EMERGENCY STOP

A few minutes ago, we were traveling down a pitch-black mountain road downhill. We were going 80 MPH in the left lane when all of a sudden an immobile truck tire appeared out of the darkness. Dad did not have enough time to neither brake nor swerve, and the Odyssey took the blow directly. Immediately, the CHECK ENGINE light came on and we pulled off into a gas station as soon as possible.

We are here now, and after inspecting the damage, there is a detached O2 sensor wire. The car's front mask has also been pulled off slightly. We have made the decision to find a place to stay here in Attalla, Alabama and mom has already made reservations.

Dad and I will attempt to repair the Odyssey as soon as we can.

Please stay tuned, more on this situation later.

-Mark

Pitstop in Fort Payne, Alabama

Entering ALABAMA - Leaving GEORGIA

My apologies for not updating you on when we entered Georgia.

-Mark

Pitstop in Bristol, Tennessee

Entering TENNESSEE - Leaving VIRGINIA

Pitstop in Strasburg, Virginia

Entering VIRGINIA - Leaving WEST VIRGINIA

Entering WEST VIRGINIA - Leaving MARYLAND

Entering MARYLAND - Leaving PENNSYLVANIA

Heaven at Honda

What they've done is finish their work and.. park it outside by the exit to the dealer lot? Oh well. We'll be loading back into the poor Odyssey in a few minutes.

Mark

A Half Hour At Honda

Another quick update. We're here at Joyce Honda getting the car checked out for the keys. I don't know what they're going to do but for some reason it involves a half hour wait as the car is so rudely pried from our hands and abused by that 20-year old serviceman who work here as his second job and probably runs his own secret business on the side for some "extra cash". Hopefully all will go smoothly and we'll have the key in no time.

-Mark

Finally Taking Off

Hello all, it's Mark again. It's apparently NOT 7:30 and we're NOT in New Orleans. Yes, we're just leaving the house, more than a half hour off schedule. As of my typing the number, we have traveled 4.8 miles from home. Right now, we are on our way to the Honda dealer to have the car checked out for a new wheel lock key. Hopefully, we can get a new one.

More on this later.

-Mark

Early Departure Issues

Hello all, it's Mark. Well, it's close to 7:30 AM and we still have not left yet. We are being delayed because of a lost wheel lock key for the Odyssey. We can still go, but if for example there is a flat tire, there'll be no way to get any wheel off. Dad's planning to swing by the nearest Honda after departure around 7:30 and try to get another key. Otherwise, we're not in luck.

More on this later!

-Mark

2008 "Around America" Road Trip

Hello, and welcome to the 2008 "Around America" Road Trip blog.

For a little background on this family: We are not new to road trips at all. Our longest vacation trip as of now was from our home in northern New Jersey to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2006. My name is Mark, and I'm 14 years old. In the car with me are my parents and two older sisters, Joy (19) and Joanne (15).

Our road trip "queen" is our 2000 Honda Odyssey LX. The green minivan has about 152,000+ miles on it and runs no mechanical problems at all, except for a slight transmission whine due to age. For a detailed list of mechanical and cosmetic modifications done to the car, click here to read my OdyClub Forums post about this trip.

The purpose of this blog is simple. Every night, or time we stop at a hotel, I will try my best to upload pictures from that day along with some detailed descriptions of what we did, where we're headed next, and how the Odyssey is holding up. I will also be trying out a few blog updates via cell phone while on the road.

Our first destination will be New Orleans. We will be leaving around midnight on Friday, August 8 (the latest will probably be 2:00 AM on August 9). Our ultimate destination will be Ohio on August 22, for a wedding, and we are expected to return home two days after.

But Ohio is not the only place we're visiting. Basically, we will be tracing the whole border of the United States. Well, almost. From New Orleans, we will enter Texas and see a few places there. After Texas, we are expecting to stop in Las Vegas, and from there, California. California, I assume, will be the busiest part of the trip. Stops there range from the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center in Irvine to San Fransisco and various other places in between.

From there, if we are on time, there are some places in Washington we'd like to see. Between Washington and Ohio, we will be seeing only a few more places. In total, the planned route is about 8,000 miles, but we expect to hit between 9,000 to 10,000 if we're "lucky".

Stay tuned!