The long ride

For the record: They gave me the option of flying to Boston and having my car transported there. Why drive the thousand miles from Jacksonville to Boston, some of you might be wondering, when you could've stepped on a plane and, three hours later, been in Boston with your car?

Answer: That's boring.

I had more than a week from the time I returned from my previous trip to when I started at the Globe, and, fortunately, I already had an apartment waiting for me in Boston (thanks to my house-hunting trip a few weeks prior). More than a week is more than enough time to go the distance, so I decided I'd make an adventure out of it: Drive the back roads, see the country, camp and visit family along the way.

I needed a navigator. I had driven across the country by myself before, and I would've given my left ventricle for a navigator (or at least someone to joke with along the way). After an exhaustive candidate search, essay contest and rigorous interview, I found the perfect road-trip mate: Jenn. I offered her the job and, well, her enthusiasm speaks for itself:


Her response: HTTMFY!

It was set. We were going to attempt this trip.

So after a fun smell-you-later party on Friday, a nice dinner with the parents on Saturday and a delicious (and bittersweet) going-away breakfast at the Metro Diner, Jenn and I hit the road Sunday morning.

My car was packed with clothes, snacks, camping gear and a boombox in the back seat (remember, I don't have a radio), and the whole thing looked like either a rolling party or a safety hazard. Regardless, it ran, and it ran well.

Our trip was planned out as follows:

• Leg 1: I-95 to Savannah; exit, take the highways through South Carolina, and wind up in Charlotte, N.C. Stay with my grandmother for two nights and visit Jenn's cousin while there.

• Leg 2: Back roads through N.C. and Virginia; drive through the Shenandoah National Forest and camp in Big Meadows, Va.

• Leg 3: Back roads through Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey; arrive in New York City and stay on the Upper East Side in a spare apartment owned by Jenn's cousin's wife. Kick it in the city for two nights.

• Leg 4: Back roads through New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts; arrive in Boston and pick up keys for the apartment; stay in an empty apartment until furniture arrives on Monday.

So to the opening vamp of the Who's "Baba O'Reily," we stormed the onramp to I-95 from San Marco, determined to have a kick-ass time in transit.