We came to Rockland at 1:00 PM, and we were both hungry. We both wanted to eat Pizza Hut's All-you-can-eat lunch buffet -- a perfect hot meal for a cold rainy day. We could not find a Pizza Hut anywhere, so we stopped at a McDonalds for lunch. After lunch, we started driving again and found a Pizza Hut restaurant -- 1/2 mile later.
I was still excited about simply being in Maine. One of my trip's objectives was to drive to the Northeastern tip of this state. That is what we set out to do today.
5:45 PM On our way there was "Saint Croix Island International Park". This was the first International Park (as opposed to National Park) on this trip. It was nothing, really. No rating here.
The rain was getting worse...
6:00 PM Passed through the town of "Perry". There was a sign at the entrance to the town: "Welcome to Perry -- Half-way between the Equator and the North Pole". This was my first of many crossings of the 45deg. Latitude on this trip. That was the reason why I took a picture of this sign. The fact that the town had the same name as someone I knew was an added bonus.
A few minutes after leaving Perry, we came to the town of Calais. This is at the Canadian border, and therefore good enough for me as a "Tip-of-Maine" town, although it is not really at the Northeastern corner of the state. After leaving Calais, we started our drive back to central Maine. The rain had stopped temporarily.
6:20 PM - 6:40 PM Five miles of wet dirt road.
7:25 PM We stopped in front of a McDonalds in Machias, ME and made the reservation for tonight's motel stay in Bangor. We were feeling bad about not eating at Pizza Hut in the afternoon, so that had become our goal now -- we had to eat pizza for dinner tonight. We did not eat at that McDonalds, and continued driving towards Bangor. It was raining cats and dogs (and water) again.
9:40 PM Checked in at Budget Traveler Motor Lodge in Bangor, ME. Had a pizza delivered to our motel. Our two missions for today were accomplished. We had driven to the tip of Maine and we ate a pizza later at night[30].
Miscellaneous:
| City: | Bath, ME |
| City: | Lucerne In Maine, ME [There is a Lucerne Inn there -- that would make the inn's name: "Lucerne Inn in Lucerne In Maine, Maine"] |
| KINK 1 | CT | Dodge |
| JEET | CT | Buick |
| SAVVY | ME | Audi |
| ARNIES | ME | Ford van |
| BILLS 34 | ME | Dodge (new model, not 1934) |
| $34.99 | Chase | Susse Chalet Inn | Portland, ME |
| $2 | Cash | Five postcards -- Maine visitor center | Maine |
| $13 | CB | Gas | Rockland, ME |
| $9 | Cash | Lunch -- McDonalds | Rockland, ME |
There was a good movie on the tube this morning -- "A Perfect World". It was playing on HBO, and it would be airing again tonight. Ishaan had already seen that movie, and told me it was a good movie and I should see it too. There was one small problem. The movie started at 9:00 AM and it was two hours fifteen minutes long. The motel's check-out time was 11:00 AM. I do not like to see the first part of a movie and wait to see the ending at some other time. Ishaan got around that problem. At 10:30, he went to the front desk and asked for an extension of fifteen minutes -- apparently he had done this before.
I liked the movie very much, and we checked out at 11:15 AM -- fifteen minutes late. There was no additional charge. Ishaan was driving -- for now.
Yesterday we had been driving through Rockland and were looking for a Pizza Hut. When we did not find it, we ate at McDonalds, and THEN saw a Pizza Hut 1/2 mile later. Yesterday night, we ordered a pizza for dinner -- but this was not a Pizza Hut pizza. We both like Pizza Hut pizza, so we went to a PIZZA HUT for lunch today. This was in Ellsworth, which is the nearest town to Acadia National Park -- Maine's primary sightseeing attraction.
We wanted to eat at Pizza Hut because of their "all-you-can-eat" deal. When we went inside, we found out that Maine Pizza Huts do not have that deal. We ate there anyway. Our waiter knew we were tourists just by looking at us and asked us where we were from. Ishaan quickly told him that I was from New Jersey, and I had to correct him and say "Delaware". Ishaan told him we were going to Acadia and asked him if he could recommend anything particular to see there. To our surprise, our waiter turned out to be a part-time tour guide at Acadia National Park and knew everything about the park! He gave us some "not-to-be-missed" points of interest, one of which was a place called "Thunder Hole".
1:30 PM Entered Mount Desert Island, which is the home of one portion of Acadia Nashional Paahhk. (that was a Maine accent). At 1:45 PM, we entered Acadia.
Ishaan enjoyed it a lot more than I did. A LOT MORE. As a matter of fact, I did not like it. I like city sightseeing more than nature sightseeing. We spent the most amount of time at Thunder Hole.
I did not see the significance of this place. To me, it was simply a lot of water and a lot of rocks. To Ishaan, it was "dah typicaah pictaah-perfekt Maine coastline" of tall waves smashing into the rugged coastline creating the sound of thunder. The waves were tall, and the sound was loud. I accept that much. But so what?! It was just a lot of water and a lot of rocks! Ishaan gave the Mount Desert Island section of Acadia National Park 
. The main reason for this high rating was his enjoyment of Thunder Hole. When I saw that in his notebook, I again complained about his rating system being unfair. In my opinion, not only does this place deserve a much lower rating, but the Marble House in Newport AND the Freedom Trail in Boston both deserve a higher rating than what Ishaan had given them. Again, he told me his ratings are based on how much he enjoyed the places, not on how much I enjoyed them! After all, it was his system, not mine! We left Mount Desert Island at 5:30 PM.
Acadia National Park is divided into two sections. One section is at Mount Desert Island and the other section is on Schoodic Peninsula, which is about thirty miles Northeast of the island on the mainland. We entered Schoodic Peninsula (a.k.a. Schoodic Point) at 6:00 PM. Until now, Ishaan was driving.
The road we were on was of the one-way variety, and there were two lanes going South to Schoodic Point. Ours was the only car on the road. We had both been quiet for some time, and suddenly Ishaan broke the silence by asking me "do you want to drive?". There was no shoulder next to the road and when I said "yes", Ishaan stopped the car in the middle of the road. We switched places. I adjusted the driver's seat and mirrors.
6:11 PM I, Sachin Mhaskar, started driving a manual-transmission car. Ishaan noted the odometer reading -- this was a historic moment! 143945 miles.
I had to get used to using both my feet. Ishaan told me "if the engine starts stalling, release the accelerator and press the clutch". That was the "Golden Rule". It worked for me. The car never stalled for the next thirty-one minutes that I was driving it. I even went up to fourth gear!
Schoodic Point was very much like Thunder Hole, except the waves and the splashes were taller here. The rocks were also a lot more slippery. Because the splashes were taller here, I enjoyed Schoodic Point more than Thunder Hole. Ishaan, being Ishaan, did not. He did enjoy it, but not as much as "That Other Place". We wanted some pictures of how tall the splashes were, so this what we did:
After a while, Ishaan got tired of standing still, and told me to take the picture on the next splash -- no matter how small. I did what he said. When the photographs were developed, we could clearly see the difference between "his splash" and "my splash". Mine was a lot taller!
We came back to the car at 7:00 PM. Ishaan was back in the driver's seat. He gave Schoodic Point
8:20 PM Checked in at Days Inn in Bangor. There was a microwave oven in our room, which became very useful to heat the leftover pizza from lunch as our dinner!
The License Plates we saw today:
6:42 PM We arrived at Schoodic Point. Unfortunately, I had to stop driving -- going further meant drowning in the Atlantic Ocean! I turned off the engine, and Ishaan again noted the miles in his book. I had driven five miles! I also noticed that Ishaan wrote in his notebook, "Mastery of all gears".
I took a picture of Sachin in the driver's seat of my car and have labeled that photograph, "First Time Driving a REAL Car". For the entire time that Sachin was driving, I was somewhere that I never thought I would be on this trip -- I was in the passenger seat of my car! Sachin driving my car was an interesting experience for both of us -- him because he was driving and me because I was NOT driving! Being in the passenger seat gave me a new perspective on the road. I could actually look out the window for extended periods of time! Not that there was anything interesting to see... just that I COULD do that! When Sachin stopped driving, the car's odometer read 143950 miles. That number was also significant. This car had driven exactly 13,500 miles since I left home. My first trip was also 13,500 miles long. This trip had now officially become longer than my first trip -- both in number of days and number of miles. Today also turned out to be a special day in another way. Today was Day #70, and this trip eventually lasted 141 days -- that meant today was the half-way point. Of course, I did not know it then...
As Ishaan was jotting everything down in his notebook, I stepped out of the car to walk to the ocean.
It was my turn first. I stood on a rock overlooking the ocean. Ishaan was a few feet away, facing me, with his camera ready to shoot the picture. He was waiting for "the perfect wave" -- so typical of someone from Southern California! I had to wait too. And wait. And wait. And wait. Then it came... not just the perfect wave, but also the perfect splash. I could not see the splash from where I was standing, but Ishaan told me it came up to about 5 feet above my head (and since I was standing on top of a rock, the splash must have been about 20 or 30 feet tall!). I felt a few drops, and asked Ishaan if had taken the picture -- he better have! He told me he did, and we switched places. He stood where I was standing, and I got ready to take his picture and waited for the perfect splash...
. Now this was really unfair! for Mount Desert Island and only for Schoodic Point??? Not my opinion, but this was Ishaan. This time, I did not say anything.
MONGA B
VA
Dodge Caravan
GRYHAWK
OK
Jeep Cherokee
NAN BO
ME
Oldsmobile
LTUNK
ME
Truck
Ishaan's Expenses:
$29.96
Chase
For the motel
Bangor, ME
$12.50
CB
Gas in his car -- gotta fill up some time!
Bangor, ME
Go to start of this date
Go to start of this section
11:00 AM Checked out of the motel on time. The motel had a free breakfast, and we ate it in the lobby after checking out. We also took a couple of donuts and some orange juice with us when we left. Ishaan had a postcard with a picture of a Paul Bunyon statue in Bangor. We decided to stop by there before going further. Ishaan asked the motel desk clerk for directions, and she gave him a map of Bangor instead. She told him where the statue is located and how to get there. She also said, "It is so big that you can't miss it!".
We missed it. We passed it without seeing it, then came back when we realized we had gone too far.
11:25 PM Reached Paul Bunyon statue. The statue is over thirty feet tall and stands on a pedestal about seven feet tall. I took Ishaan's picture in front of the statue, Ishaan wrote that postcard, gave the statue , and he continued driving.
12:00 PM Arrived at Bangor Mall. Ishaan bought another postcard and we came back to the car.
Last night, we wanted to see the movie "Batman Forever" at a movie theater near the mall. We arrived in Bangor too late for the show, so we decided to see the movie this afternoon. The movie was supposed to start at 12:45 PM. At 12:30 PM, I started driving -- kinda.
I drove for a few feet, and the car stalled. I started it, drove a few more feet, and stalled again. I started the car again, and this time stalled immediately -- before moving. I told Ishaan to drive, because I was simply not getting it. He refused, saying I was successful yesterday, and I should "just do the same thing". Easy for him to say! I was the one doing the driving! I had been through enough driving adventures in just the last few seconds. When I asked Ishaan to drive, he just said, "Driving through Schoodic Peninsula yesterday should have made you a more experienced driver on a manual transmission car, so what are worried about? Just drive!"
He had a good point. But I was still worried I might stall again. I knew what would happen if I did the wrong thing at the wrong time.
I started the car again, and starting driving. That's right, DRIVING. I did not stall again, and drove all the way to the movie theater (less than one mile) and parked the car. When I stopped at the parking space, the car stalled again because I forgot to take it out of second gear and came to full stop. The engine stopped, and since I was already in the parking space, I took out the key and gave it to Ishaan.
12:45 PM - 3:00 PM Saw "Batman Forever". I enjoyed it a lot more than Ishaan enjoyed it. He said it was not as good as the first one, but definitely better than "Batman Returns". I liked it better than both of its predecessors. After the movie, Ishaan started driving towards New Hampshire.
4:50 PM I started driving. I stalled a couple of times, but each time I stalled taught me something new about how to drive a manual transmission car.
5:10 PM Pulled over at a Burger King for lunch. Then I started driving again at 5:35 PM.
Western Maine and Eastern New Hampshire have several towns that are named after foreign places -- there is a Mexico, Peru, Paris, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Naples, Poland and China. There is a famous signpost near the town of Lynchville, ME that shows all of the above towns and the distances from that signpost to each of the towns. Ishaan had mailed Parixit a postcard that showed that sign. We wanted to see the sign for ourselves and take our own pictures. On the way to that sign, we passed through Mexico, Peru, Paris and Norway. Ishaan also wanted photographs that said "Welcome to Mexico", "Welcome to Peru", etc., but the only one of those we saw was a sign for Mexico. We almost went to Sweden, but decided not to at the last moment. Poland and Denmark were not too far either, but we did not go to either one of those. Besides these town names, Ishaan also saw on the map:
East Peru, West Peru, North Paris, West Paris, South Paris, Norway Lake, Berlin and Lisbon.
Ishaan's trip had turned out to be world-wide journey!
6:30 PM I stopped driving.
7:45 PM Saw the "Around-the-world sign" near Lynchville (see "Miscellaneous" below). The sign is on the crossing of Highways 5 and 35 a little North of town. We took three photographs there -- two of Ishaan and one of me. At that time of the day, the sun was almost down and it was starting to get dark. The camera's flash was on, and all three photographs came out illegible.
8:20 PM I started driving again. This was my first night-drive in this car. I was very successful.
8:35 PM Entered New Hampshire; 144209 Miles.
8:55 PM Checked in at Top Notch Motor Inn in Gorham, NH. I had driven 74 miles today. Later at night, Ishaan left to pick up our dinners.
When I was in the passenger seat yesterday, my primary purpose was teaching Sachin to drive. By the end of today, Sachin had learned how to drive my car, and I enjoyed the side-view as he was driving.
Miscellaneous:
"Around-the-world" signpost near Lynchville, ME:
NORWAY 14 MI. >
PARIS 15 MI. >
DEMARK 23 MI. >
NAPLES 23 MI. >
SWEDEN 25 MI. >
POLAND 27 MI. >
< MEXICO 37 MI.
< PERU 46 MI.
< CHINA 94 MI.
License Plates:
PEPES
ME
Ford Truck
BASEBAL
ME
Volkswagen Jetta
STEAVE
ME
Toyota
Ishaan's Expenses:
$ 38.35
Chase
Days Inn
Bangor, ME
$11
CB
Gas -- Mobil
West Paris, ME
$4
Cash
Dinner -- McDonalds (for me) & Burger King (for Ishaan)
Gorham, NH
Go to start of this date
Go to start of this section
We checked out of the motel at 11:00 AM. Sachin was back in the passenger seat, and I envied him!
Since we had been to so many "foreign cities" yesterday, we decided to go to another one today -- this one was 7 miles North of our motel in Gorham.
11:10 AM Entered Berlin, then turned back.
11:40 AM Reached Lancaster on not-so-scenic Highway 2.
12:10 PM Back to Gorham on same Highway 2. Had lunch at Burger King in Gorham, then left at 1:00 PM.
1:15 PM Eight miles South of Gorham is the start of Mount Washington Auto Road. This road is the oldest man-made attraction in the country. The mountain itself is not too tall (6288 feet), 
but the road to the top is incredible! The ascent is 4725 feet on an 8-mile long road with an average grade of 12%.
The following is a direct excerpt from an audio tape that we received upon paying the toll for Mount Washington Auto Road. The audio tape does a good job of explaining what is so special about this road:
"This car climbed Mount Washington". That's something you will be able to say from now on. Settle in for an experience that will bring you to a world above tree-line. A world that will delight and amaze you. The Mount Washington Auto Road welcomes you to the heart of the White Mountains and your adventure on the Northeast's highest peak. This audio tour will be your information and entertainment guide as you journey on the oldest man made attraction in the United States. Your driving time to the summit will be approximately 25 minutes. ... This road opened to the public in 1861 and the scenes that are about to unfold before you have remained unchanged since then ... The creation of this road to the sky all began back in 1853.
... you will soon be approaching the summit. If it is a clear day, you will be seeing some of the most magnificent views to be found anywhere in the United States. If it's not a clear day, then you are truly learning what it means to be `among the clouds'. You've passed "The Horn", "Oh My God Curve", "The Cragway", "Cowpasture", "Mother-in-Law's Drop" and "Home Stretch".
Some statistics on Mount Washington:
| Elevation | 6288 feet | Average Annual Snowfall | 244.7 inches |
| Lowest Temperature | -47deg. F | Greatest Seasonal Snowfall (1968-1969) | 566.4 inches |
| Highest Temperature | +72deg. F | Average daily wind speed | 35.0 MPH |
| Average temperature | 26.7deg. F | Peak Wind (World Record -- April 12, 1934) | 231 MPH |
| Nickname: "Home of the World's Worst Weather" | Wind gusts of 150 Miles Per Hour are not considered unusual at the summit! | ||
| The summit is in the clouds about 60% of the time | Wind exceeds hurricane force (75 Miles Per Hour) about 104 days per year on the average. |
We started climbing up the Auto Road at 1:25 PM. By the time we got up (with two breaks in the middle to cool car), it was 2:10 PM. It was a clear but windy day.
The view was superb. The winds that day were 40 Miles Per Hour. The temperature (without wind-chill factor) was 54deg. F. With wind-chill, the temperature was 34deg. F -- just a little above freezing, but well above the average annual temperature. It could have been a lot worse!
My rating for Mount Washington Auto Road and Mount Washington = .
That was the rating I gave it ON THAT DAY. Today (November 9, 1995), I consider this to be a attraction, in spite of the weather. I also remember Sachin telling me then that the mountain and the road deserve a higher rating. I did not agree with him then, but I do now.
We left the summit at 3:40, and were back down by 4:35 PM. This time we stopped three times to cool the brakes! Coming back down was more difficult than going up. I asked Sachin if he wanted to drive (this was the perfect location for him to practice his stick-shift driving). He said he felt too nervous to drive down that particular road, and he let me drive. I think he just wanted to look out the window!
4:50 PM - 5:00 PM At Pinkham Notch State Park visitor center.
5:05 PM - 5:25 PM Short hiking trail to Glen Ellis Falls. I forgot to rate this waterfall at that time, so here is my rating as of today: . According to Sachin, "It is just water falling off a rock!". I liked it slightly more than that.
7:00 PM Checked in at Red Doors Motel in Lincoln, NH.
License Plates:
| BUGGER | NH | Isuzu Rodeo (Kinda reminded me of those old hilarious Isuzu T.V. ads) |
| BATPIG | NH | Honda Civic |
| $41.04 | Chase | Top Notch Motor Inn | Gorham, NH |
| $19 | Cash | Toll -- Mount Washington Auto Road (including a certificate, audio tape and bumper sticker) | Mount Washington, NH |
10:20 AM Arrived at Franconia Notch State Park, "The Flume" visitor center. "The Flume" is a three-mile hike to a granite canyon that is 200 feet deep and less than 20 feet wide. The hike takes you to the bottom of the canyon, then to a few more small attractions nearby. Sachin did not like this at all. To him, it was rock and water. To me, it was a granite canyon carved by a thin stream with several small waterfalls. I was beginning to realize Sachin was not a nature person. Sachin was beginning to realize that I was! I think that was the reason we both enjoyed our trip together -- our opposing views on everything we saw!
This time however, I let Sachin's opinion influence my rating. I gave it . I enjoyed the canyon, but not the hike! In Sachin's opinion, this was a complete waste of time.
12:50 PM Back to car. I started driving.
1:00 PM At parking lot near "The Profile". The Profile is a natural rock formation in the shape of a profile of a man's head. We had heard a lot about this during our stay in New Hampshire, and were expecting something more like Mount Rushmore. This was a tiny object so far away we could only see it with binoculars, and then too, not very clearly. . Rating not influenced by Sachin's opinion.
1:05 PM Parked at Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway parking lot. Cannon Mountain is one of New Hampshire's ski resorts. In the summer, the tram to the top of the mountain is used by people such as myself -- those who just want to enjoy the view from the top of a mountain on a clear day. . We had lunch at the summit. I made a mental note then that I will never again eat a meal that was cooked (?) on top of a mountain. This meal tasted miserable.
3:00 PM Came down the mountain.
3:20 PM Vermont; 144396 Miles.
We wanted to check in at a motel in Saint Johnsbury. According to the AAA tour book, this motel had big-screen TV's in every room -- for roughly the same price as any other motel. When we came to the motel, it was all booked. I had not made a reservation for this night, since I did not know how much sightseeing we would do today. The lady behind the counter recommended another motel in town that she knew had vacancies that night. We went to the other motel and found out that their rates were much higher than the ones printed in the AAA tour book. So we left Saint Johnsbury, not really caring where we were going. I just kept driving in Vermont and ended up in Montpelier (the capital).
5:30 PM Checked in at Econolodge in Montpelier, VT.
Later that night, we drove to a "Shoneys" restaurant in the town of Berlin for dinner. This "Berlin" was in Vermont, and the second "Berlin" in two days.
License Plates:
| SPLASH | VT | Honda |
| $44.28 | Chase | Red Doors Motel | Lincoln, NH |
| $12 | Cash | Admission -- The Flume | Franconia Notch State Park, NH |
| $9 | Cash | Lunch -- cafeteria | Cannon Mountain, NH |
| $6 | Cash | Coke -- Grand Union grocery store | Montpelier, VT |
12:10 PM New Hampshire; 144499 Miles.
1:15 PM Arrived at Crawford Notch State Park.
1:30 PM Parked at Arethusa Falls parking lot. Arethusa Falls is supposed to be one of the more spectacular waterfalls in New Hampshire. The waterfall is accessible by a 3-mile strenuous hike. Although we parked at the parking lot, we did not walk to the falls. We walked about 100 feet, then came back to the car and started driving again. Rating for Crawford Notch State Park = .
2:15 PM Came to the town of North Conway and had lunch at Pizza Hut (again). This restaurant did not have an "All-You-Can-Eat" lunch deal either. We ordered their "Bigfoot" pizza instead -- not realizing it was too much food for just the two of us. I had also ordered a soft drink. Pizza Hut gives free refills on all non-alcoholic drinks. Just before leaving the restaurant, I finished my second glass. The waitress came over and asked me if I wanted a refill. I told her we were just about to leave, but I would have one last drink anyway! She took my glass with her when she left, and came back with my drink in a plastic glass (with a lid and a hole in the lid for a straw). She said I could take this "glass" with me. This container was absolutely ideal for my trip.
My car did not have a "Coke can holder". When I used to drink Coke in the car, I would either hold on to the can with one hand while driving or keep the can in a pouch in the passenger seat. This second method did not quite work with Sachin sitting in the passenger seat! During my trip with Sachin, I had to hold on the Coke can from which I was drinking.
The container I got at Pizza Hut was capable of holding a 12-oz drink (perfect), and since it had a straw, it was much easier for me to drink from that instead of a can while driving. It was also sturdy enough to last the rest of the trip -- which it did!
We left the Pizza Hut at 3:30 PM, with more than half of the Bigfoot pizza and my Coke container.
6:05 PM Vermont; 144666 Miles.
7:00 PM We went back to Montpelier and checked in at the same Econolodge as the previous night. Ate leftover Bigfoot pizza as dinner.
Miscellaneous:
| Town: | Lisbon, NH [Not part of the "Around-the-World" sign in Lynchville, ME]. Sachin took another picture of me in front of the "Welcome to Lisbon" sign. I had now also been to Portugal (besides Mexico, Peru, France and Norway)! |
| Town: | Sandwich, NH [Remember Limon, CO? (The town that I thought was "Lemon"!) I checked the spelling on this one. It really is "Sandwich"! We did not eat there, though!] |
| BRC ENT | WA | Ford Taurus |
| GAS 1 | VT | Chevrolet Lumina |
| 1CAM8 | CT | Mazda Truck |
| CHESAPK | NJ | Jeep |
| $42.75 | Chase | Econolodge | Montpelier, VT |
| $11.50 | CB | Gas -- Mobil | Montpelier, VT |
| $6 | Cash | Postage Stamps -- Wells River Post Office | Wells River, VT |
After checking out of the motel, we went down to Berlin again to eat a pancake-and-syrup breakfast at the Shoneys restaurant there. We had been there once before, so we knew exactly where it was, how to get there, etc. We ate their syrup, and could not understand why Vermont's maple syrup was any more special than any other maple syrup. It was just maple syrup! Nothing extraordinary 'bout that!
Yet, Sachin wanted to buy a bottle to take home. We went to a mall in Berlin, thinking a mall is sure to have a store that sells maple syrup. We couldn't have been more wrong!
This was Berlin. Berlin, Vermont is far smaller than Berlin, Germany. We were not in Berlin, Germany... we were in the other Berlin! We did not find any shoppe in that mall which sold Vermont maple syrup. We left Berlin just a little before noon, heading Northwest toward the New York-Vermont-Canada border. Sachin fell asleep, which was very weird considering what he would have to do later that day. It was as if he already knew...
12:35 PM We entered Burlington, and this was the last major (?) city in Vermont before entering New York state. This was Sachin's last chance to buy maple syrup, so he automatically woke up the moment we entered the city. How could he have known that?!
We stopped at another, larger mall in Burlington, and Sachin finally bought Vermont maple syrup to take home. I bought Vermont gasoline to enable me to drive further. We got lost in some residential area somewhere in Burlington. Then we found our way back and left the town at 1:20 PM. Sachin was in the passenger seat. Sachin was awake. So was I.
There are two ways to go from Burlington, VT to scenic I-87 in New York. One way is to take a ferry across Lake Champlain, with unreasonably high fares which we could not afford. The other way is to drive North almost up to the Canadian border, then West into New York state. This would take a lot longer than a boat, but it would be a lot cheaper. We started driving North, then took the second-last exit before the Canadian border and headed West towards Lake Champlain and New York.
Just before exiting, I saw a sign on the road that showed the number of kilometers to Montreal, Canada. After seeing that sign, I asked Sachin if he wanted to go to Montreal. I wouldn't mind going up there for a while! Sachin said it was fine with him too. Now that we had both agreed to drive to Montreal, I was reminded of one minor obstacle.
Neither one of us had any proof that we were United States citizens! I had left my citizenship certificate at Ananda Uncle's house, and Sachin did not bring his birth certificate with him. If it were not for this minor glitch, we would have gone to Montreal. We had our drivers licenses, which at least showed our residence addresses. We wondered whether that would be enough for the Customs authorities of both countries. We came to a small road-side gift shop in the small road-side town of Alburg, VT. I went inside and asked the owner if a drivers license is sufficient to enter Canada, and more importantly, to get back to this country! I was told "it depends on the individual customs officer". This was not the answer I wanted to hear. If we were to go to Canada and come back to this country, we wanted something more definite than "it depends". I came back to the car and told Sachin the bad news. We would not be going to Montreal. Maybe on my next trip...
2:30 PM New York; 144823 Miles. Finally took a picture of "Welcome to New York" sign.
Almost immediately after entering New York state, we started driving South on I-87, which is supposed to be a scenic road. Supposed to be. Nuff said.
At 4:30 PM, I got tired of driving on a straight level road through farms. I felt like doing something interesting. I did what I used to do in Kansas and Oklahoma...
Continuously for the next two minutes (establishing a trip record), I drove in the middle of the road (on both lanes). There were no other cars nearby, so I thought, "Why not?" Sachin started staring at me after a while (although he never said anything). I didn't care. Driving in two lanes at the same time gave me something interesting to do while driving on a straight, level, non-scenic road!
6:00 PM Arrived in the capital city of Albany and parked at a mall in the downtown area. I had a few rolls of photographs to develop, and I knew this particular mall had a "Ritz Camera 1-hour Photo" shop (don't ask me how I knew. I just knew). Sachin told me that it would take three hours to drive from Albany to Succasunna, NJ. It would take one hour to develop the pictures, then some more time to see them, then three hours to drive back home. We knew it would be late at night. But developing the photographs was also a priority, and I knew there were no Ritz Camera shops near Succasunna (I just knew). I wanted to develop the pictures at Ritz and no other store because I was a member at Ritz and got discounts on everything.
After dropping off the pictures, we went to the food court in the mall to eat dinner. Sachin had a pizza; I ate at Wendys. After dinner, we went to some book stores and browsed through the books in the "Humor" section. Finally, we picked up the pictures and Sachin saw them while I continued driving South. We left the mall and Albany at 8:00 PM.
9:25 PM Rest area at Modena. I finally saw the photographs. I was feeling a little sleepy, so I asked Sachin to drive back home -- he had slept in the morning, so he was wide awake now. Once he started driving, I saw all the pictures again. I couldn't fall asleep, though. Sachin's trip was almost over, and I knew it would not be long before I would be alone once more.
10:30 PM New Jersey; 145113 Miles.
11:15 PM Back to Succasunna, NJ. Sachin's trip was over.
Sachin had driven 77 miles in this last stretch from Modena to Succasunna, and a total of 155 miles on his portion of the trip.
Miscellaneous:
| Town: | Berlin, VT |
| Town: | Peru, NY |
| Bumper Sticker: | "Politicians are like diapers. Both should be changed often, and for the same reason!" |
| Bumper Sticker: | "Fishermen never die. They just smell that way!" |
| Town: | Ganesvoort, NY |
| Town: | Malta, NY |
| Town: | Cairo, NY |
| River: | Wallkill River |
| Mountain: | Gore Mountain, NY |
| TYKE | VT | Pontiac Grandam |
| WEDANCE | VT | Mitsubishi Gallant |
| WALTZ | VT | Isuzu Trooper |
| ALEENE | VT | Subaru |
| GRAMMA | VT | Plymouth Voyager van |
| TRAIL | VT | Buick |
| MOMYWGN | VT | Plymouth Voyager van |
| HEY | VT | Eagle Talon |
| SUSHI | VT | Toyota |
| 4AN15 | VT | Oldsmobile |
| RAMA | VT? | ? |
| AUGUST0 | NJ? | Stationwagon (?) |
| $42.75 | Chase | Econolodge | Montpelier, VT |
| $11 | CB | Gas | Burlington, VT |
| $4 | Cash | Dinner at Wendys (mine) -- Crossroads Mall | Albany, NY |
| $67.55 | CB | Photo developing & purchase of more rolls -- Crossroads Mall | Albany, NY |
[30] But it was not a "Pizza Hut" pizza.