Saturday morning I woke before the alarm…about 6:15 am. Wide awake realizing the day finally came - I was driving across the country!
The night before I pulled my bags together and put almost everything in the car. I didn’t pack a suitcase because I need to have “soft” bags to squeeze in the backseat or in the trunk area. When I get to warm weather I’d like to be able to put the top down - and my trunk space is limited. The car is a hard top convertible, so I just push a button and the top pops up and nests in trunk space.
Also, I need warm clothes while in Rhode Island and NJ….and then clothes for much warmer weather. I’ll leave my warm clothes at my son’s in Rhode Island.
Having put most things in the car the night before, I got right out of bed at 6:15 am and put my clothes on and headed to the car. I was on the road about 6:40 am! Dawn was breaking, there were clouds on the horizon and I could tell the sun was behind them, but it was a welcome sight as I was headed east and the sun was not glaring at me.
My decision to go thru the city and on to Indiana was a good one. It was Saturday morning in Chicagoland. The city was going to turn the river green for St. Patty’s day and there was the usual St. Pat’s day parade. Mother nature was cooperating with temps going as high as 60. For the local folks…it doesn’t get better than that for a St. Pat’s weekend in Chicago!
I headed to 94 and before I knew it the beautiful skyline of Chicago was in the distance. I was wishing I could pull over and take a picture…but the tollway is always busy. I tried snapping a picture in front of me…but it didn’t do justice to the beautiful skyline I saw. Traffic was light and I was thankful - and within about 35 minutes I was approaching the Skyway.
Up and over the bridge I went, and I had flashbacks of motorcycle trips I had taken and excursions to Michigan on back roads in previous years. Since this stretch wasn’t real familiar to me I was watching closely for the directions to make certain I was headed to Indiana - not Michigan. I had my car GPS set with my niece’s address in Williamsport, Pa.
I left the house with no breakfast and no coffee….anxious to get on the road. I was ready to make the first stop for a tall cup of coffee as soon as I saw a good stop. It was still cloudy but bright, I didn’t need my sunglasses and it was very comfortable following the road.
Within a few minutes I saw a sign for Gloria Jean’s coffee and gas. YES!!! A quick stop with a muffin and coffee and back in the car! I slipped over to the gas pumps, I was only half empty but I thought I’d fill up and go further before I needed a stop again. (in the back of my mind I knew a bathroom stop would be needed before gas - thanks to the large coffee I was enjoying).
Next is the interesting part of the Indiana ride. After paying for gas I pulled away from the pump and stopped to check messages. I set the phone down and started to look side to side before I took off and out of the blue a gorgeous spanking new (I think) white Porsche made a fast approach in my direction to get on the ramp. I quickly hit the breaks, his hands went up in the air and I could tell he was not happy to see me and there were some words he was saying - but window was closed. I gave him the big “go ahead” motion…and he quickly pulled off and on the ramp and tollway. I followed him at my own pace.
Within a short time I found myself behind him. Hmmm. I thought. You could be going a whole lot faster in THAT car, I said to myself. But I was happily cruising at 70 mph and wanted to just leave it at that. So for a few miles I was simply following him. Not on purpose - it’s where my cruise control was set.
A few more miles and we both were following a semi - and I hit off my cruise cause we were now going a little slower. I got impatient with this and made the decision to just pull around and pass both of them, the semi and him. I thought maybe he was talking on the phone or doing some other distracted driving and not wanting to drive faster.
After I passed him and the truck, I pulled back right and reset my cruise at 70. I looked in my mirror and there he was coming around the truck and instead of pulling in behind me, he gunned it in high gear and zoomed ahead. At the same time we were approaching an overhead and guess who was sitting there checking out traffic? Yup.
My gorgeous porch was in high gear….and as we both passed the patrol car, him speeding and me at 70, my eyes started focusing on my rear view mirror to see if the patrol car pulled out.
Sure enough. Here comes Mr. Policeman. Now, we’re both about a mile down the road…but the police car is coming up fast. Lights are not on yet…so I’m not sure who he’s after but I HAVE A PRETTY GOOD IDEA. Now Mr. Porsche slows down (of course) and he’s directly in front of me. And I see the patrol car come up alongside me, put his lights on and I give him space and he pulls in behind Mr. Porsche with the lights on…and they pull over. As I went by, I waved to Mr. Porsche and said - bye-bye!!
I didn’t see Mr. Porsche again across the rest of Indiana.
The roads in Indiana and across Ohio were so familiar to me. I was very comfortable taking phone calls and spent most of the morning and early afternoon catching up with friends about my plans. Indiana and Ohio restaurants are not very appealing but I knew there was a Panera Bread on the eastern side of Ohio and I set that as my next stop.
After Panera my sights were set on Williamsport, Pa, my niece Nikki’s house. We were going to dinner, the four of them, Robin and Bill and me. But the drive took longer than I thought and as 6 pm got close and I was still on the road, I called them and they decided to order take out food. I arrived about 6:45. Jack was cute as a button. I brought a puzzle for him to do and he sat at the kitchen table with me and we put the puzzle together.
Baby Elle Jane McNett
Jack, 3 years old!
After dinner Robin, Bill and I said good night and headed for the Holiday Inn. The room was very comfy and we all slept well. We were up and enjoying coffee by 7:30 am…and then off to Perkins Pancake house for breakfast with Nikki and family.
Next I wanted to see my brother Mark but I realized when looking at the map that he was too far away. At 10:30 am I headed out of the Holiday Inn parking lot and on to Rt. 80 again.
At about 12:30 I made a lunch stop at an Outlet center … too chilly to walk around so I had lunch at the Food Court and back in the car.
It was a long ride thru Western PA, Northern NJ, over the Tappan Zee Bridge, NY thruway, CT, and finally I crossed the RI line at 5:19pm. I was in the car for 7 hours! A very long drive.
So glad to be in RI, and so sad…because I thought I would be taking Barb Newton to lunch this week…and she died suddenly on Saturday. Very sad time for Shelagh and Mike and Will and Emma.
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