Even better (for me anyways) is the oldest object in existence on planet earth.  Extracted from a meteorite, these little pebbles are 100 Million years older than the Earth itself!

Many have asked how I get from city to city.  The gentleman pictured here is a trucker who took me from Pittsburgh halfway to Washington DC.  Both he and his dog were very friendly. 

From DC to Boston, I found a guy on Craigslist.org who was heading up near Boston for a wedding.  He just needed company to keep him awake--he didn't even want gas money.  Since I failed to keep him awake (more on that in a second), I gave him some cash for gas.  He was my age, and worked as a low-end techie (like me!) for the military industrial complex (not like me!).  We got along great, but at 2 AM, I had drifted off to sleep, and without stimulating conversation, he got tired as well.  He pulled off the freeway into a nearby hotel’s parking lot and went to sleep.  The light from the patrol car awakened me.  I groggily rolled down the window, and the officer asked in a very demanding tone, “What are you guys doing?”  I explained that we got tired and pulled off the freeway to sleep.  “Where are you going?” 

After so many cities and so much traveling, I couldn’t remember where I was going, but the driver was now awake and answered “Boston”. 

The policeman commended us for pulling off the freeway and told us to get some sleep before driving.  Very nice of him.  Still, what did he think we were doing?

My driver dropped me off at a metro station ("Alewife") at the edge of Boston.  I took the train for $1.25 and arrived downtown by 7 AM.  You can read about my trip to Boston here.