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I'm not going to post too much right now, as I just got home about an hour ago, but I am back from a quick skip over to Kentucky.
A couple of notes: US-62 and US-68 - really nice drives. GM Bowling Green Assembly - awesome! Toyota Georgetown - the picture that should be next to the definition of "large".
I've got to compile my info and such - I estimate about 2300 miles in 4 days, though I did have fun and see a lot.
That's what we like -- sizzling reports filed nearly from the tarmac. Looking forward to your next dispatch!Quote:
Originally Posted by TimboTA
Mark
I can't wait to hear more! Glad you had fun.
Fresh air entered the window as we sat on the couch watching television. It was getting late and I knew I wasn't going to get any rest. I was ready to go.
Saturday. Eleven twenty-three, post meridian, and out the door. Into the car, previously packed. Diesel clatter in the night, settling to a soft purr. Canned Heat on the radio. My journey of many miles begins with a single step... on the accelerator.
Interstates 90, 291, 91, into Connecticut, no concerns, worries, problems, or troubles. Move, yeah, move. Merritt Parkway, the hills, the turns, I am invigorated.
New York, I-287, New Jersey, I-78, Pennsylvania, fuel, rest stop. No rest, move it. Go. Food, fuel. I-81. Sunrise will be coming soon, so tired. Rest, no, sleep. Two hours.
Two hours, no more, GO!!!, move, Maryland, I-70, I-68, West Virginia, I-79, I-64, Kentucky. Eyes heavy, tired, 6:30pm, 816 miles so far. Morehead exit. Nice room, cheap, time to....
Slept till morning, fueled, back on I-64. This just will not do. I need two-lanes. Yeah, twists, turns, sights, smells. Kentucky 32. Where's this go? Somewhere, that's all I need to know. Blue Licks Park, solitude, buffet. I've lingered too long. US-68, US-460, Georgetown and Toyota. Seven-million five-hundred thousand square feet: L-a-r-g-e.
Bowling Green beckons. Find my way back to US-68 South. What a road! Cliffs and canyons and hairpin turns. What I could do in a 'Vette or a bike through here. The pavement straightens out. Fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty miles per hour. Dig, man, dig! Moving, turning, driving. Settling into seventy miles per hour, I am free.
Lunch at a small Mexican restaurant, nothing spectacular. Outta here, Parkway, Glasgow, KY-90, US-31W. I know where I'm going to sleep.
The Wigwam is comfortable, though a little pricey. Some night photography, then back inside. Whack! I'll have to watch that bathroom door frame. Whack! Seriously, try to remember that. Some TV, some reading, Whack! again. Tylenol. Time to sleep.
Bowling Green Assembly, Corvettes and Cadillacs inching their way through the factory. Sweet!! Corvette Museum, third time's a charm. Time to move.
Interstate 65 North. State Fair? Nah, not this time. Fuel then Frankfort, five o'clock and time to eat. Pub: closed. Deli: closed. Bakery?? Closed. Grille: open. Shishkabob and rice. Not bad. Nema's. Taking a walk along the street, I hear footfalls. Mine. Nobody is around, and this is downtown in the state capital. Nice town, I'll have to come back sometime. Time to go. US-460 to US-62. Left, right, left, right. Sunset comes and goes, left, right, left, right, up, down. My feet dance on the three pedals.
Ohio in the night. US-62, US-22, moving, moving, pushing, smiling. Lights coming the other way, I time them, one mile away. Lights again. This one feels different, I trust my instincts and slow down. It's a cop. We pass in the darkness, the corn keeps my speed a secret. I-70, I-77 so tired. It's 1 am. A rest area, I'll stop for a short rest. I rest. It's not short.
Eight o'clock ante meridian. Slept all night in the driver's seat. Should have climbed in back. I look over; a fat woman in a minivan is staring at me. Creepy. Why is my hair all messed up?
Interstates 76, 80, Pennsylvania, mountains. Serenity. Fuel time. I-180, PA-405, US-220, up, down, left, right. I become a mix of Andretti and Astaire, my wagon swaying then settling into a line. New York, NY-17, I-88, I feel home calling me. NY-23, up, down. Taconic Parkway, I start to feel pressured. I want to be home now. I look West, sunset. I look ahead, rest area. I dig out the camera, park, and leap from the car as the sun begins to set. In three seconds it's gone, but I got the shots. I got the shots! I-90, Massachusetts, a quick stop at a bookstore, then home. Home, Wednesday, 10:23pm. Two-thousand two-hundred and seventy miles.
I hear a whisper. Yes, it is the highway, calling me again. I want to be gone.
Love the style - It gives a good sense of the trip.
The saddest part of any trip is the realization that it's over, but the antidote is the knowledge that it WILL happen again.
Thanks for the reminder.
AZBuck
"Whack." Timbo, are you a particularly tall man? Just wondering. Bob
I agree with AZBuck. Maybe a dash of Hemingway as well?
You made me feel the invigoration and intensity of your trip. And I share your letdown when arriving home again. I have never understood people who are homesick and anxious to get home. What's up with that?
I'm six foot three inches tall. The door frame in the wigwam is about six feet tall. Ouch!
The shower, however, resonates throughout the entire structure, and is great for singing in.
Great trip report -- I had fun reading it. When's the next?
The next long trip like this probably won't be until sometime next year - I've used all my vacation time up this year. (This assumes I stay at the same job!)
Summer in New England ends next week, but I am planning to take some scenic Autumn tours this year on the weekends. I don't know when that will start, as I am going in for surgery this coming week, and I don't know how long recovery will take.
Best wishes on your surgery and for a quick, successful recovery.
Thanks for the kind words :-)
Just a few observations:
Frankfort, KY - the downtown section is quite nice, full of old buildings in good repair. I ate at Nema's, a Persian restaurant, the food was very good and the price was moderate. For most of my meal, I was the only person there. In fact, in Frankfort, I think I was the only person walking around at all!
Toyota - I was unable to take the plant tour, as they are not giving tours until March (they are working on the 2007 Camry right now), but my hosts were very hospitable and open to answering any questions I had about the process and the Toyota Production System. I was the only person there (in a room that seats about 300.)
GM Bowling Green Assembly - definitely worth the trip. Reservations required and it's $5, but just to see the process was fascinating (and they have also implemented many aspects of the Toyota Production System.)
Traffic - I didn't have to deal with much. There was some coming North out of Bowling Green on Tuesday, but it was "rush hour" time. Even still, we moved along quite nicely for a weekday. On the two-lanes, I had the roads mostly to myself.
Construction - some on I-68 in WV and on I-64 near the KY-WV line in KY. I also noticed US-33 in central OH is being realigned.
Sleeping in the car - state law in PA stated that a car should not be parked in a rest area for more than 2 hours in any 24 hour period. The OH rest area where I stopped and ended up sleeping had a posting requiring anyone who wanted to sleep for more than three hours to sign a register. I didn't see a register (and I didn't plan to sleep that long, anyway.)
Wigwam Village, Cave City, KY - quite comfortable, except for those low door frames :-) The desk clerk was kind of strange - I think he wanted me to extoll his virtue for the arbitrary pricing he gave me. I was in number 5, and when I showed up, I was the only person there.
Blue Licks park - scene of the last battle of the Revolutionary War, a nice little park, not very scenic, though there is an interesting, small museum on the premises ($2.50 admission) that shows artifacts from the native population. I asked the woman running the place where a good place to eat was. Unsurprisingly, she told me the lodge buffet. I tried it, nothing spectacular but better than I've had at some places. Options: ribs, fried chicken, fried catfish.
Tim,Quote:
Originally Posted by TimboTA
Our thoughts are with you for a speedy recovery! I have my own date with the laser surgeon in the next few weeks -- tough to find the time to squish that in. Hopefully your recovery will be as swift as I anticipate mine to be.
I liked the poetry-beat of your roadtrip dispatch. Very cool.
Mark
Just wanted to say thanks for the good wishes and to let you know that the surgery went off without a hitch, and now I've begun to road to recovery. No trips for Labor Day weekend, but I hope to be out and about in a week or two, as the colors are starting to pop up more and more on the trees around here.
I'm glad things went well and you'll be up and about in time to enjoy the Fall colors! Hooray!
:-)
I am planning some loop drives: One through Western MA, one through Eastern CT, one through Western CT, and one that includes NY/VT. Reports to follow - look for them in about two weeks (hope I don't miss the VT peak, fingers crossed!)