Thursday, July 30, 2009

On the Road Again...

June 19th, 8 a.m.

Retrospect is an interesting thing. Had I known how long this first day was going to last, I might have cried a little. We picked up our Chevy Cobalt at the local Enterprise place at 8 and by 9:15 were barreling down Rt. 77 headed toward I-79 in Meadville. Naturally, RTC hadn't bought my Diet Coke so we did a little stopping on the way for snacks and drinks and a box of tissues for the car. I mention the latter item because it will play into the long tale later.

We found Grove City and the I-80 exit and this would be our new home for 2,450 miles. The egress from PA was easy and relatively short, we found ourselves cruising past Akron in no time and the excitement of starting a new trip wasn't wearing off yet. We drove for about three hours and stopped for a bathroom/stretch break just as the first rainshowers began just east of Sandusky. We weren't sure how big the gas tank on the Cobalt was and the needle was on a quarter of a tank so we decided to get some gas. Gas at home was $2.60. Gas on I-80 in Ohio was $3.09. Ouch. We filled up, wrote down the mileage and headed back out into the rain. Traffic was a little heavier in spots and by the time we hit the Indiana border, it was a steady stream of people driving at about 75 miles an hour across a very flat, rather mundane landscape. We found out a thousand miles later that Indiana ain't quite as mundane as other places.

Life moved on in the car, talking, listening to our car song CDs, snacking on some trail mix, just happy travelers...until Illinois. Maybe it was the summer, the day, the month, the moment but we to this day are sure Illinois hates us. Gary, Indiana traffic became heavy and as we approached all the interchanges for Chicago, it became rush hour and rather obnoxious. We moved in tiny increments along the four to six lane highways and then stopped. There were many, many construction zones throughout Illinois and never, EVER did we see anyone working, however the lanes narrowed down and everyone had to do the merge dance over and over again from Gary to Joliet, Ill. After about two hours of this (nice entrance to the Midwest) we recognized the source of the hold-up. Not construction, not rush hour, no, a wicked accident with two semis and a car. One of the semis was a twisted burned mess. Both sides of the highway were nearly shut down to one lane and we quit whining, grateful it wasn't us.

Through Joliet, we picked up speed and started noticing how awful the sky looked. Slate grey and low to the ground, lightning started sparking all over the place and then the rain began. I learned the first lesson about my husband at this point. We stopped to get gas, I had been driving so we switched seats. Gas mileage...37 mpg....not too shabby. Back on the highway and within about ten minutes, the worst torrential rain that you could imagine. Lack of visibility was not a problem for RTC though. He kept driving as quickly as possible to make up the lost time. I nearly had heart failure. If you are reading this as a friend, you know my weather issues when it comes to driving. Snow and torrential rain are not my pals. I held on, put my brakes on and nagged him to keep slowing down for a good twenty miles. When the wind was blowing barrels from the construction zones across into our lane, I think he realized it was a bit hazardous and rather than see me fall apart any more, we took an exit off the highway. We parked in a service area and ate some things we had packed and hung out for a half hour or so until the rain slowed down. At this point, about nine hours into our trip, we realized it was going to be a long ride.

Illinois fell behind us and just as the sun was hanging in the sky toward sunset, we crossed the Mississippi in Davenport, Iowa and saw only blue sky ahead. In terms of beauty, Illinois on I-80 was not very stellar. Iowa however, became my favorite state up to this point. The crops were growing, the gently rolling land and large vistas were beautiful. They also have the coolest rest stops of all the states we visited. Free internet at all stops and the outsides are decorated with very cool sculpture type pillars and walkways. Clean, neat and informative with their radar screens and hi-tech maps, it felt like a nice place to stop. While they had vending machines, they did not have the fast food joints that lot of the states sport and no gas. We had a stretch and headed back into the car. My turn to drive. I'll save the fun stuff for the next installment. To be continued.....

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The Interim

I have my notebook full of notes from the Cross Country trip on the heels of TAH. I've had time to rethink my time zones and recalibrate my sleeping habits and now I start with the cross country adventures of myself and Richard (AKA RTC and Mystery Man). My suitcase was full of clean clothes, washed in Philly the night before and at about nine p.m we finally got home. We promptly went to Sue's Mill for a real Philly Cheesesteak and conversation about the trip. When we got home I looked around the house, grabbed what needed to go to California and spent the hours until about two a.m talking to my daughter about it all, spending what little time we had to just catch up. The alarm clock was set for seven and the rental car would be waiting at eight. I slept like I hadn't in a week and when the morning arrived we were ready to go. Stage two, heading to California. More to come on that...lots more.

The TAH group


Philadelphia and points west - Day 4

Philadelphia rain is a somber thing and that is what met us on the way to the bus that final day in Philly. We said goodbye to our fond gathering in the Freedom City and were quite done. We managed a soggy stop in Valley Forge before heading home. Despite the rain, this historic landmark told the tale of a six month stop over in PA while troops waited, regrouped and hunkered down.

The Valley Forge area is absolutely lush and beautiful. Just a heartbeat away from the then hub of government, it represents the beauty of rolling hills and lovely scenery that those of us who live in Pennsylvania can only dream of when not in state. The abundance of deer, who were very uncaring about how close any tour bus ventured, was an interesting note. The area is a posted area, no hunting and the deer are found everywhere! Just off the roads, their heads would raise and then resume feeding in the grass. We stopped off to pick up our tour guide at the welcome center and headed out to a cluster of cabins which recreated the kind of conditions the troops came to know during that winter of infamy. With more than 10,000 troops hunkering down, there were about 1500 cabins sleeping 6-8 in each. Made from sturdy logs with a fireplace and insulation between the log cracks, it was as comfortable as it would get. Our guide explained that at any given time, two thirds of the troops were out on duty, so on the off shift, soldiers would sleep and find some protection from the bitter wind and cold. I never knew that so I found it fascinating.

We got back on the bus, soaked to the skin and headed for the famous arch not far away. The arch is significant as a memorial to the soldiers who lost their lives (not from battle, rather disease and such) but for the devotion to the cause of freedom. A sudden downpour made us all cringe as the guide asked if we wanted to get out and walk up. Not a soul replied. Enough said or unsaid. We continued on the General Washinton's Headquarters.

The clouds gave us a respite as we met an awesome National Park Ranger who used his wit and knowledge to tell us of the Washington family and their entourage during that fateful time. We had a wonderful storyteller stop in to give us a chance to play a quick game show type historical trivia quiz and off we went to walk into the beautiful and relatively small house. I was immediately reminded of my life in Connecticut and all the New England type stone houses. There was the Washington family, various Generals and staff living in quarters that we'd balk at in a heartbeat. The African American servants slept in a small crawlspace above the outside building and a lean to type building was built to supply an eating area for the more than thirty soldiers and others who needed to be there for various reasons at any given time. Tough times, decent adaptations.

We boarded the bus and after a chance to visit the gift shop and bathrooms (a necessary stop considering we are human and teachers), we headed for home. I bought a deck of Valley Forge cards for the hubby since we have this ongoing gin rummy game that he is soundly beating me at every day.

Our trip home was uneventful except for the fact that in between a bit of dozing off we saw a great SNL DVD back in the Chevy Chase days. We all enjoyed the trip through time. As the bus rolled into the IU at Edinboro, we said our fond farewells. Three years of history had bound us all together and we all found it hard to believe it was coming to an end. We gave our hugs and promises to meet up again to continue our history quests. We'll see where the journey takes us. It was a great ride.

Monday, July 6, 2009

I'm being chronological, although three weeks late. Bear with me, you'll hear about it all. I'm home and haven't caught up from the car lag, all those mountains, time zones and real life when I returned...here goes)

Day Three – Philadelphia

I had forgotten how New England has a way of insinuating itself into life through the weather. Granted, we have rainy days here in PA, but the East Coast city rain is unforgettable. We headed out for our last (rainy) day of touring in Philly to the National Constitution Museum just around the corner from our hotel. I'd pretty much been 'constitutioned out' by this point with all of our museum hopping, but was very pleasantly surprised. The tour began with a twenty or so minute presentation in a circle theater in the center of the building. It was exceptional. With a single woman speaking eloquently in the center, the history of our framing and founding father's trek from treasonous behavior, to revolution, and finally to independence was presented in a phenomenal visual experience. Every inch of the theater was used to show pictures, present moving images and the continuous movement of the actor giving the information kept us all more than interested. Following the presentation, there was a great self-guided tour of the history of our country with numerous exhibits with original items of the various presidents and events played out in our history. I had that yearning for about the fifteenth time for the museum to be closer to Erie so we could visit with the students.
We snuck out of the Constitution Center to quickly run across the street for an unscheduled tour of the US Mint. Leaving everything but our licenses outside we wound our way through security and took the escalators upstairs to follow the hallway of the history of the mint on the way to the actual minting part. Once on the assembly line, it did indeed resemble the show on TV many of us had seen. Not very many people work there. Most of it was automated. It is pretty cool though to see those massive rolls of copper/zinc/who knows what that actually make our pennies. And pennies are pumped out at an amazing rate, along with all the other coins. The only workers we saw were working in the special area where ceremonial/medallion work is done and even then, there were only a dozen or two at most. I was glad we took the tour, worth the effort.
We ran across to the other corner before leaving to throw a penny or two on Ben Franklin's grave like every other tourist. How ironic is that? Isn't he the one who said, 'a penny saved is a penny earned'?He's probably getting a chuckle about our behavior based on that one.

Onto the bus and off to Dave and Buster's for lunch. Built in a huge warehouse at the docks across the river from New Jersey, it was a beautiful dining area with a multitude of tiny intricacies in decor. We ordered and then someone told me to walk to the back and look. A room just as huge filled with arcade games and bar dominated the room. I was told there's one in Pittsburgh. It's a must see if you are down around that area.

The National Seaport Museum was next on the list. The history of Philadelphia maritime history was show to us on a guided tour which included a look at the boat building shop in the back where they construct various sailing vessels to use in their education program as well as maintaining the items in the museum. They were featuring an in interesting Tattoo exhibit about sailors and their use of tattooing to show patriotism and self-expression. We stepped outdoors for a tour of a Spanish-American war ship and I decided not to step down into the submarine available for touring. Growing up on the East Coast and being in the Nautilus in Groton, CT more than once gave me more than enough reminders about how claustrophobic it would be. The museum was interesting and enjoyable to visit.

Next stop? Eastern Penitentiary. Recognized as the first penitentiary in our country, this prison was a great example of architecture of the time. Seen on television more for it's 'ghosts' this prison was founded on the belief that solitary confinement was the way to go and prisoners were forbidden to talk while held in individual cells with no contact with others. As time went on, things changed and eventually they were known to have baseball teams that worked hard to hit home runs over the wall as a way to smuggle notes out to the people in the street. Al Capone was once a resident for eight months, some suggesting he found a minor charge to get him inside until the heat from the Chicago Massacre died down. We toured in the pouring rain, which added nicely to the somberness of the place. A very informative tour guide led us through the disintegrating structure telling some great tales and giving us look at something I never would have imagined was hiding up on that hill in a residential neighborhood! I've been to Gettysburg and any other number of haunted places in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania (I think PA has more reported 'ghosts' than any other state. It's all economics I believe.) but this location had several areas where I got goosebumps and at one point felt like someone was literally walking inches behind me when no one was there. Creepy. I loved it!

The bus took us back to the hotel where some of the group went to the Phillies game (they lost) and the rest of us found dinner and in my case a washer and dryer. One more day and I'm off for California and the laundry won't wait!