Yesterday's tentative schedule ended up being a bit ambitious - as often seems to happen! There was someone I really wanted to speak with before I left, and we did a Zoom at 12:30pm. And then the last minute packing. So far I haven't discovered anything I forgot to bring, but it's pretty early in the trip. I left at 3:00pm instead of 1:00pm.
I had actually planned (to the extent I am planning anything) to head south, but Sunday evening I started thinking that for various reasons that wasn't the right choice for now. Yesterday morning, I decided to head a little south and west, only as far as Sturbridge, MA for the first part of the first stage.
After I checked out this morning, I set a three-day goal of reaching Cincinnati by Thursday evening or Friday morning at the latest. There is a business project I have been working on for the last six months or so, and I haven't met the principals in person, nor have I been to the site. This is a perfect opportunity to do both!
Just south of Hartford I took a short detour to Glastonbury, CT - a place where my family lived from about 1967 to 1971. Thank goodness for GPS though! I was much too young to drive when we lived there, and absolutely NOTHING looks the same in any case. As I wound my way toward the street where we lived back then, I at least recognized some of the road names. And once I turned on to our street, all of those decades kind of just dropped away. The house we lived in, the next-door neighbor's house (their daughter was our first babysitter when where there), and a couple of other houses with good friends (both of the kids and our parents) - they were right there. Different colors on the outside, but I could still remember what they looked like inside all of those years ago. It was quite interesting driving around the town; I truly didn't remember any details except our street ... but the town still somehow felt comfortable and familiar.
From there I headed south, taking the West Cross/Merritt Parkway - something else that felt so familiar. During my grad school years in Philadelphia, and then the years I lived in central New Jersey, I drove that route dozens and dozens of times. I didn't get on the Garden State Parkway though, instead I set my sights just south of the Delaware Water Gap and crossed over into Pennsylvania on US 22. I actually had another Zoom meeting set for 5:00, so about 3:30 I reserved a hotel in Harrisburg to stay the night. Due to traffic, I barely made it in time, but I did make it. And now I'm ensconced in my room and writing this post.
It may not seem like much so far, but despite all of the driving, I felt like I really rediscovered some things from my past today. I remember being happy as a child living in Glastonbury, for moments if not all the time. I still haven't quite become comfortable with the idea to speaking with my inner child, but I heard her voice today saying that she liked what happened, that it meant something to her.
Depending on the chosen route, it's anywhere from about 450 to 550 miles to Cincinnati. I could go straight there, but I'm thinking a side trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Cleveland) may be in order. We will see what tomorrow brings!
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