Trip Stats:
Total Days: 56
Total Miles Traveled: ~1552 miles
Breakdowns (*Mechanical*): 1.5
Gallons of Gas Purchased: ~16 gallons
Longest stretch with no showers: 6 days
Long Island and NYC
I stayed near Port Jefferson on Long Island with my friend Denis from University. The Port Jefferson area was pretty cool, I got the full driving tour of most parts of Long Island from Denis, we probably put ~400 miles on his car just driving around. We went to a few local car meets over in West Hampton and during the week went to all the good local food spots. The moped was having some issues with the transmission so I tore it apart to find out what was wrong. Before tearing it apart, I checked the transmission fluid level and it was pretty low. I added some fluid and some of the shuddering issues stopped. The chain side pedal shaft seal tends to leak on these engines, I should probably replace it but for now it keeps the chain lubricated. The bushing on one of the gears was pretty worn and a one-way bearing tensioner "spring" was also snapped in half. I ordered parts and replaced both the components later during the week.
During the week while Denis was at work, I took the LIRR into NYC. This was my first time in NYC, it was quite an interesting place. I spent 3 days in the city and probably walked ~40 miles. Stuff in NYC is expensive, I went to Katz Deli and spent $32 on a pastrami sandwich. I went to a few bagel and pizza places, the bagel quality was very good, the pizza was alright. I can see how NYC would be a cool place to live but I think I'd rather let someone else pay $4k a month for a studio.
My last day on Long Island Denis pulled out his old Mercedes project from the garage and started it up. Denis and I met on campus during the first couple weeks of freshman year, he overheard me talking about my Miata engine rebuilds and started talking about his old Mercedes engine rebuild. After 4 years I finally saw the thing run and move under its own power.
Long Island to Milburn, NJ
I left Long Island Sunday and took the ferry back to Bridgeport, CT to avoid driving through the city. The drive was pretty good, until I hit the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. The bridge was a 55 mph with no shoulder which meant I couldn't drive on it. I decided to walk/pedal across on the bike path but I got stopped by a bridge security guy who said I couldn't. I explained to him that I was pedaling and was not going to start the engine, he got very upset but eventually let me go across. Pedaling a 150 lb moped + 65 lb of gear + 175 lb of body mass is very difficult. The bridge was also uphill and the moped pedal ratio is awful for anything but flat/downhill. It took me a little over an hour to bike/walk across the 3 mile bridge. When I was almost off the bridge, the same security guard that was pissed at me flew by me in a small motorized sport utility vehicle. I made it to Milburn and stayed with my friend Bryan's parents Tracey and Fred. I left in the morning but stopped at 2 local food spots, Liv Bread and Milburn Deli. Liv bread has an amazing Babka cake that Bryan brought back to school one semester, I got one for the road. I got a sandwich at the Milburn deli which made for a very good lunch later in the day.
Milburn, NJ to Philadelphia, PA
My drive to Philly was pretty uneventful. I made it to Philly pretty early in the day around 2 pm, I stayed with my parent's friends Bonnie and Eric in the city. I walked around Philly for a few hours and saw the liberty bell, city hall, Reading Terminal market and south street. I never considered Philly to be a nice city but it actually wasn't half bad. It was super walkable and had some cool streets/neighborhoods (and housing is still reasonably priced).
Philadelphia, PA to Washington DC
Before leaving Philly, I filled up the transmission with more fluid since it was starting to shudder a little bit. I ended up overfilling it which made the transmission not want to shift into second gear. I stopped at a random auto shop on the road and borrowed a drain pan to drain fluid. The rest of the drive to DC was alright, the transmission was still shifting super late but any less fluid would've made the shuddering worse. What a temperamental piece of slovenian engineering shit. I made it to DC after 160ish miles/9 hours of driving. In DC I'm staying with my friend Simon from University and also visiting my friend Gabe from high school.