Driving with David and James....

Blogpickers ahoy!

Well, here we are on our way across the country once more. I’m writing this post in the car on the way to Maine, with the intention of posting it when we arrive there a little later. Boy has it been a long drive! We ended up leaving Rochester, NY around 9.30am after a quick detour to find a Starbucks and fill up with gas. Rochester seems like a nice place, and I wish we had maybe a little more time to explore. But on we go….we have seven hours of driving ahead of us to look forward to…yay!

We headed across NY, and then onto MA, where the people drive like fools it seems. The Massachusetts turnpike is filled with people driving at 90+ miles an hour, tailgating, flashing lights, and generally being twats. If you want to go fast and kill yourself, then fine, but it is quite possible to do that without interfering with everyone else on the road. I can’t begin to tell you how many cops we saw as well. As for my favourite pet peeve, texting while driving, well it seems that is a state hobby, though I will admit that I see just as many fools doing that everywhere else too. I wonder how many people would answer yes to the question “Are you prepared to die for THAT text message?” I suspect not many people will be queuing up to say yes, especially after that recent survey that found people were 23 times more likely to have an accident when texting and driving. I had thought of getting my camera out and doing a little project of taking pictures of people texting and driving, while I was a passenger of course, but thought that people would probably crash if they turned around and saw me. Ok…off that soapbox now!

Aside from the loonies on the road, the journey through MA was quite beautiful. There are trees everywhere, and the highway seemed to go largely through the countryside, avoiding the wastelands of strip malls and industrial estates of other states. Now don’t get me wrong, I can be quite partial to a bit of industrial wasteland, but the tree lined landscape is really pretty. It seems to be lasting as well as we are now almost out of MA and about to cross into New Hampshire. This is a varied country for sure and it’s nice to get out and about and see parts of it that are new to us. BTW, we just passed into NH, so it was closer than I thought! It is also important to say that we just saw the prettiest toll both lady ever. Normally, they seem to be, as you know, rather erm…., well, you know how some tool booth people can be don’t you? It largely seems to be populated by people who failed the Dairy Queen Charm School, but this one had a big smile, lovely hair, and a fresh complexion. New Hampshire must be an agreeable place to be a toll collector it seems!

This does seem to be the time for vacations and holidays for everyone. When there is little to do other than stare out of the window at other cars, you notice these things. Many a minivan has sped past, jammed with soccer balls up against the windows, suitcase shoved up to the sides, and various limbs of children poking out of the sun roof. Service stations have been equally gripping, with sun burnt little darlings everywhere and hassled looking parents clinging to their tempers. The lines at MacDonald’s (of which there are many)have been filled with drunks, people who smell, ladies in big hats, chaps dressed in suits, and of course us, the happy homos, whizzing through and passing judgment on everyone else, purely for the enjoyment of you, dear blogpicker! What would you do without us! Actually I was possibly one of the people who smelt, as I realized this morning that I forgot to pack any deodorant. Still a quick trip to CVS fixed that. James struck up conversation with the checkout lady, as is his wont, and after swapping life stories, we were on our way, leaving a fresh scent in our wake.

So now, dear reader, what else is there to tell you? Next stop will be Portland, Maine. We will be staying at the Clarion Hotel, booked through Priceline, for those of you who are detail oriented. I have never succeeded with Priceline before, perhaps because I am always being cheap and putting in $50 for a roundtrip ticket to the UK as my bid. This time though, James was in charge and we secured a veritable bargain for $70. If, however, the room comes with William Shatner lurking in the closet, I shall be less happy. What I can tell you, though, is that we just passed over a bridge and are now in Maine, aptly titled “vacationland” on the sign. That is good, as I would hate for them to think we came here for anything else. Maybe the woman in the tool booth in New Hampshire was so happy because her state is so small that she knows she will never see the same person twice!

We have dinner reservations this evening all sorted as well. While a passenger earlier, I did some research online with my Smartphone on restaurants in Maine. We are heading to a place called Street & Co, famed for being a cosy bistro atmosphere with excellent seafood, and hopefully a good wine list. So there you have it. I’ll post this when we get to the hotel! Thanks for checking in!

Big love,
D&J