Several Thousand Words

Here is a post-trip log on my travels over the past week. The itinerary included a flight from Richmond to St. Louis, a series of car rides to Bloomington, an Amtrak to Chicago, Metra train to the 'burbs and a long 2-day road trip to Massachusetts, culminating with flying back to Richmond, with a connection (and 3-hour layover) in Cleveland in between. I had lots of opportunities to take photos, and I took advantage of some of them while traveling east.

Indiana

Departing from the northern suburbs of Chicago, we passed through part of the city before crossing into Indiana. I'm sure everybody has been to or through Indiana at some point. It looks a lot like rural Illinois, except for Gary, which looks and smells like the underside of any old, rotting jalopy, times 100,000. The highlight was listening to Jon McLaughlin's song, "Indiana," which we made a point of doing before stopping at a Bob Evans for breakfast. I took no photos of this state.

Ohio

Ohio is home to several interesting urban centers and communities which house some of the nation's most renowned academic and medical institutions, restaurants and cultural attractions, juxtaposed fascinatingly with some of the most iconic images of old, Rust Belt America. Unfortunately, our path took us to none of these interesting places. I took no photos of our long, horrible drive through this state, which stands out most in my mind only as one of the eight whose names are never abbreviated in news copy, per AP Style.

Pennsylvania

This is where I really started taking photos. The Western part of the state is supposed to be the pretty part, so I've been told, but I think I preferred the Eastern. Here are some photos:

Here is the requisite shot of the state's "Welcome To" sign, just over the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.


Pretty road, somewhere in Western Pennsylvania.


These, I thought, were pretty trees, somewhere in West-Central Pennsylvania.


What was a breathtaking Eastern Pennsylvanian landscape in person is less impressive in low-quality digital renderings.


Apparently, local ordinance bans people from Clarion, Pa. We risked arrest and entered the town to dine at Taco Bell. The community is also home to Clarion University, one of 11 state-funded universities in Pennsylvania. I could not positively determine what, if any, connection exists between the name of the town and the low-to-mid range hotel chain.


These people allowed their dogs to relieve themselves all over the McDonald's lawn in some Eastern Pennsylvanian hamlet where we stopped in an unsuccessful attempt to pirate a wireless internet connection.


The back of a cheap picture frame on my desk, taken just now. This represents the literally mean streets of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., which fluctuate between single- and three-car widths, with no paint or other indications of lanes. We drove at least 5 miles off the interstate all the way to the downtown square of WB in search of a Ramada Inn, which was advertised as being "just ahead." Frustrated by lack of sleep and mild stress, we turned around and headed to a Comfort Inn in an unincorporated area some 20 miles from the NY border. Unfortunately, our frustration also led us to miss the opportunity to recreate part of the opening sequence from television's "The Office" by filming a "Welcome to Scranton" sign.


At the Comfort Inn, I was bewildered by the initial burnt, musty aroma of our room. I was more bewildered that I stayed at yet another hotel which apparently had need to warn its breakfast patrons about the dangers of microwaving hard-boiled eggs. Seriously, has anyone ever heard of anybody microwaving a hard-boiled egg? Must be an Ohio River regional specialty.

New York

This was, I think, my first entry into New York. We only passed through the southeastern nub of the state, which actually is quite beautiful, and came within some 50? miles from the City That Never Sleeps. I missed the "Welcome to" sign, so I took some other shots of signs that said 'New York.'

One of several scenic landscapes we passed in New York.


The Hamilton Fish Bridge over the Hudson River is named for Hamilton Fish, the handsome former governor and Senator from New York who later served as U.S. Secretary of State.


Hamilton Fish.
I did not take this photo. It is from Wikipedia.

Connecticut

Our 48th largest state is a small and densely populated though beautiful one.

We were unenthusiastically welcomed by this uninspired sign.


Left unimpressed by the initial welcome, we decided to bypass this rest area.


A nameless, though scenic, Connecticut river.


The skyline of Hartford, Connecticut, taken from a distance.


Headquarters of the Hartford Courant, a struggling former giant of the newspaper industry.


This large tower did not fit in well with Hartford's otherwise moderate skyline.


This large cathedral was one of several visible in downtown Hartford from the highway. I don't know if that is an indication of a large Catholic population or fondness for old-world relics, or anything else. I just took so many photos of Hartford because I was excited because it is only some 45 minutes from Northampton, Ma., our final destination.

Massachusetts

You'll have to trust me that this says "Welcome to Massachusetts." The border snuck up on me quickly, and I had to rush to snap this shot.


Entering the home stretch.


Clearly, I was ready to be out of the car at this point. Wonderful company aside, I was stuck with a mountain of stuff behind me restricting my leg room, with my bulging briefcase between my knees for some 15 hours.


Anyone who visits should remember to take this exit. Obviously, it will take you toward Smith College, which is some 2 blocks from the apartment.


The final exit sign.


Finally in Northampton, I took some photos of recognizable landmarks. This is the infamous Knight's Inn, formerly known as the Norwottuck Inn. The hotel actually is located in Hadley, Ma.


The Norwottuck's neighbor, Wing Wong Chinese Restaurant.


I thought Sarah's mother would appreciate this license plate, which espouses the driver's appreciation for Bruce Springsteen. Clicking on the thumbnail to view the larger photo will reveal an "E Street Band" plate holder.


Exhausted after our long trip, we rewarded ourselves at the grocery store by springing for some of this high-quality cheese food.


I'm not sure in which state this photo was taken, so I put it here.


This photo of downtown Boston, and the following one, were taken during our previous trip to Massachusetts a few weeks ago.


The only photo of Fenway I could finagle was this one from behind, which most prominently features a moderately unclassy gun show sign.

Back to Virginia

I took few photos on the way back to Virginia, due to exhaustion and a severe lack of interesting subject matter. The best I found were these birds, which along with several others, flew freely for at least the entire three hours I was at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

They bathed in the drinking fountains.

UPDATE: For a corollary on our travels, see Sarah's new blog.