December 15 -- GRAND FINALE

For the first time, on this trip’s last leg, I had a passenger! Leslie is a high-end real estate broker and someone with whom I have a great time doing fun things here in NYC. We first met about ten years ago through friends.
It was cold, clear and sunny when we set out for Amy’s wedding in the Boston area. This is a drive that I must have done more than 100 times over the years.

Many high-flying Manhattanites are collected at their doors in full-size black SUV’s. Happily, Leslie was content to be picked up in a pint-size Mini (photographed to make it look as BIG as possible).

We headed up the West Side Highway past barges and other ship traffic on the Hudson River. Over the Henry Hudson Bridge at the top of Manhattan, through Riverdale and the Bronx, and then up through Westchester on the Saw Mill River Parkway to Rt. 684. From 684, we got on I-84, which took us into Connecticut.

Via Waterbury.

Through Hartford, with Trinity College chapel in the distance and dirty snow on the road.

The last fuel stop of the trip! Northern Connecticut, the ground getting pretty white.

Captured on camera at the wheel for the first (and only) time in almost 10,000 miles, just before arriving at my parents' house, our home base for the wedding.

My parents.

Amy’s wedding took place at the Congregational Church in Concord, MA. It was lovely! In addition, Amy’s new husband Walter is a wonderful guy. Afterwards, the couple had their reception in a beautiful old house at the Lyman Estate in Waltham. Little mushroom toasts to die for.

It was a great time! This is Amy and a bunch of us old college classmates horsing around before an official photo.

The happy couple.


The . . .

December 14 -- New York City!

Norman got up early, made coffee and had breakfast with me. A generous send-off on the second-to-last leg of my journey!

The D.C. NYC corridor is very familiar to me; I have driven this road scores of times and sometimes feel it I could do it half-asleep. This time, however, the road was foggier than I ever remember.

Beyond Maryland, this is the Delaware Memorial Bridge – what little you can see of it, at least.

The road in front of Newark airport, in NJ, is always distracting.

Driving toward the Lincoln Tunnel in NJ, you can see the Empire State Building in the distance.

Closer to the tunnel, there’s a great view of Manhattan’s skyline. This terrible picture shows the top of the Rosie the Riveter “We Can Do It!” postcard in my pocket!

Going into the Lincoln Tunnel.

In Manhattan, crossing 42nd St on 9th Ave. Back in New York City. Whenever you return from being away, the energy of this amazing place hits you in the most palpable way.

Hell’s Kitchen.

Behind Lincoln Center – almost home!

Parking next to the Dakota apartment building, in front of which John Lennon was shot 27 years ago, on December 8, 1980. As in Chicago, I found a great spot available virtually only to those in Minis – pedestrians were interested to see if I’d fit.

I got back to my apartment and was greeted by the view out the window at the Apple Bank Building and the Ansonia. It felt great to be home.

The best sunset since California!

December 10 -- Birmingham to Charlotte

I started the day in Homewood, just outside of Birmingham, with coffee and a muffin at an independent café, Coolbeans.

I took I-20 (and a return to the Atlantic time zone for the first time in more than a month) to Atlanta, and I-85 through Greenville and Spartanburg, SC up to Charlotte, not far over the NC border.

The drive was warm and sunny, with the temperature close to 80° throughout, and I arrived in Charlotte around 5:30 p.m. Pics below:


Birmingham suburbs.

Downtown Birmingham from the Highway.

Alabama Countryside.

Atlanta in the distance.

Even though the temperature stayed warm. It started to look like winter just past Atlanta.

A friend in Georgia.

Atlanta seems to be a vibrant and diverse FM radio market, including a large number of religion-oriented stations. It was curious to hear these radio stations and, at the same time, to see these billboards just north of the city. (I captured 4 of 6, positioned in rapid succession, at the side of the road):




Arrival in Charlotte.

December 7 -- Houston to Memphis

I left Houston early, and under cloudy skies, for the 600+ mile drive to Memphis.


Before I knew it, I was past Beaumont, TX and in Louisiana (for the first time ever)!

I stopped for gas in Sulphur, Louisiana. It didn’t smell bad. It was about 78 degrees, and REALLY MUGGY. I imagine it is very very hot here in the summer months.

After leaving Sulphur, I crossed into Jefferson Davis County.  Hmm.  Despite its name, it was beautiful, as much of what I saw of the state was.



Approaching Baton Rouge (below), I passed through the adjacent community, Grosse Tete. Do you suppose the former keeps the latter from getting too large?


I switched from I-10 to I-12 in Baton Rouge, and then headed north on I-55, across the long bridges that span the Bayou des Glaises.  Look closely at the second picture, below, and you'll see an entirely separate bridge taking traffic in the opposite direction.



The highway nearly bisects the state of Mississippi as it winds through Jackson up to Memphis. It then continues through St. Louis and on to Chicago.

One of the remarkable things was how attractive the Mississippi countryside was. It reminded me a little of some of the rolling hills in the Cotswolds.  The pictures here don't really show it properly.

December 4 & 5 -- Tucson to Houston

The drive from Tucson to Houston was more than 1,000 miles, so I got underway right after I’d finished seeing everything at Pima.




The sun went down not too long after I got underway, but I managed to put in about seven hours on the road.



Night’s a funny time on I-10. There are very few cars, but you pass anonymous white truck after truck pushing on along the highway. With the darkness, a sort of grim relentlessness envelops the road. All business, all the time.

I stopped at the El Oso Flojo Lodge, Inc. in Balmorhea, a couple hours beyond El Paso in West Texas. At $79 before tax, it was by far the most expensive lodging of the entire trip. Cranky about this when I rolled into my room, the place turned out to be the nicest motel of the trip as well. It is run by Joel and Flora Madrid, and the room reflected their personal investment in cleanliness and a tasteful eye for decorating. (Link at right.)

Wednesday was bright, sunny, and all Texas!


The speed limit there sure was a help in moving along fast!


The state became greener and greener as I zipped east. The beginnings of the green zone, still awfully scrubby, seemed to appear around Fort Stockton. Things got positively lush around San Antonio, a very attractive city from the highway. Temperatures throughout the day were mostly in the high seventies.




It was a couple of easy hours from San Antonio to Houston, past towns such as Weimar and Katy.



Upon arrival in Houston, I encountered my first serious rush hour traffic of the trip! The highways in this city -- lane upon lane, overpass over overpass, and kaleidoscopic cloverleaf interchanges -- rival Los Angeles. Impressive.