I thought I’d start the first day on the road with an old standby: the dark blue J.Crew. I wasn’t really sure what might happen with spills and the like so going with a solid dark situation felt like a good way to enter the fray. The high tops are lined because, as you can see, there’s snow on the ground, something we encountered all the way down to our final destination of Winchester, VA.

Here’s what I discovered about traveling in a jumpsuit: It makes rest stop bathrooms rather awkward if you’re wearing a coat, which I was because: see above and weather. But because I’ve committed to this crazy plan, I’m figuring it out. About seven hours of driving today from Catskill, NY, to Winchester and here were some highlights:

Imagine my surprise when we pulled into a truck stop in Tremont Pennsylvania (where they’d like you to know they have cold beer at all times) and found these cool embroidered Baja bags of the kind that I remember from my Cali youth. All the surfers wore the hoodies of the same general cool embroidered style. Those were also on offer here. Why didn’t I buy these items? Because I don’t actually need them and the truck is packed full already, but yet another sign that you can find cool stuff everywhere!

This Trump boxing/talking pen, though, now that I maybe expected. Although truthfully I wasn’t sure if this was being sold ironically or not. (Irony lives everywhere by the way.)

And these personalized pocket knives were also expected, yet why only boys names are featured was a point of contention for me. One that I definitely wasn’t going to take up with anyone in the vicinity. (And clearly Austin, a name that can be all things to all people, took off with theirs.)

We were super pleased to find that an Impossible burger was to be had at the Burger King. Plant-based moments making headway. All in all, a good solid day one of road travel. Getting to know the people between here and there! Tomorrow’s jumpsuit may be slightly more colorful and I’m determined to master the how-to-work-it-for-efficiency-at-a-rest-stop challenge.

Til tomorrow, thanks for being here.

What’s the weirdest, greatest, most unexpected thing you’ve found at a rest stop on a road trip?