July 27, 2003
Oshkosh Report: Day One -- Thursday
Today I started the drive out here. I had hoped to get going around noon, but last minute errands and packing delayed me until 2pm.
My route took me down through SW New Hampshire and across southern Vermont.
Each time I've taken this route I've been amazed at how beautiful this stretch of Vermont is. The mountains and the lakes and the charming small towns.
Brattleboro, Wilmington, and Bennington. I'm not sure which I'd pick for most charmaing and cool.
Leaving Vermont the route takes me across eastern NY state and down into the Hudson River Valley at Troy NY.
I don't know why but Troy always makes me a little nervous. I don't know if it's an inherently scary town, or if it's just that I always get lost finding my way onto the proper Interstate highway here.
The drive is going really well, but for no good reason my first "pit stop" makes me very uneasy, when I am away from my car for about 10 mins. It's a remnant of the Youngstown trauma, but it's over soon and I'm on my way.
One of my favorite parts of this drive is up I90 in New York, along the Mohawk Valley following the Mohawk River and the route of the old Erie Canal. I always envision the day when canal barges would head up and down the river. There are still red and green bouys marking a waterway, but I don't think I've ever seen a boat on it. Maybe Scott and I should bring the kayaks here someday.
Tomorrow I forge on through Cleveland, Indiana, through the evil Chicago, and into the promised land.
Posted by jghiii at July 27, 2003 01:34 PM