C3Q II Daily Dispatches From The Road- 9/25/26

REBEL RODDER (RR) ROAD DISPATCH #3:

“Diversions”

DAY THREE: Friday, September 25, 2026

Departure time: Approx. 11 am

Two States: 8) New Jersey, 9) Pennsylvania

We departed from our Connecticut hotel and headed towards New Jersey. Looking for healthy options to eat, we arrived at El Azteca Mexican Restaurant for a late lunch/ early dinner around 3:30. We ate a delicious and healthy Caldo de Res, which is a beef stew and ordered a tamal to taste. After the meal, we got the two witness signatures and surveyed the perimeter of the mall to identify a potential posting site. I was excited to find a site that I have never done before. I drove to what would become the scene of the crime in more ways than one. As I was backing in the car next to the two giant mall pillar signs and started prepping the posters, I heard a side swipe fender bender in the parking lot just 10 yards behind me. Fortunately, no one was hurt but I knew there would be a police response so that created a ten minute countdown clock to process the posting (or so I thought). There must have been a patrol nearby because they arrived five minutes later while I was still smoothing out the second of four posters. I proceeded nevertheless hoping they would be too preoccupied at the accident site and it actually served as a good decoy. Mission accomplished without further incident.

Special Note: At this point we would normally continue down the east coast corridor but we had to alter our route and head back towards the original northwest route to avoid the Nor’easter coming our way and slamming the whole eastern seaboard. Once again, we had to change course for our safety and to salvage the mission (much like our initial plans to head to the midwest first but unfortunately there was a deluge causing mass flooding and even deaths.) Unfortunately, this dramatic diversion cost us a whole day of travel leading us to back track through our home state and stopping for the night. 

Two hours later we arrived at a Welcome Center in Pennsylvania and after I surveyed the site, I decided to spray paste 2 posters behind a Smokey the bear metallic billboard next to the welcome site. This posting got attention and two men approached me to ask about the poster so I explained I am an artist and author on a 48 state book tour. Curiosity soon fell, proving you can always count on a potential sales pitch to drive people away. We soon left ourselves.