay bought an atlas. Cameras arrived. iPod almost done. And we have our tent, but it’s still encased in plastic.

However, the excitement is laced with a sense of imminent nostalgia. As we get closer to departure, we realize we’re going far from many of the things we hold dear. Our friends, our families, our homes, and even our jobs. We’ll miss it all, but then we imagine all we’d miss by not taking this brief journey. And the excitement comes back.

Things are taking shape. We really are going. It probably won’t hit us until we’re on the road, off deadlines, and pretty much off the grid entirely.

Preparations are in full-swing. So are the bags under our eyes.

Typing up loose ends at our jobs, backing up data, developing websites, making portfolios, buying supplies, learning how to camp, ordering cameras, organizing itineraries, saying our goodbyes, and creating a massive music library have yielded many late nights.

And in addition to packing for the trip, Jay is packing to move out of CT upon our return.

No complaints. There will be plenty of time to sleep on the road.

For days, the emptiness of this blog intimidated me.

There seemed to be no words worthy enough to christen the page nor forceful enough to overcome the inertia of a blog at rest.

So we begin writing exactly as we will begin our trip. One day at a time.