1969 Dart GT convertible cross country road trip 2012: And so it begins.

Monday, July 30 marks the 21st anniversary of John's passing. It was only fitting that we begin our cross country journey, CT to AZ on this day. The heavy cloud cover and threat of showers caused our departure to be "top up". We filled the fuel tank with the most expensive gas in the country, $4.09, thanks Connecticut. And gave the car the once over, still not a drip, not a leak, nothing falling off. The only persistent problem was the drivers door was getting more difficult to open from the inside. And i didnt have an allen wrench to adjust it.

My little trip planner had us heading to Hershey, PA. She does a lot of reading and knew quite a bit about Milton Hershey, and his development of Hershey. The day started with the interstate into PA and as usual it was boring. Once in PA the construction and trooper count increased dramatically. We got off the interstate and once again took 2 lane country roads into Milton, PA. Probably once of the nicest places we visited. A stretch stop netted us at a vintage full service gas station with a pile of classic cars and photo ops. The small block chevy powered functioning lawn tractor was a bonus. Once full of Yoohoo we headed back out, top down, sun shining. The drive was incredible, small streams and brooks on the left, hillside and vintage distressed barns on the right. Twists and turns, elevation changes, absolutely no traffic. I was in heaven, so was my passenger, and so was the Dart. Ill let the tour guide take over for our drive to Hershey.

Well, we drove into Hershey about 3 in the afternoon, and tried to find a place to stay. That didn't work, as all the hotels and motels there were either unsafe and cheap or unbelievably expensive. So we didn't stay overnight, but instead went to Chocolate World and took a trolley tour around town, and the free ride and ate the chocolate they gave us. If you go, don't eat all the chocolate. I don't think i want to have chocolate until i get home. Bleh.

So instead of staying in Hershey we decided to get a head start and stay in Gettysburg. Halfway through the drive we stop for something to eat because we didn't want to live off of chocolate and granola bars. So we ate at a little diner place on the side of the road. We parked at a prime spot with viewing from the window. When we left there was a 70 Camaro sporting Hot Rod power tour windshield stickers next to us. Then we continued to drive to Gettysburg. With all the construction it was quite difficult. We made plenty of u-turns and stops, and eventually we got into Gettysburg and by our hotel. But we came to a halt once we saw a pair of glowing eyes on the side of the road. Dad hit the brakes, and a big opossum scuttled across the road. I've never seen an opossum before but it was the size of a cat.

We checked into our hotel for the night and slept soundly. (well kinda because dad snores A LOT)

Then we woke up, ate breakfast and took a self guided tour of Gettysburg. The booklet said it was supposed to be 2 hours but it really was like 4 or so. It was quite interesting and i learned a lot.

The lodge at gettysburg was awesome, even in the dark. Individual cabins, on 63 acres on the edge of the battlefields. And better priced than crappy hotels in Hershey. Here are some pictures from our days drive to PA.