9/7/2012:Vacation, Day 2

We are right on schedule this morning after driving 927 miles yesterday and making it to Clarion, PA. We wasted no time last night at our lovely and impeccably clean Quality Inn. Of the 7.5 hours we spent in the room we spent 7 hours sleeping and the remaining half hour settling in last night and taking showers this morning. We were back on the road, showered and fed at 7:00am this morning (well, 6:00am according to my car clock). We should be to West Point in plenty of time for our West Point tour at 2:00 this afternoon.

There was a little construction along the way yesterday, but nothing too grueling. We did get a pretty good blast from a power sprayer when going through one construction zone, which was a little surprising, but that was it for excitement yesterday. We've both made this drive so many times that neither one of us needed to dawdle along the way. We're taking I-80 most of the way to West Point today, but the last 30 miles or so will be on country roads. After spending the night at West Point tonight we'll head north on smaller roads and take our time meandering north to Maine. I am looking forward to that part of our drive.

I did well with my food yesterday and ate 1608 calories. I consider it a good day if you spend 16 hours in a car and only eat 1608 calories. Is should be easier from here on out, with the exception of our one long driving day on the way home. No exercise yesterday, unless driving counts. I will have time to exercise this evening, though.

I found myself getting curious yesterday about how this vacation will unfold, for Jack and me. With no TV or any other distractions at the camp site, will we go new places with our conversations and thoughts? Yesterday was a fairly quiet day in the car...nothing earth shattering got discussed. I can't help comparing this trip to the one that Carla and I took 11 years ago. When she and I took this similar route back then, we were quiet for a few days. After about 4 or 5 days in, it was like a dam broke and we had so much to talk about. It was almost like it took that long to get away from daily life and just let our imaginations ramble about. It was a defining moment in our both of our lives.

I have no idea what to expect from this vacation other than I know Jack is excited to show me West Point and I am curious to see it, and I am very excited about spending a week at Moosehead Lake. I've been wanting to go back there ever since Carla and I packed up our campsite at 5:00am 11 years ago to go white water rafting. I have very fond memories of that place, even it we were only there for a very short period of time. We'll be very close to a section of the Appalachian Trail and I am looking forward to hiking part of that. It'll be beautiful! Other than that, there are no real plans for this trip. We'll see what unfolds!

Here's to minimal road construction and meaningful conversations!



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Location:Clarion, PA