Introduction
A factory owner from the state of Pennsylvania in the United States invited my dad over to visit his workshop, because he was interested in learning about it. He suggested me to follow him, because it is better to have two people alternate between driving. I made a fun summary video of the trip down below:
Our plan was to head there by car and stay in a hotel for two and a half days. The road trip was expected to last around 8 hours assuming no traffic and stops and the timezone was not different. I packed my suitcase and my shoulder bag the night before we left.
I brought the following with me:
- 3 pairs of t-shirts
- 3 pairs of convertible cargo pants,
- 3 pairs of underwear,
- 3 pairs of socks,
- 3 sets of pyjamas
- 3 pairs of long sleeve tops
- 1 deodorant bottle
- 1 pair of flip flop sandals
- 1 shower towel
- 1 toothbrush and one toothpaste tube
- My laptop, with mouse, charger and stand
- My smartphone with charger
- A notebook with a pen
It was the first time I got to really drive in the USA and visit the state of Pennsylvania!
Day 1
We departed on August 16th, 2023 at around 8:50 AM from our home with the car gas tank full and we arrived at the U.S Customs Mooers Forks Port of Entry at around 9:15 AM. I started recording on my phone and immediately after seeing me, the guard told me to turn it off and put it upside down on the seat. He asked us TONS of questions and it felt like a CIA investigation 😅. They checked all of our suitcases and the car to look for anything suspicious. We were held there for about 30 minutes, before they finally let us go. Phew that was a little stressful 😮💨.
The road trip took effectively 9 hours, because of occasional traffic, two bathroom and fuel stops. We drove across the state of New York all the the way down to the state of Pennsylvania. Upstate New York looked EXACTLY like the rural towns I was used to, but after 100 km, that’s when it started to feel different for me. The sceneries consisted of mountains and forests and they were magnificent 🤩. Also, on our way there, I saw two of the largest American flags I have ever seen and a giant banner that said:
“Become a surrogate mother and earn 70 000$.”
“Wow never seen those two before”, I told myself…
We checked into the hotel at around 6:30 PM and we were offered free cookies 🍪.
We went to eat fajitas with chicken, rice, cheese and pita bread at a local restaurant and it tasted really good.
We spent the rest of the night in the hotel room and I worked on my blog while watching Thor (from 2011) before going to bed.
Day 2
The hotel included breakfasts so I ate veggie eggs with bacon, baked potatoes, a small muffin and cranberry juice.
I had two plates of those, because I was hungry and I always take as much advantage of free food as possible 😁. The rest of our morning and afternoon were spent visiting the guy who invited us over. Him and his daughter showed us around and we talked a lot about his work. We had a very nice chat and they both had very impressive life success stories. At the end of our tour, he took us to one of his favourite restaurant and I ate a delicious panini with fried chicken and tomatoe sauce.
I spent the rest of the night sightseeing behind the hotel and just walking around the neighborhood.
There were lots of big and nice houses all around. The people in general were very nice and peaceful. We were always greeted and everyone was always smiling.
Day 3
The morning breakfast was not as good as the day prior, but it was decent. I had a cinnamon roll, scrambled eggs, an English muffin, a banana and orange juice.
We checked out of the hotel at 8:40 AM and we took off for another 9-hours long car ride with two bathroom and fuel stops.
We came back home at around 7:30 PM.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I really loved the trip! I overpacked for it ,because I only wore two different pairs of clothes and the same pyjama during my entire stay. I will take a note of that for next time even though it is always better to be safe than sorry.
I wrote a separate blog post on driving in the USA compared to in Canada so you should definitely check it out for useful tips!
Peace ✌️
Click on the buttons below to subscribe and follow for more content!