A somewhat different day on the road
Yesterday, the drive from Port St. Lucie to Roanoke was long, and involved a couple of detours but was basically a pleasant drive with no bad weather, no bad traffic, and generally proceeded in the direction we intended to go.
Today would prove different.
Beside the road in Pennsylvania--just a pleasant snowy morning.
When we left the Holiday Inn shortly after 3 AM, the weather was cold and clear and I-81 was smooth and quiet. We drove across a lot of Virginia well before dawn, through Staunton and all the way to the West Virginia border, and enjoyed breakfast at Bob Evans in Winchester before watching the sun rise as we crossed the panhandles of West Virginia and and Maryland, and drove into Pennsylvania. We began to see a bit of snow near Carlisle, and by the time we reached Route I-78 it was in the road as well. But it was more pleasant than threatening.
The beautiful snow-covered trees beside I-287.
By the time we crossed into New Jersey and moved northward on I-287 toward the Tappan Zee, the snow was a bit heavier, but the roads weren't too bad. The worst part was keeping the windshield clear of tossed-up road dirt.
In New York, still making good time toward home.
After we passed over the Tappan Zee Bridge in New York, the snow was a little thicker, but still manageable. Patti Tripp, ever the troublemaker, insisted that we take the Hutchinson Parkway south toward New York, but we remained adamant that we would take the Merritt Parkway to I-91 and home. Our ETA at home was about 1:30 PM.
Where everything came to a stop on Connecticut Route 15
Reality Sets In
As we left I-287 and New York and took the ramp for the Merritt Parkway, there was little traffic, good conditions and every expectation we'd arrive home well before dark. But twenty miles along the parkway, traffic came to a slowdown, then a stop. After an hour or so, we decided to yield to Patti Tripp's original directions, and drive cross lots south to join I-95 in Stratford--unlike the parkway, the interstate at least had shoulder lanes for emergency vehicles--and we would proceed east and north and home.
I-95, it turned out, was a parking lot. By the time we reached I-91 in New Haven, it was dark. We had lost some six hours and a fair amount of our humor. I-95 traffic was equally bogged down, and now the snow was getting deep. We elected to exit in North Haven, and move north on U.S. Route 5, a largely secondary road, but at least not limited access. But within a half mile of the exit, it was clear we couldn't go far. We learned later that where we were at that moment was the epicenter of this snowstorm.
A Holiday Inn beside the road beckoned us, and with some relief we checked in for the night, and gave up on our plan to make it home in two days.
Home Again
The following morning, not at 3 AM but at a more civilized 8 o'clock, the Dumases and Hatches cleared the snow from our reliable old MPV and headed north in sunshine on clear roads. We were home well before noontime.
I think we are all agreed that as enjoyable as our week in Florida was, we would probably not spend six days driving there and back in the future. I believe that of the four of us, only I really enjoyed those six days, as I always do with a steering wheel in my hand. But in total it was a good time, spent with good friends and the woman who is the other half of me.
Tomorrow, weather permitting, I plan to take our faithful Mazda van out for a lube and a wash, to thank her for her reliable service over so many adventures. Perhaps we can cajole her into another, in the spring.
Until then...
