On The Road Again!!!

Up at 6:15 AM, that darn Redbone Coonhound, Ginger, has me too well trained! I felt sorry for Karen as I was up and taking a shower very early. I slept really well, unusual for me in a motel, but so be it!!

Karen followed me shortly and we were up, out of the motel and on the road again by 8:30 AM. The day is cool and crisp again, perfect for a road trip. We hiked around the motel a couple of times just to get our blood flowing and then we were gone!!

As it turned out we were still 60 miles west of Toledo, but by 1:30 we were on I-88 headed toward Jamestown, NY. We both studied the map hard, trying to figure out the best way to get to Rockland, ME but avoid the toll roads. What is it with toll roads?? Why do they exist and other roads are not tolls? We were supposed to go through Buffalo, NY, but that is all toll, and we just wanted to keep our money!!

Clouds moved in pretty quickly and suddenly they looked very threatening and then it started raining and the wind blowing. It’s slowing us down a bit. We’re hoping to get at least to Albany, NY tonight. We’ll see.

Everything is much greener up here. Doesn’t look like a desert as it does in the Cincinnati area. Nice to see green again!!!

Rain passed through quickly but the clouds stayed around so occasionally we see the bright colors through swatches of sun that break through the clouds. When the sun breaks through, the colors are incredible. I expected them to be gone by now, but they are not!!! When the clouds are thick and the sun can’t get through, the colors are muted, but still gorgeous.

So, it was a really long day. Over 12 hours of driving. We made it to Albany, NY which was our goal. We found a jewel of a restaurant in a little college town by using the ‘Find’ function on my phone. Autumn’s Café is a throwback to the 60’s, wonderful healthy food in a funky little setting. Had much more trouble finding a hotel. I-88 across southern NY is not heavily used and there just wasn’t many choices for motels. We would have stopped sooner, but no opportunity to do so.

We made it to a Holiday Inn Express in Albany and were sound asleep in seconds!!!