One thing I forgot to mention yesterday was my surprise at how quickly I went from the South to the North. It felt like one minute I was seeing streets named after Confederate generals, and the next minute it was the same thing, but on the Union side. Sure, there’s still a cultural divide between the north and south that persists to this day. But here, in particular, it felt like I’d crossed a solid line. Maybe my proximity to Antietam had something to do with it.
At any rate, I was solidly in the North now, even though I wasn’t very far from what had been the South. Today’s goal was to press farther north. I’d originally planned three days to make what turned out to be less than an eight hour drive. I didn’t need that much time, so I threw my original itinerary out the window and shrank it to two. The Appalachian Brewing Company, being a scheduled Harvest Host stop, was a fixed point in time that I couldn’t change, the way I’d been playing fast and loose with my overnight stops recently. It was worth the visit, but now I’m mainly interested in getting where I’m going. This is an unusual mood for me to be in, but we’re getting back into well-known territory for me. I don’t have the incentive to meander and take it all in like I do elsewhere, because I’ve already been here.
I did, however, concede to avoiding highways today. I’m not in that much of a hurry, and I wanted to see Pennsylvania as I drove through it south to north, a direction I’ve never taken before except on I-95 on the east coast. It was a pleasant four-hour drive, just like yesterday. From Mechanicsburg, I wound my way through various state and county highways to the Susquehanna River, where I picked up US 11 and drove alongside it for many miles.
The rolling hills of central Pennsylvania were beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any decent pictures of them. The roads, while not as difficult as in West Virginia, still took my full attention most of the time. What few breaks I got with the beautiful green hills in the background, I couldn’t snap a picture quickly enough before they disappeared into the trees again. It was an enjoyable drive, though. I can’t imagine arriving at a destination as fresh and relaxed in my old van as I was in this one. Lister always seemed to want out after two hours, yet we did four with only a brief stop for lunch along the way, and we’re both feeling just fine. I have no idea when I actually crossed from Pennsylvania into New York, but soon enough, I rolled into Binghamton, and made my way to Cracker Barrel for the night. It was only 3:00 pm, but that got me off the road before Memorial Day weekend traffic took over the highways. They can have them for now.
Lister wanted to take a turn behind the wheel, but he fell asleep. Fortunately, I took the keys first.
Now that I’m in New York, my urge to just “get there” is stronger than ever. Again, it’s that whole “been there, done that” feeling. I’ve also been on the go for a while, and am looking forward to getting off the road for a little while. I have a loop of people I need to see during my stay in New England, sure, but they’re all fairly close together compared to the hours I’ve been driving each day since leaving Florida (with the exception of my campground stay in Tennessee). I questioned whether it’s some of my old New England mentality of rushing around doing things creeping in, but I don’t think it is. I think I’m just ready to spend the holiday weekend with friends, not driving or thinking about where I’m going to spend the next night.
Smokey Da Van 