Mt Holyoke and the driving to Philadelphia..

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Before heading out from Holyoke and down toward Philadelphia, a good 8hr drive, my hosts wanted to take me up to Mt. Holyoke and it’s summit -house where I could get a good look at the surrounding area.

It was a short drive there and the weather was on our side. The view from the mountain was magnificent and we stayed there for about 20 minutes before we had to head back because my host’s wife had to get back to work, and I had to start drive down to Philadelphia.

I entered the coordinates to my next host, Terri, and initiated my drive.

My first long-haul was quite eventless and though being tiresome I have a few tips for the future traveller in America.

* One is; plan ahead.. Driving takes an awful lot longer time than you think and avoid bigger cities around rush-hours.

*The other is, also related with the above;

Never trust a GPS..

It took me the “fastest” route.. Through Bronx,NY !??!??! That is just plain stupid. Specially since it was rush-hours.. This only goes to show that you are better to combine the GPS with regular “old-fashioned” map-reading.. Next time; note to self: Circumvent capitals and major cities. Also use the waypoint function of the GPS to set a better route. This time I "only" lost 2,5hrs due to this..

After some hours on the roads with accidents, roadworks, tollroads (which are extremely efficient I must say) and elbowing with roadhogs I reached my destination - Philadelphia - and I managed to get to my destination around 9.30pm. Next obstacle was to find a parking-spot. I feel quite happy I know how to parallel-park, but still the available space for manoeuvring was non-existent. I did my best, but had to force my way in there by rough usage of curb. My “It’s only a rental” motto was henceforth born.



I was greeted by Terri who was kind enough to stay the course of parking and she then took me into their house where I met her husband, George and her two dogs, one infamous Satchel (aka. The Pug), and the most cute Amber.



As I was shown into my room and the “futon-with-my-name-on” I quickly got the impression I’m going to enjoy this stay.



They took me out to a restaurant where we got something to eat and a few beers (from micro-breweries). I cannot for my life remember some of the names of the beers, but I *do* know I got some of them solely for their names.



Exhausted and happy I returned to their place where we sat up for a longer period, just talking and laughing, before we went to bed after, for me, a long day.

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Photos

Mt Holyoke & Mt Tom
Just so we won't get lost..

View out over Massachusetts
It's green, it's foliage-y

Yet another view out over Massachusetts
It's beautiful, it's edible.

Green, green, green
.. Read the title.. Says it all!

Parallel-parking with curb-hitting.
I dare anyone try to parallel- park here without hitting either the opposite curb or another car. There's a reason why people bend their side-mirrors in when leaving their cars

Satchel.
Satchel Greeted me.. I think he almost looks like Winston Churchill.. He just misses the bowler-hat and the stogie

Amber
She just has that sly look on her cute face.