1997 Road Trip

Fifteen years ago this summer, after I graduated from college and prior to moving to San Diego for a new job, my brother and I embarked on a 5-6 week, 4000+ mile road trip across part of the United States. The journey started in Pittsburgh taking us to Chicago, St. Louis, Houston, New Orleans, Atlanta, North Carolina, Washington, Philadelphia and eastern Pennsylvania. We didn’t have much money, so we managed to stay with family or friends for all but four nights when we stayed in youth hostels in St. Louis and New Orleans. We saw several baseball games, including the Pirates at the Astrodome, discovered Waffle House, and heard Hanson’s MMMBop on the radio a few too many times.

The trip took place in the days before cell phones and internet maps, so we relied on our AAA maps and called people from the road for directions and updates. During the trip, which did not include posting Facebook or Twitter updates (I don’t think I even checked the internet once during the trip since my college deleted my e-mail account about two days after graduation), I kept a journal of the adventure. This was essentially Sean’s Ramblings before Sean’s Ramblings.

Anyway, my plan is to share some of the journal entries with you to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of the road trip. I’m also curious to see what my writing looked like 15 years ago. There’s just one minor problem with this plan...I can’t find the journal. While I found the AAA TripTik showing us the route across America, I can’t find the journal. My goal for the next few days is to find the journal, but I’ve been unsuccessful thus far. On the positive side, I should be able to restart the Found In My Basement series!

To be continued (hopefully).