On the Road, Day 1

Day 1 was actually Sunday, 6/5/05, just so you have a frame of reference. I could attempt to catch you up on Days 1 and 2, but I'm exhausted. Plus, there are pictures from Day 2, and I left the camera in the car. So, live with Day 1, in bullet point form:

• Did just short of 900 miles today. That' s a fair amount of driving. Used to do it all the time between NY and ATL, but as my dad reminded me Saturday, I'm not young anymore. Feel good anyway.
• Staying at the EconoLodge -- or, as a good friend of mine calls it, the E. Coli Lodge -- here in Princeton, IL. Knowing how dirty the bedspread I'm lying on right now is is almost killing me. I'm almost at the point where I can see the logic behind my friend's theory from our post-college trip to Europe, pursuant to which he didn't shower in several places because the showers were not clean enough for him.
• Got served full-on raw chicken at the Country Kitchen across from the motel. If I'm found dead mysteriously in this filthy room tomorrow, have the M.E. start the investigation there.
• I drove through INSANE storms today in Indiana. The worst rain I've ever seen. And I've seen [fire and I've seen] rain! They actually used the Emergency Broadcast System. Thank god they've been testing it my whole life.
• I'm about 98% sure I witnessed the beginning stages of a chick in a minivan preparing to pee in a bottle while cruising along I-80 today. She emptied an Aquafina bottle out the passenger window, getting it all over my car in the process (that stuff tastes like piss anyway), and I saw her switching positions with the girl in the backseat and maneuvering in ways consistent with such a plan. I don't know for sure that that's what happened, because I passed them before they dumped the bottle again. But it would have been a great start for a niche porn film.
• Still feeling awful about Spike. It was the most horrible thing I've ever witnessed. Thanks for all your kind thoughts in the comments below.
• Mets are on ESPN, so I can watch it even from the middle of nowhere. LET'S GO METS!!!!