On the road

This week's glorious weather vanished as spring break approached. Rain and wind storms -- not my favorite driving conditions, but better than snow and ice. Fortunately, the rain had mostly dissipated by the time I had Mr Flash loaded and ready for the road.

My plan was to leave right after school let out, not wanting to waste a precious second of time off from work. I had most everything packed and ready to go. Had been working on the spring cleaning all week -- both at school and at home. Still, a bit remained so I beat it home and did the final tidying as the coffee heated and the cat watched in amazement as I dashed from top to bottom with loads of laundry and bags of things headed for the recycling bin.

I was on the road by 5:10 pm, and as I approached the expressway I noticed that traffic was jamming up. Time to take an alternate route through the city and catch 76 East beyond the central interchange. Somewhere between Akron and Youngstown, the smart car finally reached one thousand miles. I did feel the wind a bit on the highway, but it wasn't too startling. My old Ford Ranger was even more prone to being pushed about by the wind.

My plan was to get off the highways and head up Route 62 to the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, which stretches across PA from west to east on a more northern and far more scenic route than Interstate 80. Only got as far as Franklin, PA tonight before I decided that a room in a motel would be much more enjoyable than negotiating mountains in the rain and dark of night. The smart is handling the hills and curves with ease. I'm looking forward to better driving conditions tomorrow as I head across PA toward Albany to visit my friend Ron.