Full travelogue
At last, the long-promised full accounting of my recent road trip. Two caveats/warnings:
1) It's long. Like, really long. As in, 8000+ words long, which is a good start on a NaNoWriMo novel. Try to read it in more than one sitting unless you're just a die hard for road trip stories.
2) I forgot a lot of stuff. Timelines got blurred, especially in Canada where I had no Twitter to keep a record for me. I also left out some stuff that I covered in my pictures, so if you want the full story then you should also check out my Gallery, which is arranged in such a way that you should be able to integrate the two accounts without too much trouble.
Road trip 2009 transcription
Day 1: Wednesday, May 6
Left home around 10:30am or 11:00am and began the drive to Gatlinburg. I'd carefully timed this departure to avoid the Atlanta rush hour and it worked like a charm. The skies threatened rain, but I didn't encounter any until I hit North Carolina, and then it made up for lost time. The route to Gatlinburg goes through some amazing countryside, full of mountains and twisting road that would have been interesting in dry weather. In the rain it was just stressful. I was borrowing dad's GPS and wasn't used to it and missed a turn at the top of a mountain in some pretty heavy rain. I found it amusing that the GPS wanted me to make a U-turn in those conditions (I swear I drove through a cloud, it was that foggy and rainy), but I declined that advice and pushed forward. It eventually corrected for my new route and I only delayed my arrival by a few minutes. My destination was the Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. I had expected it to be full of pomp and ridiculous claims, but was very pleasantly surprised to discover a well-presented aquarium with some amazing exhibits, including the Lethal Weapons exhibit that featured the various teeth, stings, venom, claws, and other hunting tools that aquatic life has available to it. While I was parking the car I saw some of the employees helping ducklings off the road and into the grass along the curb.
After the aquarium I allowed myself a few moments to explore the part of Gatlinburg that immediately surrounded me. It's picturesque, but touristy and all the shops I went into were filled with mostly horrible knickknacks for travelers, although there were also a fair number of places that sold hiking equipment for those folks who wanted to brave the mountains on foot. Finally left the area around 6:00pm or so and started heading towards Washington. I had intended to drive until around midnight or possibly 1:00am, but stopped around 11:30pm because I couldn't handle the rain anymore. I stayed at a Super 8. The price was right, but they annoyed me because they charged me $1 for a room safe that I didn't use.
Day 2: Thursday, May 7
Arose early and exited the hotel around 8:30am and headed towards Washington, DC. Or, more accurately, headed towards Baltimore, MD, as I was intending to see the National Aquarium in Baltimore before I checked into my hotel in Washington. Made it around 2:00pm, later than I'd wanted, but it was enough. I checked in with my contact at the Aquarium who got me in the door and then turned me loose to explore the place. I'd been to this Aquarium before, but it's a fantastic facility and I think I'll likely go again if I ever find myself anywhere near it in the future. The Aquarium closed at 5:00pm, just in time for rush hour, and so I began trying to think of something to do instead of sit in traffic trying to get to Washington and finally hit on the idea of going to see the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards, which it turns out is just a few blocks away from the Aquarium. Knowing that I would be out late, I called the hotel to tell them I was still coming so they wouldn't cancel my reservation. The first person I spoke to transferred me immediately. The second person I spoke to said I would "probably" be ok. With a pre-paid reservation on the line I asked if she could do any better than "probably", which led her to transfer me again. The third person I spoke to assured me that he had made a note of my late arrival and that everything would be ok. I made a note of his name and then proceeded to the ballgame.
Camden Yards is a nice looking ballpark, although I think the announcers play it up a bit in their broadcasts to be better looking than it really is. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's no better or worse than any other ballpark I've ever been to. I got cheap seats in the upper deck in the outfield and used my zoom lens to catch a few action shots early in the game and then just sat back and relaxed a bit, eating dinner at the game and enjoying the hot dog and pretzel. When it was over I walked back to my car and drove down to Washington, DC.
The hotel I stayed in was the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel and finding it in the dark was a total pain. The other total pain was the fact that there was no on-site parking, which meant forced valet. I'm not a big fan of valet parking, but in this case I had no choice. I'd scouted out a few nearby lots before I arrived, but in downtown Washington space is at a premium and so everybody insists on doing valet parking so that they can cram the cars in as close as possible. In the end I could have saved some money by using the lot next door, but they wanted to valet park it, too, and by that point I was so tired and frustrated from not being able to find the place that I just let the hotel park it and ate the cost ($39/night...just to park). The biggest inconvenience for me was not being able to just go down to my car and get stuff when I needed it. I refused to have them bring the car over just so I could get some item out of the trunk, so I spent several minutes repacking at curbside and then ended up wishing I'd brought some of the water bottles I'd packed into the room with me. Finally got checked in and collapsed into a comfortable bed.
Day 3: Friday, May 8
The weather forecast in Washington was a little iffy, but of the two days I was going to be there the first day was looking a bit better than the second, so I elected to swap my original plan around and see the National Zoo on this day. This was a good move as it was nice and sunny out and the Zoo was a little more crowded than I'd expected. I can only imagine what it was like on a Saturday. I arose reasonably early, made the hard decisions about what I was willing to carry around with me all day, overpacked as usual, and set out around 10:00am. The Metro stop was very close to the hotel so I had no trouble getting the train and it was only a couple of stops and then a few short blocks of walking to get to the Zoo.
The National Zoo is a quality facility with lots of great animals. The pandas, which were everybody else's focus and the source of most of the crowds, didn't enthrall me quite as much because we have them at Zoo Atlanta. I spent a good long time at the zoo and when I left storm clouds were threatening, but it was still fairly early and so I decided to take a chance and head towards the National Cathedral, which was nearby-ish. The walk was a little further than I'd anticipated, but I made it with no problems and the rain held off. I was way too late to see the inside of the cathedral, but I made a number of pictures of the exterior architecture and a fountain that was in a small courtyard. I tried to take some pictures of some squirrels, but the light was fading and I realized it was time to be heading back. This was an instance where the GPS capability of the iPhone was extremely handy as it let me take a more direct route back to the Metro stop and thus back to my hotel where I got to bed moderately early for a change.
Day 4: Saturday, May 9
The barest tickle in my throat presaged what was about to befall me in the days to come, but at this moment it was not enough for me to worry about. I packed up my stuff again and headed out. I made one small wrong turn and delayed my arrival at the International Spy Museum by about a half hour, but no harm done. My only regrets about the Spy Museum is that they don't allow pictures and I really should have allowed myself more time, but I was trying to squeeze too much into one day. I should go back some time and see it more leisurely. Among all the artifacts and historical displays about spying and espionage, they also had a crawl tube where you could pretend you were crawling around in the air ducts and a noise meter to let you know if you were being too noisy and drawing attention to yourself. They also had headphones you could put on at various points and listen to the conversations of people in other parts of the museum.
After the Spy Museum I headed over to the Newseum, which is relatively new in Washington. This museum is all about news and the media, which made for an interesting experience because most museums have a pretty solid focus on just one or three topics, but because this one was about news reporting there were all kinds of things to see. Bits of the actual Berlin wall, a replica of the car that was used as cover for the sniper in the area a couple of years ago, the radio tower on top of the World Trade Center, and a news helicopter that hung from the ceiling, among other things. A very interesting set of exhibits, including yesterday's issue of the newspaper from publishers worldwide and historical newsprint showing major events from the last couple of centuries. One thing that really struck me was the difference in what newspapers looked like back then compared to what they look like now. Before the pages were bigger, but the type was smaller and the text was crammed in as tightly as it would go into several columns. No illustrations, no pictures, no changes in the typeface, just wall-to-wall text. Watching that change gradually over the years into today's newspapers was fascinating.
I then perused the Museum of American History, grabbing a hot dog along the way. Again, needed more time. Lots of amazing things here including Abraham Lincoln's hat and several life masks, a whole section about the history of transportation in America from steam locomotives to modern cars and robotics, and the original Star Spangled Banner that inspired Francis Scott Key to write what later became the National Anthem. I didn't get to see the gallery of gowns that the First Ladies have worn over the years because there was a line and I frankly didn't care enough to wait in line for it.
Next up was the National Air and Space Museum. I've never gotten really into the engineering of aeronautics or the various designs of the rockets and airplanes, but I admire those people who do design and fly these machines and the space program in general. There was a beautiful section on the planet Saturn with some stunning photography as well as recreations (or maybe the real thing) of old passenger planes and space suits. They even had the Wright Brothers actual plane. They said the canvas had been replaced a few times, but the wooden frame was authentic.
I then hightailed it over to the Museum of Natural History where I took in the dinosaur bones, minerals and gems, an interesting exhibit about forensics as well as some very interesting things about the ocean, shells, and a preserved giant squid. The thing about this museum is that it seems to go on forever. You think you're done and then you realize there's another floor. You finish that floor...except there's another wing. You finish the wing and then there's another exhibit tucked in a little hallway. I stayed until they kicked me out at 7:30pm and then headed down the Mall towards the monuments.
The Washington Monument was first, and easily the most visible structure in the area. It was closed, so I didn't get to go inside or up to the top, but I had a more urgent mission anyway, so I just took its picture several times. By this point the clouds were beginning to gather again and it looked like my good weather luck was beginning to run out. After the Washington Monument I made it to the World War II Memorial. This hadn't been built the last time I visited Washington, and my grandfather died in this war, so I wanted to make absolutely sure I saw it. The memorial is very well presented and makes for a good place to hang around and reflect...if you have the time. Sadly, I didn't, but I did make a bunch of pictures and found my grandfather's record on the computerized kiosk nearby before heading towards the Lincoln Memorial, which was not far away. As I approached the memorial the lights were already turned on, making Lincoln's statue stand out vividly against the shadows that were gathering strongly by this point. I made my way along the edge of the reflecting pool, noting all the ducklings that were paddling along after their mothers and remembering the ducklings in Gatlinburg. Must be the season for ducks. Finally made it to the base of the steps, set up my tripod, and made a few shots of the memorial and then turned around and made a few shots of the Washington Monument and the Capitol building in the distance. Then I walked into the memorial building itself where I was told by a park ranger that I couldn't use the tripod. I took a little offense to that because I wasn't anywhere near anyone and there was plenty of room, but I collapsed it and tried to take hand-held shots in the poor light with mixed results. Then I went back down the stairs, took a few more shots of the Washington Monument and Capitol and then packed everything up and began the long trudge in the dark back to the hotel. The rain held up, as did my feet, and then I collapsed.
Memorials and museums I had wanted to see but missed included the FDR Memorial, Vietnam, Korea, and Jefferson along with the Holocaust Museum and the relatively new Museum of Crime and Punishment. I need to come back here, especially since it's not really that far away.
Day 5: Sunday, May 10
Arose early, felt the cold coming on for real now, checked out, and promptly confused the GPS because I couldn't just sit still and let it calculate, I had to drive. A few missed turns later I was on the right path and drove in the direction of Boston. I had been gloating all month because my plan involved driving through New York on Mother's Day when I was sure there would be no rush hour traffic. My gloating turned to tragedy when I discovered that New York has rush hour traffic pretty much all the time. I also got my first taste of the tolls in this part of the country. The New Jersey Turnpike has got to be the biggest racket in the country, worse than a tourist trap, and I'll be going out of my way to avoid it in the future. Only stopped a couple of times, the first time was just north of Baltimore where I stopped for an extended period of time to repack my car after my hurried departure from the hotel and the second time just north of New York for gas and medicine for my now full-fledged cold. These days medicine means decongestants, even though all I had at this point was a sore throat and the sniffles, I knew that the bronchitis couldn't be far behind and I was determined not to have to deal with that in Canada. Made it to my cousin's house in Boston around 6:30pm where I started showing my road fatigue. I found his block (after driving through Harvard Square...the GPS thought this was a good idea, but it isn't) and started looking for his house number. I was counting the sequence of numbers...passed it, but couldn't figure out how, turned around, kept looking, missed it again, couldn't figure out how, turned around again, called my cousin who said he was outside, didn't see him, and THEN looked on the other side of the street. At no time did my brain register that I had been counting even numbers and his house number is odd. Ordered pizza for dinner, stayed up to chat for a while, went to see 'Wolverine', and then went to bed.
Day 6: Monday, May 11
Got up and went to the New England Aquarium with my cousin, who arranged to not have to go into work until later. The NEAQ was smaller than I'd remembered, but lots of great exhibits. Their spiral ramp up the central column is something that I use to judge other aquariums by.
After the Aquarium, my cousin had to head to work, so I set out for the Museum of Science. This would be my third visit to the MOS and I was hoping to make it in time for the electricity show. I finally had a decent camera to take pictures with and surprised myself with how good they turned out. I'd love to try taking pictures of a live lightning storm some time!
After the MOS I headed back to the house and then met my cousin for dinner at a local restaurant where I got a "small" calzone that was absolutely enormous. I resolved to eat only half of it. Then we went to see 'Star Trek' on IMAX. We waited until the last minute to leave and then disocvered that the on-ramp we needed for the highway was closed for construction, so that set us back a bit. When we got to the theatre it was in a furniture store and, of course, we had to navigate our way through the whole store to find the movie theatre (interesting marketing technique) and when we stepped inside we found the place to be packed. We surveyed the situation and the only immediately available seats were either waaaay in the back or waaaaay up front, neither desireable. Walking slowly up the stairs we looked for any gaps in the crowd and finally my house-manager's training paid off when I located two seats together about halfway up, center of the row...perfect positioning. I pointed them out and then asked what the odds were that they were being held for someone. My cousin said it was worth a try and that if they were being held we could just keep going through and not step on the same people again. So we waded through the sea of legs, plopped ourselves down, and waited for someone to object...and noone did. And then the movie started. So we got some damn good seats even though we were riding the ragged edge of disaster.
Day 7: Tuesday, May 12
Arose in my own good time and waited for Boston's rush hour to die down a bit before heading out to the Franklin Park Zoo. This was a small, but charming zoo that had pretty much the usual assortment of animals, extremely well-presented. Highlights included the white tiger and the Andean condor, who saw me taking pictures and extended a wing for my inspection as well as bending over so I could get a view of the brilliant white feathers on his back. I had intended to see the JFK Library again while I was there, but when I was finished with the zoo I elected to go back to the house and rest, as my cold was bothering me and I knew I'd have to get up early the next day.
Day 8: Wednesday, May 13
Early start (like around 7:00am) because this was going to be one of the longest driving legs of the trip, getting from Boston to Pugwash, and was also going to include crossing the border, which involved an unknown time factor. Stopped to get gas just over the Maine border and then again at a rest-stop about 3 hours later, which is when my unexpected adventure began. The original plan (and what the GPS had been telling me all along) was to drive up I-95 until it crossed into Canada. After the rest-stop, though, the GPS recalculated the route for some reason and sent me off on a little tangent. The route was scenic, but I'm almost positive it took longer because of the slower speed limits and twists and turns. Finally crossed into Canada (New Brunswick) somewhere between 1:30pm and 2:00pm. Customs and immigration were uneventful, thankfully, although they did take what I considered the unusual step of calling Marla to ask if she was expecting me.
The little town of St. Stephen is an interesting place and I wouldn't mind visiting again and exploring it a little more. I explored it just a little already because after I crossed the border I saw a sign that said "toll bridge". I had bypassed the currency exchange place and realized that now was as good a time as any to visit an ATM and get some Canadian money. The GPS took a while to guide me to one (it claimed there was one in a nearby shopping center, but it was so well-hidden that I eventually gave up and went somewhere else). Then, when I got back on the road, the toll plaza came up faster than I'd expected, I got in the wrong lane, corrected, handed the woman a $20 bill for a $0.50 toll, and then was told that the next lane over was the one for change. Luckily she was able to give me change anyway and I was on my way.
Lots of scenic highway later, I finally made it to Pugwash around 8:00pm local time (when you cross over the border you enter the Atlantic time zone). Marla came out to greet me and I was so happy to see her again I twirled her around. Then I asked to use her bathroom. We brought a bunch of my stuff in and stored it in her room because her daughter, Rhiannon, knows how to unzip zippers and would have cheerfully explored my luggage. I gave them both the presents I had brought them (Rhiannon got a bathtime Mr. Potato Head and Marla got a pair of teal blue tights from ModCloth with peacock feathers printed on them). I ate the other half of the calzone from Boston, we discussed plans and sleeping arrangements (she gave me her bed in her room, she took the futon in the living room...over my protests) and then we went to bed. Marla goes to bed early, and when in Rome...
Day 9: Thursday, May 14
The original plan had been to stay home all day on this day, and it did start out that way. We played some Super Mario World and watched some TV and I was just as happy to not be behind the wheel of the car, but around midday we got bored and decided a trip to Parrsboro might be fun, so we installed the car seat in the back, loaded up the kid, and headed first the the Co-op (local grocery store) for some snackfood and then on to Parrsboro.
Parrsboro is a lot smaller than I'd expected, but it did have the Fundy Geological Museum, which was a lot of fun, and it was also on the Minas Basin, a portion of the Bay of Fundy. The Bay of Fundy is well known for its extreme tides...extreme as in a big difference between high and low tide and the speed at which they switch places. The stories go that if you're standing down by the water's edge at low tide, when the tide starts coming in you have to run to keep your feet from getting wet. We were there around 1:00pm or maybe 2:00pm and the tide was definitely at the low point. Signs in the Geological Museum indicated that high tide wouldn't be until 5:00pm and we weren't prepared to wait that long, but then Marla suggested we go to Victoria Park in Truro and I said that would be fine and maybe we could stop back through Parrsboro on the way back and see the high tide then. Resolved to that plan, we got back in the car.
Unfortunately the plan went awry because, as everyone knows, the 2-year old is really the one in charge of your day. First we had to stop and change a diaper and then restlessness set in, followed by improper use of the car seat, and finally we decided to go home. I thought this was a bit of a shame because it was only 30 minutes to Truro while it was a full hour back to the house and I'd hoped that playing in the park would make Rhiannon a bit more willing to sit still in the car, but in the end I was convinced that this would not be the case and we headed back. More Mario and more TV ensued and then bed.
Day 10: Friday, May 15
We arose early (actually, we arose early every day...it's part of the routine) and made ready for the day's plan. The plan was to take Rhiannon over to Marla's mother's house for the day and then the two of us would be free to do whatever we wanted, and what we wanted to do was go to Halifax to see 'Star Trek'. Marla took Rhiannon over and then we set out. We went first to Peggy's Cove, which isn't far from Halifax and had been recommended to me by a friend. Peggy's Cove is very picturesque and would have been quite lovely if the sun had shone. Instead it was windy, cold, and there was a small amount of rain. We dashed from one quaint little gift shop to another and finally spotted the lighthouse which seemed to be the big attraction in the area. Before seeing the lighthouse we ducked into another gift shop/restaurant and browsed a bit, warmed up, and had lunch. Lunch was an interesting affair as the place specialized in seafood (hey, it's on a coastline in Nova Scotia...I think it's a law) but neither of us like seafood. Luckily there were some tasty chicken fingers on the menu. A seagull watched us and the people at the table nearby eating lunch. When we were done we braved the elements to get a closer look at the lighthouse, took some pictures, and then hastened back to the car to get out of the rain and wind.
We then headed to Halifax. I had hoped to have time to wander the streets a bit, but the side trip to Peggy's Cove coupled with a deadline we had to meet for getting back to pick up Rhiannon, not to mention the downtown traffic that's a staple in big cities, meant that we pretty much had to go straight to the theatre. We arrived, I bought tickets, Marla got something from the concession stand, and we entered.
Having already seen it, I was free to take a closer look at some of the story elements. 'Star Trek' is pretty much what I would have expected from a revival made in 2009, but it wasn't Marla's cup of tea and she professed disappointment. She's an 'original series' girl and proud of it.
We drove back, Marla went to retrieve Rhiannon, and then more Mario and more TV and then bed.
Day 11: Saturday, May 16
This day was spent largely hanging around the house. We did make a foray out to the nearby beach where Rhiannon played in the shallow water (too cold for swimming) and got herself all wet and sandy. Marla and I skipped rocks and took pictures. When it was time to come back, Rhiannon didn't want to go and let it be known that she didn't want to go. Marla also picked up a small storage cabinet from a mini yard sale for $5. When we made it back to the house Marla put Rhiannon down for a nap and then decided to take one herself. I've never mastered the art of napping during the day, so I used the time to get caught up on some reading. Marla woke up first and we played some more Mario, watched some more TV, and tossed around suggestions for what to do with the rest of the day and the week. By this point I'd pretty much given up on my plan of going to Cape Breton, as it was much too far, but I suggested going to Prince Edward Island. Marla pointed out that they charge a hefty toll to get off the island (getting TO it is free, LEAVING costs you) but I said that was ok with me. So we decided to do that the next day. For the rest of today, Marla suggested that when Rhiannon woke up that we might try again for Victoria Park in Truro. I thought that sounded like an excellent idea, but Rhiannon didn't wake up until about 4:00pm and I was leery of the idea of driving an hour to get there, staying only a short time, and then having to drive back to make it in time for Rhiannon's bedtime. In retrospect I wish we'd gone, as it was the only time left in the whole week that we could have. The rest of the evening was spent watching TV and playing Mario.
Day 12: Sunday, May 17
Another pretty leisurely day. We drove to another nearby beach where we explored a bit and nearly got caught on a sandbar by the tide. It would have been nice to have spent the whole day there, but at this point the weather turned against us and the cold and wind made us retreat back to warmer areas...like indoors. Marla and Rhiannon took a nap and I read for a bit and then got restless and went out to take a look at Pugwash by myself. I tried to go to an ATM again, but it was closed being Sunday. I then found a row of shops, some of which were actually open, and bought some postcards which I knew would never make it to their destinations before I got back home, but I resolved to send them anyway. I also saw the Pugwash Great War Memorial which, while not as grandiose as the ones in Washington, DC, was still poignant and dignified and entirely appropriate. I also stopped by the General Store and bought some sparklers for us to light on Victoria Day where I encountered a young clerk who acted like he'd never seen the inside of the store before and didn't know where anything was. Luckily his mother had stopped by with his dinner and helped him out a little. When I got back to the house, Marla was still asleep, but woke up shortly thereafter and fixed a delicious chicken dinner for us both. More TV, more Mario, and then bed.
Day 13: Monday, May 18
Marla's mother had agreed to take Rhiannon again, but couldn't until 11:00am or so, so we loafed around most of the morning before dropping Rhiannon off and then heading out to Prince Edward Island. We had two goals on the island: see the Ripley's Odditorium and see the Anne of Green Gables Museum. We had two choices for getting to the island and elected to take the overland route and use Confederation Bridge, a 2-mile long 2-lane bridge, which led to a lot of speculation about what happens in the winter when it snows and ices, what happens if someone gets in a wreck and blocks both lanes, and other issues that you talk about when you're driving over the ocean. We made it without incident, passed through Charlottetown, and headed up to Cavendish where both of our intended destinations were located.
When we arrived at Ripley's we were concerned that they might still be closed for the season, and indeed the wax museum adjacent was, but the Odditorium was open and we eagerly bought tickets and entered in. We had a good time seeing all the strange things in there (believe it or not!) and then decided to head off to Green Gables. I've never read the books, but Marla said she practically grew up on them and was really excited about seeing the place and her enthusiasm rubbed off on me. The museum was very nice and the caretakers were extremely friendly, even going as far as to ask our opinions on where they might rearrange some of the paintings and things in one of the upstairs rooms.
We finally headed back and I made what I now realize in retrospect was only the first of many blunders. I blame road fatigue. But I looked at the clock and then looked at the GPS and said "we have plenty of time to get to the dock to catch the ferry, let's go back that way and we'll be able to have lunch on the way". In reality we made it by the skin of our teeth and narrowly avoided having to make a big backtrack back to the Confederation Bridge. I had neglected to change the GPS to Atlantic time and hadn't done the conversion in my head. But we did make it and luckily the ferry served food on board. It wasn't the best hamburger I ever ate, but it was passable. The rest of the time on the ferry was spent playing Hangman as I had neglected to bring any other games and the weather outside was pretty miserable...cold, windy, and rainy. I had hoped it would be sunny and we could break out the binoculars and have a look around the Northumberland Strait, but it was not to be.
When the ferry landed we went straight home and Marla called her mom and said she could bring Rhiannon over. By this point it was raining where we were, too. We'd intended to light the sparklers for Victoria Day, but with the weather being what it was we elected instead to watch TV and then put Rhiannon to bed. When the movie we were watching was over I suggested we brave the elements long enough to light one sparkler each and Marla agreed. Then we retired for the evening.
Day 14: Tuesday, May 19
The dreaded day arrived and I began packing for my departure. I planned to leave around 9:00am Atlantic time, which would put me in Boston around 7:00pm, after rush hour died down...or so I hoped. I said goodbye to Marla, got a great big hug from Rhiannon, and began the trek back, which suddenly seemed farther than it had when I was arriving. What happened instead was a surge of stamina, thoughtfulness, and introspection that led to my stopping exactly twice on my way back through Maine and into Boston. Once at the border (which was even smoother than before...less than 10 minutes even with 2 other cars in front of me) and then again shortly after the border, around 12:30pm Eastern, to buy gas. After that it was a non-stop ride to Boston, arriving around 6:00pm Eastern time.
On arrival I arranged to meet my cousin at a hamburger place in Davis Square and then we retired to his house where we discussed my route for the rest of the trip. After my Mother's Day experience in New York I'd decided I didn't want to go anywhere near the city in a car again and so scrapped my original plan of visiting the New York Aquarium. This was a shame (especially in light of what happened later) but I deemed it necessary. We examined a map and decided on an alternate route that would get me from Boston to Mystic, CT and then to Columbus, OH without having to go too close to New York. Then we broke out an old Sega Dreamcast that was lying around the house and played a little bit of Gauntlet Legends before I got too tired and went to bed.
Day 15: Wednesday, May 20
The Boston rush hour is a funny old beast. I don't remember when I finally set out, but I made it to Mystic, CT in a reasonable time and saw the aquarium there. The Mystic Aquarium is mostly outdoors, which surprised me a little because of it being in a slightly colder climate and because they have beluga whales, but everybody seemed to be doing just fine. They also have Steller sea lions, the largest species of sea lion, which were very cool to look at, as well as a sea lion show with California sea lions. They also had a very interesting exhibit of wetlands with frogs and such, and if you looked very carefully you could see large tadpoles in the water as well.
The highlight of the aquarium for me, though, was the Birds of the Outback exhibit where you could, for a small fee, enter a tent with free-flying birds and a feed stick...a popcicle stick with seeds on it. The birds would, with a little coaxing, jump off the branches of the trees onto your stick (or your hand in some cases) and eat the seeds with you holding them. I thought this was amazing. I hear tell that Zoo Atlanta may have something similar to this now, so I must find time to go and check it out.
After I was finished with the birds, which took a while, I checked out the gift shop and then exited, which was where I discovered my second major blunder of the trip. The GPS was missing. When I had arrived at the aquarium I had not wanted to leave it in the car for some reason, so I had clipped it to my camera bag, which I was wearing around my waist most of the day. Unfortunately at one point during the day I had taken the camera bag off so that I could do this really lame "ride" which involved 3-D glasses and a vibrating chair. The special effects were lame, the storyline was lame, and the entire ride felt like a massive waste of time. To sit in the chair I took the camera bag off and that's when the GPS must have slipped off. Upon realizing this I had a brief moment of panic because my pre-prepared maps didn't really cover all of my remaining destinations, I had no road atlas, and the best I would be able to do would be to use the iPhone's Google Maps capability...not the worst thing in the world, but suboptimal. I re-entered the aquarium, found the ticket taker at the entrance and said that I had just been in and did they have a lost and found? He kindly gave me directions and I walked into the reception offices where they had, lined up on the countertop, several items that had been turned in during the day and thankfully the GPS was among them. I didn't even ask them, I was so relieved, I just grabbed it and said "Thank you VERY much" and walked out.
I got back on the road and began driving around 4:00pm. Along the way I hit rush hours for New Haven and Stamford, the second of which I could have avoided if it hadn't been for my third major blunder...I elected to not take the route that I and my cousin had agreed on to get to Columbus. In retrospect I'm not sure what led me to think this was a good idea. I was using the traffic function of Google Maps which showed a small area of red (very slow traffic) on my intended route and a lot of yellow (slow traffic) on the original route that would have taken me along the outskirts of New York. In my infinite wisdom I decided that a lot of yellow was better than a little red and elected to follow the GPS. Unfortunately the GPS wasn't following the original route nor the new route, but a special route all its own that plowed me directly through the heart of New York City during rush hour, and by the time I realized it, it was too late to do anything about it. This was particularly galling because not only did I have to creep through the city again, adding at least a full hour to my trip time, but it also dumped me back on the New Jersey Turnpike which then led to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. If I'd known I was coming this way anyway, I might have gone to the NY Aquarium after all, but by this point the die was cast.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is especially noxious because, not only is it a major toll road, but the exits are few and far between. And when I entered it for the first time I misread the GPS and turned left when I should have turned right, which meant I had to go 10 miles out of my way before I could turn around (that was major blunder number 4, for those of you keeping score at home). And then I got pulled over by the New Jersey State Patrol.
I was a bit mystified by this because I hadn't been going that fast and so I couldn't believe he was pulling me over for speeding, and as it turned out he wasn't. He was pulling me over for failure to keep right. It seems that in New Jersey the "slower traffic keep right" rule isn't just a good idea, it's the law and you're not allowed to travel in the far left lane unless you're actively passing someone. He also said that he'd run my plates and that my registration hadn't come up in his system. In all the TV shows, whenever the police pull someone over they always ask for the license and registration, but in my case that had never happened. In Georgia they always want to see license and proof of insurance, never registration. Luckily I was prepared (I had expected to need the registration at the Canadian border, but I didn't) so I handed over all 3 documents, he casually tossed my insurance card into the passenger's seat, and then went back to his patrol car. A few moments later he returned, issued me a warning for "failure to keep right", told me he'd miskeyed my plates and that everything was fine. I thanked him and then went on my way. This episode counted in my mind as major blunder number 5.
Sheer bloody-mindedness kept me on the road until around midnight when I finally had to pack it in around 2/3 of the way across the state of Pennsylvania.
Day 16: Thursday, May 21
I arose and managed to get back on the road by 7:00am...how I did this I'll never know. The Pennsylvania countryside (much of which I missed by driving at night) is very pretty and hilly/mountainy, but I was way behind my schedule so I wasn't able to stop and admire it at all. Finally made it to the Columbus Zoo around 11:30am. By this point my neck was really killing me and I was very glad to be able to stop for a while.
I had a free ticket to this zoo courtesy of Jeff Swanagan, the former CEO of the Georgia Aquarium, so I entered quickly and surveyed the landscape. They have a baby elephant at this zoo, so I got in the line to see it and then saw the rest of the Asian area with their tiger and markhor and other awesome animals. Then I heard people say that the baby elephant was going outside, so I took at look at that as well. I wish I'd known they were going to do that because I could have saved some time by not waiting in the line, but oh well.
The Columbus Zoo is quite large and spans under the highway into two sections. I proceeded to the aquatic area where they had a bunch of the usual fish (including a number of species that I recognized from the GAQ that I hadn't seen anywhere else) and also manatees, which had an enormous living space. They also had a few optional rides which were reasonably priced at $1 per ride, so I took the boat ride through the Australian and African areas and much later the train ride through the American section. They also had a lorikeet area where, similar to the attraction in Mystic, you could buy a cup of nectar for the birds to eat. They weren't as friendly as the parakeets and cockatiels had been and wouldn't jump on your hand, but would eagerly lap up the nectar while you held it for them. They also squabbled a lot. And it was here that I discovered another major blunder (6) that had been going on for some time...I had the input settings wrong on my field recorded. I had thought I'd gotten sounds of the Boston subways, flamingos, and a bunch of other random birds and other ambient sounds, but instead I got nothing except the lorikeets when I finally made the adjustment. Oh, well.
Lots of awesome animals later (see my pictures for the full story) I left with what I felt was an amazing plan. I would buy gas, buy ice for my cooler, get a leisurely dinner, and then hit the road. When I got to the parking lot I discovered major blunder number 7, which was that I had forgotten to lock my car doors. When I'd gotten to the zoo I had changed out of my slip-on driving shoes into my lace-up walking shoes and had done some other rudimentary repacking and had unlocked all the doors and then forgotten to lock them back, which is highly unusual because I'm usually pretty compulsive about hitting the Lock button on the remote as I walk away from the car. A quick survey found that nothing was missing and so I breathed another sigh of relief and headed out to make my plan happen.
In Georgia we used to have a pizza chain called Donato's which I quite liked. They evacuated the area a while back, but I saw one in Ohio and so got two large pizzas for me to eat over the course of the next couple of days. It was very good. I set out for Knoxville and nearly made it, stopping just outside the city around 11:00pm.
Day 17: Friday, May 22
Finding the Knoxville Zoo was both easy and hard. Getting to the parking lot was very easy. Finding the main entrace was very hard as there were no signs and several other zoo-related facilities nearby, but by process of elimination I finally discovered it.
When I was growing up my paternal grandfather lived in Knoxville and my maternal grandmother lived in Bristol. We would often go visit them both, but we always stayed in Bristol and just passed through Knoxville. As we drove through the city I would see billboards and signs and, occasionally, bits of the grounds of the Knoxville Zoo and would ask if we could go, but there was never time. This was one of the reasons why this made it to my itenerary.
The zoo is quite nice with good exhibits and interesting animals, although I found the layout a bit confusing. One thing they had, which I always admire in a zoo or aquarium, is a good exhibit featuring the local wildlife, in this case Black Bears. This exhibit included a fairly long tunnel you could walk into that simulated a bear's cave and, as luck would have it, the bears were actually visible at the end of it. There was also a nature trail that didn't have a lot of zoo-type animals on it, but was just a nice little walk amongst the trees. There were small flip-plaques that talked about the state animals, state birds, state flowers, etc, which I found very interesting. The zoo took about an hour longer to see than I'd expected, but I finished around 1:30pm and headed out...to my final destination...home.
Made it home around 5:45pm. 4500+ miles, 81 hours of actual driving time, and a stiff neck didn't prevent me from unpacking immediately, though. I knew I'd have a ton of things to catch up on, including writing this travelogue. Got my car emptied out, caught up on email, did all my laundry, and tried to put my life back in order.
That last one was the hardest part. Going on vacation always makes me feel like I'm in a rut when I get back. A rut I need to break out of. And now, nearly three weeks later, I'm still finding it very difficult to get my mind back on the things I ought to be doing...or the things I think I ought to be doing. But that's a post for another time...
Wish you were here...