On the Road Again

When my blog is silent for several days it may be for one of two reasons: I'm extraordinarily lazy, or because I'm mortally ill, however, this time I had a really great excuse. I drove to (and back from) Kentucky, this weekend. My next (and more important post) tells why. My odyssey begins in New Hampshire, where I left for Delaware at approximately 8:30 am on August 17th. The original plan included driving with my sister, Jessica, however, she and another sister (Kathleen) were called away to my aunt's house to help take care of her after knee replacement surgery resulted in a bad infection (we're like our own personal red-cross service).

So, due to trepidation about making the trip alone, I took along my other sister's (Deb's) fierce watch-dog, Bonnie. Bonnie was a great companion, and never complained when it was her turn to drive. However, she does have slight issues with road rage… Oh well, that’s what happens when you put a canine behind the wheel. It took me about four hours to get to New York, where traffic started getting rough.

As I was crossing the Tapan Zee bridge in New York, going at a steady 10 mph clip, I was thinking that it would be amazing if I were to see someone I knew driving on the Interstate. Wouldn't you know it; I came up on the left of a car with many, many pro-life bumper stickers on the back of it. As I passed the car, I glanced over to see world-renowned pro-life lawyer John Broderick, driving in his car. What are the odds??? So, I snapped a quick picture of the car's bumper, just for kicks. (Don't worry, it wasn't dangerous, did I say I was going only 10 mph?).

After experiencing a 1 and 1/2 hour tie - up on the NJ Turnpike due to an accident, I made it to my other brother's house in Delaware at around 7:30 pm. It was really, really nice to relax, and have a hot meal. The boys (except for the newest) and I (including their Dad, Patrick) took a walk in the neighborhood to get some fresh air, and stretch our legs before continuing on. I wanted to get at least twelve hours of driving in, and about 700 miles before stopping for the night. I got back onto the road, and right back into a traffic jam, at about 9:00pm, somewhere in Maryland.

As an aside, normally, when I hear about an accident, I say a brief prayer for those involved, and for the rescue crews, but I have to admit that those Memorare's were said through gritted teeth.

After that, things were going well, until my "check engine" light came on at about 1:00 am, somewhere in Maryland. (Pay no attention to the speedometer, Mom and Dad J. The Speed limit is much, much higher in the Mid-Western, and Mid-Atlantic States than in New England J ). I was in the mountains, praying for a rest area, but the outlook was pretty bleak. It finally dawned on me that there were no dang rest areas anywhere in Maryland. Of course not, why would those tight-fisted legislators, senators, etc. who live in that state shell out their tax money for the convenience of their constituents? I pulled off to get gas, and was just about determined to just find a road somewhere to camp out on, when I came into West Virginia.

Glorious, beautiful West Virginia! Not five miles into the state, I found a lovely little parking area overlooking a charming Appalachian valley at about 2:00am. I parked with the rest of the truckers. If you do a close-up, of the picture below, you can see the fierce watchdog staring menacingly out of the back window.

We got an early start (around 7:00am) on Friday, and cruised the rest of the way through West Virginia and into Kentucky. The weather was mostly sunny, although a freak thunder and lightning storm on the Purple Heart Memorial Highway” made me pull over due to zero visibility, when I was only 30
miles from Frankfort. I made it to the hotel at about 3:00pm on Friday afternoon.

After the weekend activities, I left on Sunday morning at around 11:00am. Drove through to West Virginia, and stopped at around midnight, in another (slightly less charming) rest area for the night. Of course, I felt completely safe knowing that Bonnie was on watch. Here’s a picture of her guarding against infiltration through the floorboards. I never would have thought of that.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. I saw a couple of neat things on the way. The “Trucker’s Museum” and the “Museum of Water Purification are both located somewhere in West Virginia and/or Connecticut, but I just didn’t have time to stop. I did make myself this promise that some day, yes some day, I would visit an obscure little museum; but alas, it was not to be this weekend.

At one rest area, there were a whole bunch of thistles covered in butterflies. So I took this picture.

I also saw this truck. I don’t know if it was because I was tired, but for the longest time, I just didn’t know what was wrong with it, but had the feeling that something was. When I finally figured it out, it made me laugh for a good half hour.







See my next post for exciting details of the weekend!!!