Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut

Pennsylvania

We drove through Pennsylvania on our Way to Niagara Falls. At this point I had accidentally fallen asleep.

New York

I woke up to see a horse drawn cart in front of us driven by people that looked Amish to me. I asked Tani if we were still in Pennsylvania to which he answered no. I looked up Amish on Wikipedia and found out that they also live in New York State.

We had driven from California to New York state in seven days, and finally we had mad it back to the eastern seaboard. It was around eighteen hours of being in the car a day, but we did it.

New York was different than what I was used to of it. In the past when I was younger my family generally went to Brooklyn, and I hadn't truly realized that New York State was just as redneck as the rest of America. I even saw a couple Confederate flags on cars.

On Our way to Niagara Falls we drove through Buffalo. Driving through Buffalo at the beginning felt like what I would imagine driving into Gotham in the Batman movies feels like. We drove over a dilapidated industrial zone on several different inter-connected bridges. The whole zone looked like it had been abandoned for a while. Once we finally got through Buffalo we made it to our main destination, Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls is beautiful, and like everything in the US it was immense. Niagara Falls is situated right on the border with Canada. There are three falls in all with the biggest waterfall shaped like a half circle.

We took a boat ride on the Maid of the Mist, so we could get a better look at the falls themselves. The boat ride is very wet, and once near the falls it is very loud. I was amazed by the amount of wind that the water falls produce. Once back on dry land we made the crazy decision to go to the enemy territory of Canada. We crossed the international bridge and entered Canada without any problems.

The difference between the Canadian Niagara Falls and the American Niagara Falls is monstrous in size. The American side of Niagara Falls resembles the Stalactite Caves in Bet Shemesh. There are a few tours and shops but not much more. The Canadian side however resembles Las Vegas. The second we crossed over we were amazed by the amount of casinos, bars, restaurants, and hotels. We toured around inside one of the casinos before deciding to head to the falls themselves. Even the view of the waterfalls is better on the Canadian side. We took the tour which took us inside of the falls themselves through underground tunnels. Seeing the water pass over us like that was amazing, not to mention very wet.

We spent roughly four or five hours on the Canadian side before deciding to head back. Coming back into the states was harder because the American border guard was not nearly as friendly as the Canadian one. He asked a hundred questions pertaining to our trip into Canada. He even asked if we sure that we were only there for five hours, as if we'd forgotten that we'd been there for days.

Once back at the car we decided to continue our trip. After we did a bit of math we figured out that we had five days left until Rosh Hashana which we were to spend at Tani's amazing grandparents, and five more states to see before we made it to NYC. As math showed us five days divided by five states equals one day per state, and so we did just that.

Vermont

This was definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Autumn was just setting in and the foliage was changing its color. We decided that with the amount of time we had left we shouldn't spend it on highways at all. So we took the scenic route and drove through the country roads. We saw rivers, wild life, small towns out of the movies, and even the birth home of Brigham Young. We thought that the birthplace of Brigham Young was interesting because we had just been in Salt Lake City a few days prior.

We spent the day just cruising around, and at night we drove towards New Hampshire to sleep once again in the car.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire looks just like Vermont, and we did the same routine and spent the day cruising and stopping at different ponds along the way.

We also realized that this far north the second language isn't Spanish it's French be cause of French speaking Canada to the north.

Maine

We spent an extremely boring and very uneventful Sabbath in Portland, Maine by an elderly Jewish couple. (They're not reading this don't worry).

We drove north after the Sabbath in order to see the Acadia National Park. Obviously not wanting to drive to far into the night we stopped at a rest area alongside I-95. Down south everyone is used to I-95 being a main interstate, but up here it was practically a one lane road.

We decided to stop at a random rest area and make some dinner and get some shut eye. While Tani was cooking dinner I had to go to the bathroom. The rest area was built in a way that upon entering to the left is the gift shop and to the right is the bathroom. After finishing my business in the bathroom I was walking towards the exit to leave the building. I looked up and saw a sign that said closed. I assumed that it said closed because to the outside on the other side it said open.

When I opened the door a skinny drug addict blocked the door, and told me to stop. I did not take my hand of the door and continued pushing, and told him that I just want to leave. He did not move from my path, and said stop again. I took a few stops back, and started to feel my adrenaline pump. I began to scan his body for any type of weapon because I was unarmed and did not feel like getting stabbed or shot that day. Once I was sure that he was unarmed I explained to him that he needs to let me leave right away. The drug addict lifted his arm and pointed to a door to my left and said that that is the exit and that I am not allowed into the gift shop. Apparently he was the custodian. At that moment I was suffering from severe embarrassment, and an extreme adrenaline rush. I left the building and told Tani about how much of a fool I am.

Later on we saw the custodian again, and feeling bad about what I did offered him some of our food. He refused to eat, but sat with us instead. He told us that his name was Marc with a c, and told us a bunch of stories about daily life at the rest area. He then pulled out a crack pipe, and started smoking weed right in front of us. He was slightly insulted when I assumed tht there was more than just weed in his pipe. He claimed it was just resin, and then I asked him if resin was meth. He answered that it resin is weed.

Marc told us about how people come to the rest area just to walk into the woods to find a "special partner" for a bit. This kinda disgusted me, and I asked him what kinda people go to this. Marc said that mostly guys came. Tani didn't understand why I had such a hard time processing this fact. Marc said that he'd gone into the woods a couple of times, and rather enjoyed it. Once he saw the disgust on my face he changed his story, and said that he was just joking. Tani believed him, but I didn't. After that Marc when to check on the rest area on the other side of the highway, so basically he drove high to the other rest area.

after around two hours Marc came back and once again we sat with him. He then began to talk about the woods, again, which kinda creeped me out. He then began to tell us a story about the time his boyfriend and him flew to Russia. At this point my red alert alarm was going off inside my brain, and I walked to the bathroom and left Tani there alone. I sent Tani a text telling him that Marc wanted us to go to the woods with him. I came back and Marc that I was tired and had to go to sleep, and Tani followed suit. Marc told us that if we wanted anything he would be in his office and he would love a midnight surprise. When Tani and I entered the car we realized Marc was at the edge of the woods staring at us as if waiting for us to come. That's when Tani said the quote of the century, "What do you expect him to think? We're two guys out on the road. Just living our lives in the most Brokeback romantic way possible. He just wants to be a part of it." I vomited slightly in my mouth.

The next morning we continued to Acadia National Park. It was very beautiful and it was on an island in the Atlantic. The second we saw the beach I ran out and touched the water, so I could say that I had touched both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans without flying between them.

After several hours we continued on our way to Massachusetts.

Massachusetts

We drove into Massachusetts and there was only one thing that I had to see and that was Salem, home of the witch trials. We watched two plays about the trials, but only the first one was rich with history and the second one was just weird. They tried to portray the witch trials as racism against the Wickens. We learned about how they jailed and killed people because of stupid charades that a group of little girls were playing. The trials only came to an end when the governor of Massachusetts' wife was accused of witch craft, so he ended it claiming that it was nonsense.

We walked around the small town, and then left to go to Boston. In Boston we saw Harvard which just looks like a bunch of brick buildings. We also switched our car at the rental car service at the airport. This time I didn't get upset with any car rental workers, luckily. On the way out of the airport we constantly made the same wrong turn which cost us thirteen dollars in tolls.

We spent that night in a motel. At the motel as Tani's barber I gave him a hair cut in the parking lot while being constantly scared that the motel manager would come out and see then kick us out.

Connecticut

In Connecticut we saw some lighthouses that Tani really wanted to see. They were old abandoned US naval posts. In the Evening we went to spend the night with my cousin in New Haven. The University of Yale looks like Hogwarts. It has very archaic looking structures. My cousin, Alexander Dubovoy, took us to the kosher cafeteria on campus, and we ate and shmoozed. We "didn't" go out for a beer because Alexander was underage at the time, and we "didn't" enjoy this beer that we "never" drank. We talked about family things and tried to keep Tani in on the conversation. We met Alexander's roommates Justin, Jack, and Jack's girlfriend. They were pretty cool, and I think we all got along pretty well. Jack told us about a couple of good bars, that he wouldn't know about being underage and all, to go to while Alexander had to study.

The next morning we woke up and continued our journey to NYC.

South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio

South Dakota

Shortly after entering South Dakota we arrived at the famous Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore is a mountain in which the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt have been engraved. The mountain is an international tourist location, and is extremely commercialized. In my opinion Mount Rushmore is overrated and over exaggerated. The mountain is worth stopping by if one is already passing by, but not worth a trip by itself.

After Mount Rushmore we drove down the road to the Crazy Horse monument. Crazy Horse was a Native American chief who had gained much respect from the locals. The statue when finished will be the world’s biggest statue. Sadly, the statue has been under construction for the past sixty-five years, and has no end in sight. Once again, this memorial is not worth a trip in and of itself.

We were extremely let down by the monuments, and were starting to realize the reason that the plain states had very low populations. We decided to continue on our way to the Badlands towards the end of the day hoping to have a better end to a disappointing day.

The Badlands received its name because of its inhabitability. In all languages, including the local Native American language, it is call the Bad Lands. The terrain has stone spires that rise from the ground making it hard to walk around. At the edge of the spire’s area begins the grassy plains where wild deer and goats eat. According to the park information signs several settlers tried to inhabit the grassy plain, but could not grow crops in the ground. Eventually the settlers abandoned the Badlands, like everyone before them.

While in the Badlands we met two Hassid guys, and an engineer from North Dakota.  The engineer is planning to have spent a week in every state by next October finishing his several year hobby. We exchanged experiences about our trips. The Hassids didn’t talk much, so we couldn’t really connect with them.

We continued our trip towards Minneapolis in Minnesota, and slept in the car once we were exhausted and could not go further.

Minnesota

We stopped at a gas station in the morning to go to the bathroom, and wash up. Tani bought himself a cookie. While Tani was eating his cookie he put the car into reverse in order to start pulling out of the gas station. While backing up he didn’t realize the eighteen wheeler right behind us, and backed up into it. He jumped out of the car to assess to the damage, and once he saw that there was none began to return to the car. A State Trooper who was filling up on gas saw Tani returning, and told him to wait for the truck driver to return before driving away as required by law. The driver returned, and thought that his truck had been ruined, because of the commotion. Once he had assessed the damage himself, and realized that there was none he told us to drive off. This was the only time we were approached by law enforcement.

We drove into Minneapolis, and spent the afternoon in the Mall of America. The Mall of America is the world’s biggest mall with hundreds of stores and an amusement park in the center. There are nice hotels all around the mall.

Wisconsin

We crossed over to Wisconsin, during the day. I would write where we slept every night, but at this point we were sleeping in the car and I do not remember the exact places. We tried to find things to do in Wisconsin, but from what we understood from the internet there is not much to do. We just passed through.

Illinois

We Arrived in Chicago at around noon, and made the mistake of driving Downtown. The City is amazing, but extremely congested. Its citizens have no sense of pedestrian safety, and walk in front of moving vehicles.

We drove to the Bean and next to America’s tallest building. Tani wanted to go to the top of the tower, but I have a fear of heights. The Freedom Tower in New York City will be the tallest tower, but it is not completely finished at the moment. The Chicago Olympic Park is full of great art and structure, including the bean.

We decided to spend the afternoon at a beach on the great lakes so we continued our drive out of the city.

Indiana

Being back near the east coast meant being back with the toll roads, which was a bummer for me. We drove through Indiana until we reached Michigan.

Michigan

We drove into Michigan and spent a half an hour on the beach before we got bored and started driving again. We started driving towards Detroit, as Waze was directing us. We realized that Waze was taking us through Canada to Niagara Falls. I didn’t want to go through customs with our whole car, so I personally refused to let us go. Tani was not too thrilled about my irrational decision, but respected it. So we changed our route, and came down towards Ohio.

Ohio

Now we were intent on arriving in Niagara Falls as quickly as possible, because being in the car and the trip as a whole was becoming psychologically hard on me. We passed next to Cleveland, and continued driving until we decided to sleep.

Nevada Again, Holy Mormon Utah, Potatoe Idaho, and Yellow Wyoming

Nevada

 

On the way back across the country we once again drove through Nevada. Being back in Desert Nevada was a big difference to Green California. This time, though, through the north. We drove through Reno, but were not too impressed after being in Las Vegas for a week.

 

It was Friday, and we were worried we would not make it to Salt Lake City before the Sabbath. The afternoon was reaching its end, so we pulled over in Battle Mountain Nevada and spent the Sabbath in a motel there. We didn’t leave the room, and slept through most of it. After the Sabbath we continued to Salt Lake City.

 

Utah

 

The next morning we toured the Temple Square. The Mormon Temple is treated as their Holy Temple, so we were not allowed to enter. We learned about Mormonism, and its prophet Joseph Smith who died in the mid nineteenth century. They had many paintings and statues of Jesus Christ, and in the downstairs of the visitor center there is an explanation about the Book of Mormon (the Mormon expansion to the Holy Bible).

 

There are many free tours and guides that explain Mormonism to you as you walk through the Temple Square. They have representatives in many different languages, and each representative has a flag of the country that they originate from. Around sixty four percent of Utah is Mormon, so the religion is a fundamental part of Utahan history.

 

At the end of our tour we wanted to take a Book of Mormon in Hebrew as a souvenir, because they hand them out in different languages for free. Unfortunately, they have not translated it to Hebrew yet, and according to the guides it is one of the few languages that doesn’t have a translation of the Book of Mormon. We took an English copy.

 

Idaho

 

After the deserts of Nevada and Utah Idaho was a beautiful change in scenery. We passed through the state on our way north towards Yellowstone National Park. The state was extremely hilly because of the Rockies that pass through it. We were glad to find out that the state is known for its potatoes.

 

Wyoming

 

After many hours of driving from Salt Lake City, through Idaho, all the way to Yellowstone we finally made it. On the way we had already ordered a campsite, and we arrived there with around two hours of daylight to spare.

 

We checked in at the campground, and received our weather warnings and bear safety guidelines. We had been told that as recently as the night before they had spotted a bear running through the campground.

 

We decided to take advantage of our extra two hours, and went to see Old Faithful. On the way down we passed through different geyser areas. Geysers give this strange feeling of being on a different planet because of the way their bubbling and spraying, and they reek of Methane. We missed Old Faithful by around five minutes, and had to wait an hour and a half until the next one. Old Faithful shoots around nine meters into the air and it is actually very fun to watch.

 

We returned to the campsite after it was already dark. We set up the tent quickly, and ate a beautiful dinner of what we hadn’t eaten yet from my Aunt Wynne. After dinner we switched into our thermal clothing knowing that it was going to be literally freezing at night. I woke up several times at night because my sleeping bag was wet at the bottom, and the cold was hurting my feet. In the morning we woke to find that our tent had a sheet of ice over it.

 

After packing our supplies in the car we began our drive around Yellowstone. We drove through forests, over rivers, and on the sides of mountains. We saw herds of bison, and even came right up to a buffalo that was standing on the side of the road. We also learned that bison and buffalo are the same exact animal. Many people were fly fishing, and others hiking or taking pictures. We drove to the top of Yellowstone, and then came down on the eastern side. We drove through snowcapped mountains, and saw the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Once reaching the bottom of Yellowstone we sat by the lake for a little while, and skipped stones over the water.

 

We decided to continue our drive after spending the day in Yellowstone. On our way out of Yellowstone we saw the saddest forest ever. The whole area had been burnt in a forest fire years prior leaving behind nothing, except for miles upon miles of black burnt trees.

 

Once we left Yellowstone we began our actual drive through Wyoming. This was our first exposure to the Plains. Wyoming is one of America’s bigger states, but it has the nation’s smallest population with only half a million residents. We passed through a town of only ten people, or so said its town sign. We drove through Wyoming until we arrived at a town, and stayed in a cottage. This would be our final time sleeping in a bed until we reached Maine.

 

The next morning we continued our drive through the plains towards South Dakota to go to Mount Rushmore.