Bad roads and high tolls

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Another moving day. I feel like the Energizer Bunny…go go go. Still have a date with a camp in Maine and we need a respite from all of this traveling, so the sooner we get there, the better. We left the hotel at 7 AM and 63 degrees. Our first stop, Notre Dame University. I had been there in 1966 on a cross-country road trip with my family while I was in college, and I had photographed the Jesus Wall on the library building. It has always stuck in my head. So I wanted to show it to Steve. It was only 20 minutes from our hotel, so we drove there first before hitting the road. This is a spectacular, iconic image that cries out Notre Dame. We spent some time admiring it and taking photos before moving on. See photos. There is a story on that wall and when I have time, I plan to study my pictures and understand what it represents.

Today was a long day on very bad roads. Toll roads. Why is it…out west there are no tolls and the interstates are in great shape. Come to the north east and the roads are tolled to the nth degree and are so out of repair…well, I have driven on gravel and dirt roads far smoother than these. Where is the money going? Certainly not to pay for mantenance. We drove through Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York today and my back is sore from the bumpity bump bump. I have never seen anything like it. There are more repairs than original pavement, and the repairs are really bad. I can’t wait to see my E-Z Pass charges.

We drove through Cleveland (home town of the Greethams) and we drove past Erie (hometown of the Paskerts). Took a photo of the stadium where the Cleveland Indians play. That was my father’s favorite ball team, after Boston, of course. We drove past lots of cornfields, many in full bloom. And we drove past A LOT of vineyards. Here in this part of the country they don’t feel like vineyards to me. They feel like another crop, growing next to the corn, along the side of the interstate, many looking a bit overgrown and unattended. There seems to be no reverence for the vines like there is in California.

We saw several crop dusters sweeping up and down over the corn fields. Now that looks like fun. Give me a plane. I want to try it. And we saw several Amish wagons being pulled by horses, presumably on their way to Sunday services. Yes, we passed through Amish Country.

Tomorrow, we sail on through to New Hampshire…getting closer to Maine.

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