Signs of Home

Herkimer Area

Back in New England

Our backs to the setting sun...

we see signs of home.

"Hey it's good to be back home again..."


We woke up at a service area on the New York State Thruway, somewhere west of Rochester. Despite the big rigs whizzing by at 80 mph all night, we both managed to get a full night's sleep. After refreshing ourselves in the rest rooms, some breakfast (Ben got two donuts at Tim Horton's, while I opted for a breakfast sandwich from Fuddrucker's), and use of the WiFi to post yesterday's entry, we hit the road. Our only other stops on the Thruway were for fuel for Aunt Beast and fuel for me, in the form of Starbuck's. The greatest improvement to interstate travel in the past 25 years has not been automated payment or rumble strips. The single greatest improvement has come in the quality of coffee available on the interstates. Though Starbuck's, in my mind, is little better than Mall Wart, their coffee is quite good and it made my life on the interstate much better.

Though the distance is long and the toll hefty, the Thruway isn't a bad drive. It's mostly pretty, with enough points of interest to keep one awake. The road surface is great ("Your Tolls at Work") and the drivers weren't too crazy. Some pretty good hills, though. Our little Toyota 4-cylinder was whining through the Herkimer area.

New York ended up nicely, with the lovely village of Whitehall. If someone forced me to live in New York, that is where I'd want to be. Whitehall finally gives way to Vermont, and Weather Lad was so overcome with happiness that he was inspired to write another sign. We didn't want to dally, so we did the obligatory "we're in New England" phone call at the same time we stretched and took pictures. Forty miles east lay Rutland, a fuel stop, and McDonald's. There would be no sit down meal on this afternoon, as we pushed eastward.

With the sun, and the rest of the country, at our backs, we were inspired to shoot some pictures out of the front of Aunt Beast. Our shadows reached toward home.

It's always nice to see familiar signs on the way home, and to know the way without looking at a map.

Our entry to Maine came as the sun sank behind us. We'd seen a couple of moose in Vermont and New Hampshire, but they kindly stayed out of the roads as Aunt Beast took us home, where Nanny, Cheer Chick, the Digital Backpacker, Katie, Lea and Neil awaited our arrival. I was still full from McDonald's but I grabbed some homemade stirfry and rice because it was homemade. It's good to be home.