Montreal, QC

Baba, aka my mother-in-law, invited beta child on a lightning trip to Montreal as a Christmas present.  Three days, two nights.  I was invited to attend as well.*

Baba had two requirements.  One was seeing the Notre-Dame Basilica.  The other was eating in a French restaurant.  Beta’s sole requirement: shopping.  (I had no additional requirements besides going on a road trip.  I love road trips for themselves, so anything else is gravy.)

So off we go for a 300-mile drive.

looking down the highway in Vermont
Beta child’s view from the backseat as we cruised through Vermont

There’s an interesting bit of geography: the border between Vermont and Canada coincides with a geographical border between mountains and plains.  Shortly after crossing the border we were struck by the immediate change from hills and trees to flat plains and farms.  A few hills, including Montreal, stick up from the ground in anomalous fashion.

Montreal in January is not a popular tourist choice.  It’s cold.  Being from New England, we’re used to cold, but Montreal is still pretty cold.

Montreal is like NYC and Boston had a baby city.  Medium-sized office buildings.  One-way streets in a grid pattern with lots of potholes.  Mostly clean, but homeless people scattered around.  Not many people on the streets in the middle of night, but still 24-hour businesses.  Mostly new, but a mid-16th-century section.

We found a French restaurant for dinner on our first night: Modavie.  Baba ordered an appetizer called “Normandy Sweetbreads”, but she didn’t know that sweetbreads are actually organ meat.  Not knowing what it was, she thought it was delicious.  She had second thoughts the next day, however, when she found out they were probably made with a calf’s pancreas.  We also had charcuterie (Beta) and salad (me).  Entrees were seafood pasta (Beta), salmon filet (me), and Filet Mignon (Baba).  The food was excellent.

The next morning was crisp and cold.  Our first stop: the bus stop.  I had procured some 24-hour bus passes (unlimited rides for 24 hours) so we could get around town and have a cheap bus tour of the city.  It seemed wiser, as well as more environmentally responsible, than pulling the car in and out of the small parking garage by the hotel for each trip.  Waiting for the bus was a cold experience, however.  Beta child under-dressed for the occasion despite my warnings, and was visibly cold.

st denis bus stop with ferris wheel in background
Standing at the bus stop by our hotel. We didn’t visit the Ferris wheel on this trip – too cold.

The Basilica was worth the cold.

interior view of notre-dame basilica, montreal
The Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal. The pulpit is to the left. Stained glass windows and paintings adorn the outer walls.

After a quick lunch at a bakery near the Basilica, and a pit-stop back at the hotel for Beta to change into warmer clothes, we paid a visit to The Underground City.  Baba took a breather in a food court near our entry point, while Beta and I took off to see the malls.

After the mall we killed the remaining hour of daylight by riding the bus home from one end of the line to the other.  We went through neighborhoods we never would have seen otherwise.  The driver’s confusion when we didn’t immediately disembark at the end of the line was palpable.  “Where are you going?”

We ended the day with takeout dinner from a restaurant next to the hotel called “The Pastaman”, and talking about life for a couple of hours.

Coming home was uneventful, except the border crossing.  The guard asked us some off-the-wall questions, like “where have you been? – not just today.”  “Why did you go to Jordan?”  I think they try to ask unexpected questions to throw people off balance a little and shake loose anyone who may be concealing something.  I’ve only been out of the country a couple of times, but it happened each time.

* After some indecision on how to get there, because the train required 24 hours each way (due to an overnight stop in NYC) and neither wanting to drive a car for that long, I suggested that I could drive them.  They readily accepted my offer.  I very much appreciated the chance to join the trip, and I had a great time!

White River Junction

Megh and I recently celebrated our anniversary (22 years!), and we took the train to White River Junction, Vermont, for an overnight to celebrate.

Megh and Quinn
On the train to Vermont

The weather started clear and warm, and we ate dinner outside.

The town holds an annual parade for Halloween called “Gory Daze.”  It started at 9 pm and featured a few hundred young adults in costumes and small marching band.  We didn’t know about it until we saw the participants gathering in front of the local museum.  It’s a hoot!

The next morning was cold, cloudy, and (eventually) rainy.  We walked around a bit to check out the town.

Connecticut river
The Connecticut River from White River Junction

We started by heading across the river to a breakfast place in New Hampshire, then came back to do a little shopping.  About the only thing open on a Sunday morning was the local co-op grocery store.  We picked up some maple donuts and oatmeal cookies for the train ride home, and some local syrup for Meghan to give to her coworkers.

Narragansett mornings and evenings

A few photos over the last couple of days.

seascape and lighthouse
Scarborough Beach, Narragansett, with Point Judith lighthouse in the distance
seascape with fog and waves
The horizon disappeared on a foggy morning. The sunrise is (theoretically) directly ahead.

grass and white flowers

harbor seal in the ocean
A harbor seal surfaced near us at Point Judith, while we were enjoying the sunset.
meghan with Narragansett in the background
Megh, looking pensive as she gazes east across the ocean
sunset
Sunset from Rose Nulman park, Point Judith, Narragansett
twilight
Twilight from Rose Nulman Park, Point Judith, Narragansett

Cape Cod 2021

Highlights From Cape Cod

“Baba” plays the part of the matriarch and rents a house on the cape, then invites the families to come stay with her.  Our responsibilities include making dinner (plus cleaning up) and enjoying ourselves.

This year was one of the rainiest summers in a long time, among the top 5 since record keeping began, but we still had plenty of time for fun.

seals in the water
Swimming was poor for humans but great for seals on Saturday evening

We went on a whale watch out of Provincetown on Wednesday.  It was really foggy and we didn’t see any whales, or anything at all, for almost two hours.

barely-discernable boat in the fog
There is a boat in the center of this picture, less than a hundred meters away

Suddenly, out of the fog, we stumbled across some whales that really showed off for a bit.

We discovered Skaket Beach, on the bay side of Orleans, on a beautiful afternoon.

sunset at skaket beach
Sunset at Skaket Beach

The beach is very flat so as the tide retreats you can walk out very, very far.

looking back on skaket beach from the water
Looking back at Skaket Beach after walking out to meet the retreating water

There are natural tide pools that trap crustaceans.  The kids had fun hunting hermit crabs and minnows.  Tim dug up a couple of steamers to show the kids what lives beneath the sand.

Beta child made some new friends, as usual.  Baba did, too, with a couple that lives in the next town over from us.  Meghan and I had fun talking with them about local stuff, and listening to the husband grouse about local contractors and the crappy McMansions they put up.

A couple of days into our stay, a local hawk mother decided that her chicks were ready to leave the nest.  One of the three wasn’t quite ready and complained, loudly, every remaining day of our stay.

fledgeling hawk
This newly-fledged hawk haunted his former roosts while complaining, loudly, and calling for mom.

The mother hawk, to her credit, never strayed too far away.  The siblings showed up as well to coax him off his branch.  This one, however, mostly hopped from tree to tree and demanded a nest and food.

Other highlights, of which there are no photos

BMG

meghan @ blue man group
The ushers passed out strips of paper as we entered, suggesting we “turn it headbands or scarfs, or whatever you like.” Meghan liked a hair bow.

I got a text from my sister-in-law on a Thursday: would you like a pair of tickets to see Blue Man Group this Sunday?  Something came up and we can’t use them.

Always quick on my feet, I got back to her over an hour later, asking her where (even though there’s only one place in the area).

Both girls declined repeated offers to go with me.  Apparently I smell bad or something, but opportunity only knocks once.  At least Meghan was willing to go, but only after I promised to keep to the speed limit this time.*

audience

The show was hilarious and high-energy.  It does appear to evolve over time, as it’s not the same show that we saw last time – except for the general tenor it was basically a new show to me.  If you too haven’t seen it in twenty years, go again.

*this is a short story: before Meghan and I were married we went to see Blue Man Group with Kennon and Katie.  While cruising down the Massachusetts Turnpike I was pulled over for “speeding and weaving.”  I disputed the ticket because I honestly don’t think I was speeding when the cop saw me (I now freely admit to having been speeding earlier) and the weaving charge was just plain stupid.  I was half successful.

Cape Cod 2018

Another change of venue this year: Wellfleet, MA.  We seem to be creeping further up the Cape every year.

Day 0: Driving and Arriving

We left the house around mid-afternoon, planning to arrive fashionably late.  Our intention worked as planned; we rolled into town around 6 pm and got busy making a pasta-and-meatball dinner for everyone.

After a short dinner, we took everyone to the closest beach to let the little ones burn off some energy.  The Fox family had been on the road since morning, and rolled in around 7pm; the kids were exploding with pent up energy and excitement.

mayo beach at sunset
Mayo Beach @ Sunset, Wellfleet MA

Day 1: Rain!

Meghan and I woke up on our usual schedule, 6am.  (This continued for the duration of the week.)  The weather was forecast to be poor, and it proved true for most, but not all, of the day.

We headed out to a full-size super market in search of a coffee maker (the house’s was AWOL) and groceries for dinner.  I prefer to spend a little extra money rather than pack the car with perishables.

After breakfast, the weather cleared enough that almost everyone headed to the beach — I stayed home and napped to catch up on a week of poor sleep, and missed seeing a Great White shark off Marconi Beach.

Dinner turned out to be an unpleasant adventure: we had picked up a pair of roasting chickens that morning, but after unsealing the packages we discovered that the fowl had gone very foul.  Tim and Kelly started cranking out their dinner planned for the following night, and Meghan and I dashed back to the store to get our money back.

After dinner and the little kids had gone to bed, we sat down to play Cards Against Humanity —with Alpha and Beta.  It was a night that they will not soon forget… nor will I.

Day 2: Chatham

I woke up early to a beautiful day and took a bike ride around the perimeter of Wellfleet.  The ocean side of the cape was still socked in with fog, but the land and western side were clear.

fog at white crest beach
The fog bank on the ocean side stopped abruptly at the edge of the water.

After breakfast we took a ride down to Chatham for some shopping and lunch.

Top Shark: Artist Mary Dunn Cauley, Middle Shark: Pati DuVall, Bottom Shark: Dennis Predovic

We introduced the Fox kids to Ponyo.  Tim and Kelly don’t seem to be big on anime, but the kids were fascinated.  (Sorry, guys!)

A documentary of Ted Williams premiered on PBS that night, which was important to Joan, so we cleared the deck, got the kids in bed, and watched with her.

Day 3: Marconi

We chose to go hiking around the Marconi Wireless Station on Tuesday.

artsy-fartsy picture of some snow fencing

Quinn and Beta looking out over the sea.

Listening to the Navy Band at the Old Salt Pond Visitor’s Center at the National Sea Shore.

Day 4: Biking and A Guest

Meghan and tried out the Cape Cod Rail Trail, which has a trail head in Wellfleet.  Our goal when we started was Marconi Beach, but the ride was so easy we kept going and made it to Orleans before turning around.

Kappa sleeping on the couch, take 1. He refused to sleep in his own bed until we bought child-proof door handle covers. We found him like this on Tuesday morning.

While we were gone, the Foxes hit Mayo Beach in Wellfleet.  When Meghan and I got back we headed to the beach with the girls as the Foxes were leaving.  We stayed about an hour and a half, and came away with minor sunburns, but the water was warm and the swimming was easy.

We hosted a friend of Joan’s who lives on the Cape, and her young daughter, for dinner.

On this night an issue withe the youngest of the Fox clan, Kappa, not going to bed at bedtime became particularly troublesome.  We pledged to find doorknob covers the next day so that he would have to stay in his room at night, even if he wasn’t going to go to bed.

Day 5: P-Town

After a very slow start to the day, we headed to Provincetown with Joan while the Foxes went back to the beach.

We started at the far eastern end of the main drag and worked our way westward.  People watching in P-Town is always an adventure.  The girls are still young enough to not really notice how bizarre the crowd is and have more fun shopping.

Day 6: Cape Code Lighthouse and Pilgrim Monument

Meghan, Alpha, and I spent the day being tourists.

We checked out the Cape Cod Lighthouse, where Meghan went up –and down– the spiral staircase of the lighthouse.

Quinn climbing up onto the light platform of the Cape Cod/Highland’s Lighthouse.

Quinn and Megh at the Cape Cod/Highland Lighthouse 7/27/2018

We then went to the Pilgrim museum and tower in Provincetown.  I, however, was the only one to climb the tower.

View up the Pilgrim Monument

View from inside the Pilgrim Monument, Provincetown, MA.

I was curious about how good a picture from this distance would come out. Very surprised everything is as sharp, considering the haze!

detail of view from top of pilgrim tower
The view of Provincetown Light from the top of the Pilgrim Monument tower

After dinner at home, the adults stayed up to watch Jaws with the RiffTrax overlay.

Day 7: Leaving

We were supposed to vacate the house by 9 am.  We missed the time by less than five minutes (WE were ready, but the Foxes have a small army to move.)

We ate an excellent breakfast at Laura & Tony’s kitchen, and hit the road for home.  Others in the party were hitting the beach one last time, but we were all ready to be home.

Assorted Snapshots

Mom hanging out, waiting for breakfast 7/28/2018

Cousins on the Group Shark Bench. Chatham

Will they swim or won’t they. Marconi Beach at the Cape Cod National Seashore.

We’re off to the Cape! 7/21/2018

A view of the fog over the ocean from the top of the Nauset Light House.

Quinn and Megh climbed this amazing lighthouse. The view from the top was breathtaking

Delta and Kappa when we woke up. Kappa had been on the couch all night, apparently. This was escape # 2.

600Inside the Nauset Lighthouse

Cape Cod/Highlands Light House

View down the Cape Cod/Highlands Lighthouse. There are a combination of a ladder, several platforms, and stairs, all made of cast iron.

View of the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown, MA from the Cape Cod/Highland Lighthouse’s windows.

View up the inside of the Cape Cod/Highlands Light House.

Beta and Delta looking for shells

Kappa and Baba waiting for breakfast

Alpha took a nap on Quinn’s lap for an hour or so.

Getting ready to climb the Nauset Light House! Kelly is having fun talking to the docent.

Delta and Kappa with Kelly “up to their ankles” which meant they totally got their shorts wet.

Delta checking out the Nauset Light.

Kappa checking out the Nauset Light.

After we all got in on Saturday night, we had a dinner of pasta and meatballs, and took the kids out to work off some energy and collect some shells at Mayo Beach in Wellfleet.

Maine 2018

We made an impromptu trip to Maine with our friends Sam and Joanne.

There’s a back-story: we were supposed to be camping this week with Sam and Joanne (and others) but a conflict with school forced some to cancel, and eventually everyone canceled.  Since we all had the time off already scheduled I had the idea for a quick road trip with S&J.  Meghan made the arrangements when they bought in, so game on.

dock and reflection
Found this very stereotypical Maine view while biking on Friday morning

Day 1: Foul Weather, Destination Southport

We left home on Thursday.  S&J had the longer drive, but our house was on the way so we met up here and caravaned the rest of the way together.

A bundle of rain followed them from Connecticut, and would continue to follow us all the rest of the way.

Meghan and I neglected to pack until they arrived, as we were running around all morning doing chores, so they got in a short, much-needed break from driving in the rain.

We rolled into the Ocean Gate hotel around 5 pm.  We had rented three rooms: one for S&J and their son; one for Alpha and Beta; and one for Meghan, me, and Butter-the-dog.  We were spread across different buildings in the resort, but the girls were close to S&J so that was ok.

Our room, unlike the others, had a full kitchen — indeed, that was one of the selling points for us.  It was billed as “not having a view” but that was a lie: the view was, in fact, beautiful.

sunrise
Sunrise on Saturday morning. I didn’t mean to wake up at 5 am, but I’m glad I did since I got to see this.

We went out to dinner at a tiny-but-tony restaurant called Oliver’s at Cozy Harbor.  The food was excellent, btw.  Joanne went high-end and got a “lobstertini,” lobster meat served in a martini glass, but most everyone else went basic with burgers or fish-and-chips.

group photo
Sitting down to dinner at Oliver’s. Everyone was tired. and nobody but the server saw me taking the picture, which is why everyone looks bored

We did check out some of the “traditional” Maine sight-seeing, which is to say we took pictures of the fog:

foggy harbor
The very foggy view from Oliver’s [click to expand]

Day 2: Swimming, Shopping, Dinner at Home

Sam and I started Friday off with a bang: we went biking.  The kids started off with fun: they went swimming in the pool.  Meghan and Joanne started off with style: they took a dip in the hot tub.

After everyone felt ready to start their day, we packed into the cars and took a short ride to Boothbay Harbor.  It was hot so we had an ice cream lunch.  The girls shopped, while I took Butter on a walk up and down the main drag.  She’s truly an adorable dog and we stopped to talk to several people that wanted to “say hi” to her.

sam in kayak
Sam braved rumbles of thunder to discover that a nearby island is not, in fact, an island.

We all took a siesta in the late afternoon back at the hotel, except for Sam who ignored the impending thunderstorm and went kayaking.

After a brief downpour and a bit of lightning, we got going on our planned “traditional get together” dinner: spaghetti and sauce.  This is why the in-room kitchen was important, you see.

For years, when we lived near each other, we would gather at one house or the other and feed everyone with a simple pasta, meat sauce, and garlic bread dinner.  From time to time we do it even now, but the drive is much longer.

I made the pasta, Sam made the garlic bread, and the kids watched TV.  This was about as traditional as you can get without being home.

preparing dinner

After dinner I washed up while everyone else played a game at the table until bedtime.

Day 3: Freeport and Home

Our stay was intentionally short because we were trying a too-good-to-be-true hotel and everything came together last-minute.  Much too short.

After a big breakfast we packed up and rolled out, destination: Freeport.  Sam had only passed through Maine before, never stopping, and Joanne has never been at all.  Both wanted to see the main L.L. Bean store in Freeport.  Meghan is always game to go there.  I walked around with Butter while everyone wandered inside the store for an hour because I just can’t even.  We also made time for the Ben and Jerry’s store, of course.

We made our final leg home, where S&J paid us a final visit before making their way home as well.

Road Trip 2017: Eclipse Edition

There’s a back-story to this trip.  My grandfather served on the USS Cobia during World War 2.  Through an accident of history, that very submarine is preserved as a floating museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

Grandpa died over a decade ago.  I found out about the Cobia several years after he died.  Grandpa never mentioned that it still existed, though he had attended crew reunions there.  I think he considered his service to be very personal and never spoke of it much.  I’ve wanted to visit, to make a pilgrimage if you will, but I wanted to take the girls when they were old enough to remember and appreciate the history of the thing.

I took advantage of a confluence of events this year to do it: 1) Alpha is old enough, 2) an impending total eclipse would pass (relatively) close by, and 3) I wanted a vacation and a road trip.  Alpha was agreeable to going, and she too wanted a road trip, so boom it was on.

As a side note, Alpha handled this trip with aplomb.  She has a bladder of iron, remained agreeable even when things went sideways, and is generally helpful around the car.

Overall Trip Statistics: 5 days, 10 states, 2700 miles, 2900 feet at highest pass.

Day 0: Destination Erie, Pennsylvania

The first day of the trip started with overcast skies that swiftly turned to rain — but the day ended with sun

We chose to leave on a Friday.  I put in enough of a day at work to count it as a full day and avoid using another vacation day, which meant leaving around lunch time.  Alpha and I were packed and ready to go by 1 pm.  A final stop to see Meghan at work, and we hit the highway… and traffic.

I made the mistake of assuming that traffic would be moderate at mid day.  Friday afternoon rush hour tends to be nasty, especially so in summer, but it begins earlier than I know.

As we crawled our way down the turnpike we witnessed an almost-crash in front of us.  We mostly idled our way until Charleton.  I guess that house rentals in Maine must run from Saturday to Friday, since a large portion of the cars around us were from NY, NJ, and PA and they all peeled off at the I-84 exit.

Cruising through Schoharie, NY
We found lots and lots of construction, but we never slowed down in New York

The rain moved in as the traffic cleared.  We made fair time for a couple of hours as we skipped into New York state under showers.

Skies cleared by mid-state, with a few hours of sunlight left.  After dark we cruised through the Seneca reservation.  All of the road signs were translated into Seneca, which was kind of neat.  They also have a casino that, much like Foxwoods, rises out of the forest in a jumble of incongruence.

We made Erie at about 9:30 that night – a Motel 6 alongside Interstate 90.  It was a plain, but clean and serviceable hotel.  We turned in sans dinner and slept well.

Travel Report:

Central and western New York are very boring.  We didn’t get cell phone service anywhere and the highway just seems to go forever.  There are some peculiar town names in western New York, ‘Horseheads‘ was a particular favorite.

Day 2: Destination Chicago

Breakfast at Zodiac Dinor
Breakfast at the Zodiac Dinor (sic). It was delicious and huge; we never did care to eat lunch that day.

We had a fantastic breakfast at a local diner and set off on the scenic route for a little while.  We wanted to see Lake Erie.

Along the way we found some sites and some sights.  The day was warm but a little cloudy, which meant that it never got too hot.  I was looking forward to rolling with the top down on this trip and I was not disappointed.  We hit the sweet spot for a convertible: 50 mph @ 72 F, moderate humidity.

Before we left Conneaut, Ohio we stopped at a lemonade stand; the kids even served us in the car.  (I’ve made it a policy over the years to always stop for lemonade.)  The roads were beautiful, alternating between showing us the lake and just being green.

D-Day Re-enactment in Conneaut OH
We drove by a D-Day re-enactment in Conneaut, OH [click to enlarge]
D-Day Re-enactment, another view, Conneaut, OH
A better view of the D-Day Re-enactment. It appears to be a yearly event. [click to enlarge]
chicago skyline
Looking over the highway near our hotel. Chinatown is a little further left than is visible. [click to enlarge]

Lake Erie from Ashtabula, OH
The scenic byway made some very close passes to the coast and we saw some great views of the lake.

Lake Erie itself is gorgeous.  The towns that border the lake are a mix of quaint, middle-America, and gaudy: some reminded me of Cape Cod, some reminded me of the over-commercialized beach town of Misquamicut, RI, and some reminded me of any number of nondescript towns that I’ve encountered along my travels.

We switched over to the highway around Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio, as we became conscious of the time: I wanted to get into Chicago before sundown.  Being Saturday we didn’t have to worry about rush hour.  We rolled into town around 5:30, which was perfect.

Dinner at Tasty Place
Our meals at Tasty Place. As the name suggests the meals were, in fact, very tasty. [click to enlarge]
Our hotel in Chicago was right next to Chinatown, so we took a walk to find some dinner.  We found a hole-in-the-wall with some of the best Chinese food I’ve ever had.

We turned in no long after dinner; we had a full day ahead.  We spent a little time unwinding and calling home.  Earlier in the day we had found out that the USS Indianapolis had been located, and shared the news with Meghan and Beta.  They proceeded to watch Jaws (with the Indianapolis scene) and brag to us about doing so.

 

Travel Report:

Route 531 along the coast of Ohio is beautiful.

Indiana Rest Stop
We stopped to rest for a bit in Indiana. The turnpike was single-lane (for construction) and bordered by jersey barriers on both sides for miles, which does weird things to your brain after a while.

The Indiana turnpike is bumpy as hell, and boring, until you approach Elkhart.

Day 3: Destination Cobia

This was the main event.  We arrived around lunchtime.

USS Cobia
USS Cobia, positioned at the stern and looking towards the bow.

There are regular tours of the submarine, from forward torpedo room to aft torpedo room.  They’ve restore the submarine to about 80% working condition.

uss cobia torpedo room
The forward torpedo room

We found at least three, possibly four, photos with Grandpa in them.  The questionable photo is from a reunion photo, not everyone was looking at the camera and, sad but true, old men all start to look alike after a certain age.  One other photo that we saw him is from a reunion, the final two are from his time on the submarine.

Alpha, with the Cobia’s stern in the background [click to enlarge]
Our tour guide was new – his first day! – and he wasn’t familiar with any of the crew besides the captain.  Grandpa, being an officer but not the captain, wasn’t a name he knew.  The tour was about twenty minutes from bow to stern.

Being a real WW2 submarine the quarters were very cramped; I’m not sure how my grandfather, being a few inches taller than I am, was able to fit through the tiny intra-compartment doorways.

The submarine part of the museum is a little small; there’s a somewhat larger section devoted to boats on Lake Michigan and the various wrecks.  Alpha and I agreed that we’d like to come back another time to view the lake history in more detail.

We ate dinner in Chicago, a pizza place of course.  After we got back to our room Alpha wanted to veg out.  I felt cooped up by the car all day, so I went out for a walk around the neighborhood.  I took some photos but they were terrible; I need a new phone with a better camera.

Travel Report

The state of Wisconsin replaced a large section of the pavement on Interstate 43, both northbound and southbound, with a concrete washboard.

The car’s computer calculated our average MPG to be north of the 30 mark sometime this day.

Day 4: The Eclipse

Alpha and I got going a bit later than I had originally planned, and had a smashing breakfast at a market that’s a block from the hotel.

Clouds over Ashkum, IL
The clouds became progressively more forbidding as we raced south to meet the eclipse. The weather report for southern Illinois was clear skies, so we pressed on. Skies grew even darker shortly after this photo was taken, but we never got more than a sprinkle in the morning. [click for a very-hi-res version.]
Getting close to or under the eclipse path was a bonus, so we didn’t have any specific destination to reach, just “as close as we are able or choose to get.”  I picked Marion, Illinois as a target and we started driving.

We hit some traffic along the way, not due specifically to the eclipse but around construction along the highway.  I don’t know if traffic would have been lighter and we would have slipped right through if it hadn’t been for the eclipse.  We probably spent an hour and a half sitting in various stand-stills, and 30 minutes more finding detours, and were about an hour outside of Marion when we decided to stop to watch the eclipse in Effingham.  It was a fair place to stop, with fuel and food, and we weren’t the only ones peering up at the sun.  While it wasn’t directly in the path of totality the sun was reduced to a tiny hair-like sliver.

eclipse peak
The clouds proved to be a mixed blessing by obscuring the view but allowing us to take unfiltered photos of the eclipse. I was too busy taking in the moment to photograph the actual peak — this was from about four minutes before the peak. The eclipse was moving from left to right in this photo, and the top was the only bit visible at the peak.

From the stopping point, our next destination was Lexington, Kentucky.

Downpours over Newton, IL
We ran into thunder and lightning as we moved east through Illinois

We got into Lexington late, due in part to rain.  A large part of our drive was on country roads which, more than the interstates, are long, straight, and surrounded by corn.

We arrived in Lexington after 7 pm.  It’s a college town and we ate dinner at a joint that caters to the college crowd.  It was delicious.  Alpha had breakfast for dinner and I had a burger.  As we walked out the door Alpha remarked how good it was.  The person walking out behind us was, unbeknownst to us, one of the cooks heading out for a break; she flashed a huge smile and said “thanks!”

Alpha stayed in our room while I took a swim in the hotel pool.  We were in bed and lights-out before 9 pm, as we were leaving very early the next morning.

Traffic Report

Midwestern seasons seem to be like New England: almost-winter, winter, still-wintery, and road construction.  The side roads are much better for driving than the interstates, and almost as fast and direct.

Indiana doesn’t seem to understand the concept of interstates.  They have traffic lights and intersections on I-64.

Day 5: Destination Home

Alpha in the carThis was the longest, hardest drive of the trip: almost a thousand miles in one day.  Under the best of conditions it would be a fourteen-hour trip.  Alpha and I discussed doing it in one day or breaking it into two, and her answer was firm: lets go home today.  So we did, come hell or high water.

We didn’t take any scenic routes or make any unnecessary stops, it was just pounding the pavement (so to speak).  We left Lexington at 7:30 am and made it home around 11:30 pm.  We texted Meghan every time we crossed a state line, and she was reposting our updates to Facebook.

Travel Report

Somewhere in eastern Kentucky we passed a field that could have been straight out of a Bob Ross painting, with a shed or small barn, happy little trees, and a small mountain in the background.

West Virginia is beautiful, even from the highway, though cell phone reception is non-existent.  We suddenly had great coverage when we entered Maryland, even though the mountains didn’t stop, so it seems to be a political issue not a geographic one.

We reached a peak mileage of 31.8 MPG, according to the car’s computer.  My back-of-the-envelope math came up slightly lower at our last fill-up, but close enough.

The climate control system lost it’s mind somewhere in Kentucky and was alternately blowing cold and warm, regardless of actual setting, for the rest of the ride.  Things got a bit warm and sweaty, but not the worst I’ve ever had.

Pennsylvania doesn’t know how to manage traffic around construction, of which the was plenty, including some standstills well before rush hour.  Neither does Connecticut, where we were hitting standstills at 9 pm.  That shouldn’t happen on a Tuesday night.

Sixteen hours of straight driving is very, very tiring.