The Long Journey Home

Days 30 - 32 

June 26 – June 28, 2014
Binghamton, NY/Tysons Corner, VA/Raleigh, NC/Columbia, SC /Home

First off, my apologies for dropping the ball on the final entries of my road trip blog.  The last days of the road trip were LONG ones and I was wiped out.  I hit four major traffic jams and it wasn’t fun.

On Friday the 26^th, we left Binghamton, New York at a reasonable hour, only to get stuck in central Pennsylvania, somewhere around Hazelton, for an hour and a half.  Consequently, we didn’t roll into the DC area until almost 4 p.m.  Once I got out of the car I was enveloped into the heat and humidity of the Mid-Atlantic region.  Hello summer!  Honestly, it was kind of nice, especially considering I’d been freezing for the previous two weeks.

After I took the kids swimming, we met one of my blogger friends for dinner at PF Changs.  Kristi Campbell (A.K.A. Finding Ninee), is a friend I met on line and we really connected.  Kristi’s been very supportive and we have a lot in common, so when I told her I’d be passing through the area, we decided to meet “for real.”  She brought her five year old son Tucker.  I must say they are both good sports, because you never know what you’re going to get with our crew!  The good news is that my kids were exceptionally well behaved (granted, with the help of technologyJ) and they loved hanging out with Tucker.  Kristi and I got to know each a little better and talk shop, which I loved!  I just wish we’d had more time!  Hopefully our paths with cross again soon at a blogging conference.

Kristi & I

The next day I was not in a rush to leave, knowing that DC rush hour traffic is a nightmare.  We departed about 9:30 for Raleigh.  I was hoping to get in at a decent hour so we could tour the capitol and I had there was a book signing I wanted to attend.  It should have been a four hour drive, but no such luck.  South of DC, we were at a standstill for almost an hour!  Then, after we crossed the North Carolina border, I saw signs warning drivers of congested traffic ahead, with a suggested alternate route.  Thank you, North Carolina – for sending me on a detour into a road construction hornets’ nest that cost me yet another hour.  Grrrr.

 

We arrived so late that I had to scratch the book event I had planned to attend.  In the end, this turned out to be a blessing, because we got to spend more time visiting the Kaufman family.  Deb was my best friend at CNN when I worked there – a life time ago.  She and her husband Marc moved to Raleigh around the time Rich I moved to DC.  We visited Raleigh on our first road trip, but it’s been a while since we’ve seen them.  Fortunately, whenever we do get together, it’s as if no time has passed.  Don’t you love friends like that?  An added bonus – our kids love hanging out, too!

 

Deb & I

We woke up on Saturday, ready for our last journey.  I was ready to go home, but honesty, I always have a heavy heart on our last day.  It’s similar to that feeling you get on December 26^th.  I don’t do endings well.

The capitol building in Raleigh.

 

We drove home through Columbia South Carolina, so we could see the capitol – our 36th capital city and capitol building!  Yes, we are kind of dorky about this.  Don’t ask me why – because I do not know.  After that, we were westbound and down on I 20, heading to Atlanta.  But the traffic Gods were not done with me yet!  We ran into a wall about 30 east of the city.  I am not kidding.

 

The capitol building in Columbia.

 

But eventually, we did make it home! 

Our many bags of dirty laundry!

 

On our first day back, I did seventeen loads of laundry!  I think that’s a record.  On Monday, the Lewis Family arrived from Florida for a visit and then, suddenly, it was the Fourth of July.  Time is flying.  The summer is more than half over and in two days we leave for Michigan.  I won’t document that trip daily, but I will pop by with a summary, as we do plan to explore some more of the Wolverine State.  I’ll also do my annual summer travel stats and favorites as a wrap upJ!

Visiting the Villages of Upstate New York

Day 29 – June 25, 2014

Lake Placid, NY/Lake George, NY/Saratoga Springs, NY/Cooperstown, NY/Binghamton

318 miles/I lost count on the hours.

Today did not go as planned – at all.  Our biggest impediment was Mother Nature!  What a crappy, rainy day!  We woke up to such grey skies, it looked like winter.  I loaded my car in a down pour, and then very carefully began our journey down the mountain.

Last summer, when we were in Santa Fe, we visited the Georgia O’Keefe museum and I became enchanted with one of her landscapes of Lake George.  After some research, I learned that once upon a time, it was a big summer destination of many New York City artist in the beginning of the 20^th century.  Coincidentally, in the past year a number of my friends mentioned Lake George and how much they loved the area.  Lake George won a slot on our road trip itinerary.

Due to time constraints and hotel options, I planned to explore Lake George and Saratoga Springs on the same day, staying in Saratoga Springs.  When we got to Lake George, the weather had not changed.  The kids were freaking out, because I promised them that we’d play miniature golf in Lake George.  They had to settle for Fort William Henry.  Fortunately, they loved it (there were a number of artillery demonstrations).  Strolling around the lake was not an option – as it was pouring. 

We decided to try our luck a little further south and moseyed on to Saratoga Springs – where it was also raining.  Oh, the moaning and bitching from the back seat, all about mini-golf.  Momma had a back-up plan – the National Museum of Dance.  And yes, it was about as boring as it sounds.

Main Street in Saratoga is bustling and calling my name.  Oh Amy, you were so right about all the restaurants and shops!  I was itching to explore and do some damage, but it was raining cats and dogs.  I was also already thinking ahead to tomorrow, which involves a nine hour journey, with a stop in Cooperstown.  According to my calculations we’d be arriving in the Washington D.C. area around 6 p.m. - guaranteed to be a traffic nightmare.  So, I pitched a change-in-plans to the children, with mixed reactions.  I decided to exercise my preemptory executive powers and do what I wanted to do, which would cut down on driving time to following day.

So off to Cooperstown we headed.  At this point the rain was torrential! 

Cooperstown was another pleasant surprise.  Yet again we found ourselves in an adorable village on a lake!  Who knew there was such idyllic summer vacation bounty in the state of New York?  I’m thinking house rental on a lake next summer.  But I digress…  The Baseball Hall of Fame is all that it promises to be and more.  I really enjoyed it – the kids, not so much.  Oh well.

After the Hall of Fame, we embarked on the last leg of our journey for the day – to Binghamton, NY.  There are no words.  Rain, hotel by the interstate, dinner at Applebee’s.  You do the math.

Lake Placid - Nostolgia for the Miracle on Ice

Day 28 – June 24, 2014

Middlebury, VT – Lake Placid, NY

75 miles/two hours

We woke up to dreary skies and a quick check with weather.com showed dire storm warnings, with threats of hail.  Holy Moly.  It was so gorgeous yesterday!

Our drive was slow (back roads, again) and through the Adirondack Mountains!  I so wish it had been a prettier day, because I know it would have been a stunningly gorgeous trip.  When we pulled into Lake Place, I was a bit disappointed.  My first impression was that of a one-horse town that had seen better days (probably circa 1980!).  I stopped to get the kids some Subway for lunch, before heading to the Olympic Museum. 

The museum, honestly, wasn’t all that – but the price was fair, considering other venues we’d patronized.  For me, the highlight was the OLD television that was airing the “miracle on ice” game.   When we got there, the game was midway through the first period.  You know what I did?  I sat down and watched the rest of the game – the whole thing. Fortunately, the commercials were edited out.  I had never seen the game, but remember my parents watching it.  Of course I’ve seen many highlights over the years and the movie, Miracle – great movie (Kurt Russell), if you haven’t seen it.  Even though I knew the outcome, it was still thrilling to watch and I got Goosebumps.  Much to the horror of the children, I also shed a few tears!

I was going to take the kids on a gondola ride up White Face Mountain, but it was so overcast, that I decided to save some coin.  I don’t think we would have seen much.  I took the children to the ski jump and offered to take them up (there was an elevator), but a few of the kids flat out refused.  Then we went by the horse show grounds, where the 1980 opening ceremony took place, to see the cauldron.  Security (due to the horse show) wouldn’t let me get too close.  I was surprised by was how small un spectacular it was.  Oh, we were a different world in 1980.

Still, with all this, I was not very impressed with the town.  Then I ventured further into the village, past the Olympic venues and down main street and holy moly – we discovered another adorable town.  I love this country.  Main Street was too cool for words, but very crowded and limited parking – most of it parallel parking.  I could be in trouble with my beast mobile. 

I decided to check in at the hotel and try my luck later.  After the children swam, we ventured back to Main Street, where the crowd had mercifully thinned out.  I found some accessible parking and we were off to explore. 

We had a delightful dinner (although a bit pricey) right on Mirror Lake - Lake Placid (as in body of water) is a little further north.  The children were so good, I promised ice-cream for dessert.  While walking to Ben & Jerry’s we passed a bookstore and…well, you know the drill.  I had a sweet chat with the bookseller, whose shop was open in during the 1980 Olympics and she shared with me some of her memories and impressions of the games.  I asked her if she thought the town could still host an Olympics.  Living in Atlanta, I frankly was astonished by the small size of Lake Placid.  It’s tiny.  I can’t even fathom how they’d handle the traffic.  She admitted that she didn’t think it was possible, because the games have become so big.  In 1980, the staff of ABC and the Olympic dignitaries took up all the local hotel rooms!  Everyone else had to be bused in - daily.  They had to build a village for the athletes, which was outside of town.  By the way, the village is now a state prison!  Just a little trivia.

We wrapped up our Main Street tour with ice-cream.  We’re going to go to bed early – because we have a two city stop tomorrow, Lake George & Saratoga Springs!   We’re racing around third base, heading home.