Happy Home Coming--TRIP 3 (2012)

Who would have imagined six weeks ago that Retirement Trip #3 would end in such dramatic fashion!

“I’m SO glad I cancelled the night in Toledo,” said Andy, as we rolled along the Ohio Turnpike at 8:15 a.m.

And I’m SO glad I bought new tires for Little Red before we left,” he added.

The car held the slick roads as cold rain pelted us on all sides.

“Well, I’m SO glad I shifted my seat forward late yesterday so it didn’t get leaked on all night long,” I joked.

His summer patch job had given way, but only on my side.

“And I’m SO glad I have extra Kleenex to stuff in the door frame so it doesn’t drip on my shoulder."

We both laughed. It would be a long ride home.

The pictures tells it all... grey skies,
wet roads and misery ahead as travelers
are caught between a low over
 Ohio and Hurricane Sandy in the Atlantic.

After two days of weather warnings, we were more than convinced it was wise to cut our travels short by a few days. We cancelled reservations and checked Map Quest for the fastest route home. Between the miserable three days of rain coming in from the West and bringing with it near freezing temperatures, and the 900-or-more-mile-wide Hurricane Sandy that is expected to turn inland over New England, all counts were against any more exploring, touring, traveling. It was time to bed down and pull out the candles. We headed east with 510 miles of fog, mist, clouds and rain ahead of us.

At 9:12 a.m. we passed utility crews from Edwardsville, Illinois, heading east. An hour later there were more heading the same way…many, many more… some without identification as to state, some hauling huge portable generators. They obviously meant business.

New Jersey and New York trees retain colored leaves as the
threat of Hurricane Sandy mounts.

Fifty miles into Pennsylvania the rain stopped.  But it sprinkled off and on the closer we got to New Jersey.  A contingent of at least 15 Asplundh tree trimmer trucks from Indiana tooled along heading east at 65 m.p.h. on Interstate #84.  Just when we thought the skies had brightened, the windshield speckled again.

We noticed a huge difference in leaves.  The trees in most of Pennsylvania and Ohio were bare, but New Jersey retained lots of color. That’s bad for the branches with a hurricane on the way. That means bad for the residents and the power companies, as well. We heard that Connecticut trees still have leaves. No good.

Many more leaves and more extensive wood piles mark our
homecoming this trip as we arrive home in time for the storm.

We kept driving. We passed eight more utility trucks headed east. This group was from Sumter, South Carolina. A red tree trimmer truck was from Sumter too. “That’s in the western part of the state in the mountains,” said Andy. “It won’t be so affected as the coastline.” The forces were really on the move. And so were we. Much as we didn't want to travel so far in one day... much as we didn't want to end our trip prematurely, it seemed the most sensible thing to do.

Travels with Suzi was not supposed to end like this—502 miles in one day—but it’s safer to be home and settled in with history-making weather on the attack.