Tag: road trip

Harry Just Left

Harry just pulled out of the driveway and set out for Vermont. Sigh of sadness.

Jen and I are going to go through the morning routine and follow him. I’ve got my stuff packed.

Add two (2) water bottles to this little stash (they are in the fridge) and I’m good to go.

The plan is to meet Bellana for breakfast/brunch/lunch first. Probably not in downtown Burlington but somewhere a smidge South of town. After that we will go to Harry’s new dorm and deliver his television and a couple of other small things that didn’t really fit in his car.

I’m happy for him but sad for us. At least we will see both kids today. It’s going to be a good day. Overall.

Ready for Tomorrow

Harry’s stuff is all packed and ready to load into the car in the morning. My camera batteries are charged and the Mazda has a full tank of gas.

Harry is planning on getting up after 6:00. I’m thinking of getting up a lot earlier than that. Maybe I’ll be able to get my walkies in before he wakes up.

I’m really going to miss him when he’s gone, but that’s the price you pay for raising smart kids. They go off to college and leave you behind. It’s sad but it’s also awesome. I couldn’t be more proud of both kids.

Packing Up

Harry’s getting all of his boxes packed up and ready to go for tomorrow. The plan is for him to load up his car in the morning and anything that doesn’t fit will go into our car.

In the interest of distracting myself from the imminent return of the empty nest syndrome I am trying to figure out what to do with the camera situation. There will be rest stops and gas stations and maybe lunch in downtime Burlington and I still want to find a way to convince the love of my life to drive through Woodstock, VT and possibly the glory that is the Quechee Gorge (I think there’s zero chance of either thing) and in the current mental state I will need a camera close to me at all times. Film is a given, right? But these days film requires a digital companion. Will it be the DSLR or will it be the point and shoot? The iPhone will be there, of course, but which other camera will be there with it?

I am not going to make that call tonight, but in preparation I have put both camera’s batteries on their chargers. It also depends on how much stuff ends up in our car. If I have room for the bag I’ll take the DSLR. If not then I’ll take the point and shoot. Here’s hoping for sun and a chance to get close to Lake Champlain (pretty much zero chance of that too). Also maybe a chance to see some of the cool parts of downtown. We’re dropping Harry’s stuff off and then moving across town to meet Bellana. Lunch downtown could happen.

I’m not sure where this post is going anymore. Camera. Film Camera. Digital Camera. Yadda yadda yadda.

It’s quarter past nine in the evening and I haven’t done my walkies yet. I will do it after everyone else goes to bed, which should be any minute now.

It’s Friday

This has felt like a long week, and today is going to feel like a long day.

I want to do something this weekend. Something that involves going somewhere without spending money on anything other than gas and travel snacks. You know what I mean?

Let’s go back to Boston again. Let’s go on a road trip looking for New Englandy things like light houses. Let’s go visit the ocean without going to an insanely busy beach. Let’s go find waterfalls. Let’s go do any of the back-to-nature things I’ve been wanting us to do for over a decade now. Let’s go on a scenic drive. Let’s listen to a Harry Potter book on tape while we drive to some destination that is significantly less important than the trip to said destination. Lets go someplace where we can see stars (this one can’t happen this weekend because Harry works at night).

Let’s do something different. The friggin’ pandemic has locked us in for 2.5 years. Going to Boston last weekend scratched an itch that I had forgotten I had. Now I want to do everything and go everywhere. I still want to stay away from people and I still don’t want to spend any money on anything, but I want to do something. I want to go somewhere. I want to see stuff.

I also want to see my mother a few times, and I want to watch the last (2.5 hour long!) episode of Stranger Things with Jen, and I want to spend time with Harry while we still can before he goes back to school.

I guess I am just being greedy. I want everything and I want it now.

Evening Drive

Harry and Jen and I just drove up to the ocean and back while listening to Pink Floyd. It was epic.

The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon all the way through.

Epic.

We all needed to get out of the house. You know how it is when you’re 2.5 years into a pandemic. Sometimes you just need to get out of the house…

…and sometimes you need to blast The Floyd while you’re toolin’ up route 495 North.

Somehow

I did it. Somehow.

After a rough day all around followed by a difficult night with a lot of really bad back pain, I managed to get out of bed around 5:00am.

The IKEA pickup window is open and we are ready to head out.

It’s going to be a long and physically challenging day for your fat and out of shape narrator.

Come along for the bitching and the moaning. It’ll be fun.

Road Trip Stats

This is going to be the most fascinating post ever. 100 years from now they are going to be writing graduate school thesis papers about this sucker, believe me.

Stats from the road trip today.

Home to school
196.8 miles
Three hours and 37 minutes
Average speed 54 miles per hour.

School back to home
190.2 miles
Three hours and 40 minutes
Average speed 51 miles per hour.

Round trip
387.0 miles
Seven hours and 17 minutes
Average speed 52 miles per hour.

I think we made the same number of stops each leg of the drive, but the short detours the first time around were longer than the second. The average speed on the second leg would have been faster but there was a two mile traffic jam merging from I89 to I93.

See? I told you this one was going to be fascinating. I can see by the look on your face that you are utterly fascinated. Like, your mind is blown.