We had decided it would be good time to visit Christy as we head south. I had not wanted to see the big cities during our travels; instead focusing primarily on the mountains, valleys and the change of color. So I was looking inland for a route towards Hershey, PA.
Our initial planning was to head south from Jack’s and pick up Maine/Vermont Rte 9 west to Albany. There we would head south again on I-87 which would take us down the Hudson River Valley. Near Keene, N.H. Carol expressed a desire to see some of the states we were avoiding. I said that as long as she didn’t take me into NYC, I didn’t care. So just west of Keene, we turned south on I-91. We passed through the southeast corner of Vermont and entered Massachusetts. Continuing south, we passed through Springfield, MA and entered Connecticut. By now the terrain went from low mountains to rolling hills, the color had receded back to green and the farms were replaced by urban sprawl. The traffic was steadily increasing as we passed through Hartford, Danbury and into NY. We skirted around the northwest side of NYC, across the Tappan Zee Bridge and into New Jersey. Sometime just after we entered NY, Carol realized there are no campgrounds along this route. The first campground she could find was in Allentown, PA. So, we pressed on.
It was an ugly drive and Carol felt really bad about her choice. From Springfield on, we had two types of roads: ones that needed repair and those under repair. Traffic was a continuous problem as the closer we got to NYC, the closer we got to rush hour. The best part came when we finally turned west towards Allentown. The traffic began to slacken, the hills began to climb and the color struggled to return. It was dark by the time we reached the campground. We had traveled 420 miles over several hours. Given all of the frustration associated with the bad roads, the traffic and the lack of scenery, I really enjoy traveling with Carol. While it was an ugly drive we took, it would have been absolutely miserable without her.
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