We just realized that it is actually possible to be on an unplanned vacation and not have enough time to write more blog posts! While Judith’s heart is in Portland (Maine) and possibly is causing the writer’s block that she has going on, we have been on the road almost 80 days, driven more than 12,000 miles and are absolutely loving every minute of the trip. Every day is a brand new day in so many ways and the weekends are not as desirable anymore because it only means more crowds of people everywhere. Our biggest worry is remembering what day of the week it is. This post is a quick summary of our drive through the North East and into the Midwest.
The North East was very packed in every sense of the term. There were days when we crossed 3 states in half a day and being used to the size of the state of Texas, it was so amusing that we ended up crossing a couple of states multiple times just for the sake of the cheap thrill. In fact, while visiting New Hampshire, we stayed in a hotel where we had to cross the state line from Maine to NH just driving out to dinner 5 minutes away. Most of the North East, with the exception of Maine is super crowded and it felt like being in a large traffic jam all the way from Washington DC to Maine.
It felt good to visit DC and especially the Arlington National Cemetery. The various monuments were all awe inspiring and it was fascinating seeing it all in person. We visited some of the Smithsonian museums and also the Art museum where it was surprising to see how much art is actually on display. Definitely a strong recommendation for anyone visiting DC. After DC, it was a quick stop in New Jersey where Prafull took us on a driving tour of New York after which we drove to Salem (of course), Cape Cod and Plymouth in Massachusetts and took a day trip to Newport in Rhode Island. From that point on till we reached Vermont, we stayed on the Atlantic coast and drove along the shoreline whenever possible. On the way, we passed by the Amish country and learnt more about this very odd and interesting group of people. While they have impressively been able to preserve a way of life that makes them less dependent on modern technology, there are several other aspects that we were quite annoyed with and do not agree with the way of life at all.
After a quick and relaxing stop in Stowe (Vermont), we headed to one of the most touristy places in the country – Niagara Falls. It was simply breathtaking. As you drive through the main boulevard, you can actually see the spray rising in the horizon from the mighty falls. It was by sheer luck that there was a magnificent fireworks display on the falls on the evening that we were there and the next day, we took a helicopter ride and viewed the falls from above as we were too chicken to stand in a long line to take the boat ride that takes you underneath the falls. Exhilarated by Niagara, we spent a couple of days in Erie and marveled at the size of this huge lake and after that, headed on to Michigan to visit family. As always, it was so nice to visit with our Aunt and Uncle, visit with our cousins and meet our nephews. There was a definite intent in choosing to stay with them for a week because Jethai (Aunt) is an obsessive feeder and I am a compulsive eater. It was the perfect way to celebrate the completion of 2 months on the road and stock up for the next two months or so that lay ahead of us. We visited the sand dunes of Lake Michigan and took a day trip to downtown Detroit. We were quite skeptical of what one would find in Detroit especially after what the state of the economy has done to the big corporate houses there, but were quite surprised to find what seemed like a very clean, thriving and still prosperous downtown! We were able to walk around and feel safe all the time that we were there.
Our good friends Vince & Margaret Sparrow had graciously extended an invitation for us to stay with them while in Chicago and we were only too happy to accept. Chicago downtown was everything we had expected and the deep dish pizza was better than what we had expected. It was very nice visiting with the Sparrows and to meet the kids Allison and Peter and although Vince would not let me play office with him, Peter was kind enough to entertain me while we were there. After some more indulgence in awesome home cooking, we had to force ourselves to hit the road again for the next chapter of our travels.
In the meantime, Judith had started making fun of the way I had planned the trip through the North East and was openly telling people that I was “over-planning” and that it was not necessary to plan at all and that she could do it all without any planning. At first I brushed it off as just another thing she is doing to annoy me since she cannot continuously critique my driving and she needs some variety, but that did not seem to be the case. So I threw her the challenge to get us from Chicago to Seattle with minimal planning and no involvement from yours truly and she readily accepted. I do not care what the outcome of the challenge is because all of a sudden Judith spends most of her time in the car looking up various places to visit on our next leg and that translates to silence for me in the car. It feels like I have already had a small victory with this one… Westward Ho!
We now have time to stand and stare 