End
of Day 1, Jan. 20, 2015
Place:
Days Inn, Port Jervis, N.Y.
Miles
driven today: 271.2
I
leave Bradford at 9 a.m. under sunny skies and the temperature at 27 degrees. After
a quick stop in Henniker at the bank, I am soon on Rte. 9W. Scenery is a bit
blah. What there is of snow is dirty and colors dull. A part of me doesn’t to
go. The Vermont border is crossed at 10:30. Interstate 91S is picked up for a
couple miles before Rte. 9 continues west across the state. It’s 40 miles to
Bennington.
West
Brattleboro is interesting and a place for possible photographs on another day.
This is an enjoyable drive passing old New England businesses, homes, and
farms. Sometimes another vehicle will be seen, but often I’m alone on the road;
just the way I like it. The road narrows and meanders along winding upwards. A
couple of hairpin turns are navigated and Hogback Mountain is crossed. The
views are dull and I don’t stop.
I
start noticing mountains in the distance are white and soon the road is passing
through areas where snow lies heavy on tree limbs and power lines. This is the
winter wonderland. It’s beautiful… but treacherous. There is ice on the road in
places and I catch up to slower moving traffic. We pass through these beautiful
mountains and begin the long, slow descent towards Bennington. I am still not
feeling the excitement and I’m so tempted to turn around and go home.
The
windshield fills with salt and dirt… and I cleaned all the windows before I
left.
Wilmington
is a cute little Vermont town and another area that would be interesting to
explore sometime. There are quaint shops, old mill-type buildings, and art
galleries. Soon Rte. 279 is taken towards Troy and the Walloomsic River is
crossed a couple times as the highways swings around Bennington and turns into
Rte. 7 when the New York border is crossed at 11:30.
Hoosick,
N.Y. is rolling hills, open farm land. Snow is spotty, the ground mostly bare
and dull of color. Traffic is light and as I pass an old abandoned gas station
surrounded by old equipment, I can’t help but stop for a few photographs.
Luckily, there’s room to pull off the road and by the time the vehicle comes to
a stop (speed limit is 55), I am past the building. I walk back taking picture
of all the old rusty vehicles and other equipment along with the building.
A
stop is made at the Country View Diner in Brunswick. The waitress is nice, but
not overly friendly. She tries to take my order before I’ve even had a chance
to look at the menu. Then she doesn’t come back for a long time and it takes
even longer for the burger and fries. The fries are those frozen, soggy crinkle
cut ones.
I
left the diner at 1 p.m. continuing on Rte. 7 down into Troy. I-787 is a right
to swing out around Troy to head south towards Albany and where the N.Y.
Thruway is picked up. That’s a long drive to I-84W in Newburgh. The Days Inn in
Port Jervis was reached at 3:11.
I
wait for assistance. The desk clerk is new and having trouble with the system. Room 142 is assigned and she says to park halfway down the building to enter
the side door. The room is halfway down the corridor. It’s a fight to get the
door open, but the room looks nice.
It’s
a long walk to the lobby to get the luggage trolley. They only have one?
There is ice on the ground in front of the door near the truck and there’s not
a little ramp for the trolley. I pull items needed for the night and haul them
to the sidewalk and onto the trolley. It’s not an easy chore, but eventually
everything is in the room and I make the long journey back to the lobby with
the trolley. I am limping on the return to the room. This is not good customer service!
The
coffee pot is on the work table and is plugged into the only outlet on that
wall along with the mini fridge. There is no light in that corner. The coffee pot is moved to the luggage table and the table to the corner with the lamp. This room
may be a bit dark, but it looks clean.
I
forgot to bring a surge protector for the laptop and plug it into a regular
outlet. As I’m checking in back home, I realize I also forgot the battery
charger for my camera. Noooo! Now what? If I make the six hour drive home to
get it, I will not leave again. Is it still in that cabinet? Why do I think I
might have moved it? Could Karen Fed X overnight it to me in Charleston where I’ll
be spending a couple days? We’ll see. There is a spare battery, but would it be
enough?
Hey, there always has to be challenges. I’ll just have to
see what tomorrow will bring.
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