Happy Easter! It’s a glorious sunny morning, not a cloud in sight. Perfect morning for egghunts in the grass. A bit chilly, 43 degrees, but that doesn’t bother us in the car.
De rest of Friday, early afternoon, we drove through rolling wooded hills in spring green. Scattered blossoming wild apples, dogwoods and eh, choke cherries or something.Crossed the Mississippi in St. Louis, changed to rte 55 and then 70. The landscape flatter and flatter with more farms and fields – corn stubble galore. Hedgerows and stands of trees, farm ponds with an occasional few ducks or geese, little towns with big signs: Come See Pocahontas! Historic Center! Charming Downtown! Beuatiful Nature! Business Opportunities! Or some variation thereof. We pulled out the iPod and first played every recording ever of the Dubliners and then started on the collection of golden oldies, Britpop and American, that my brother-in-law put on (many, many) CD’s for us. Hours and hours of fun. Go to San Fran with flowers in your hair, Michelle is belle and tell Laura I love her. Groovy.
The next time zone and thus it was 8:30 when we got to Indianapolis. We came by the Colts stadium but didn’t let that bother us too much. Our room smelled badly of smoke. But when we went back to ask for a smoke free room, they upgraded us to a lovely room with a very roomy bathroom with whirlpool. With view of the TV via louver fake windows. I couldn’t resist. It was heavenly.
Saturday we were on the road again just before 8. Frost on the car! Just to remind we’re going back to New England? We could tell alongside the road that spring wasn’t as advanced, the trees barely green and the maples in bloom. We are feeling a kind of boredom with this landscape, it’s so much like home, we’re not as interested as in the arid and desert landscapes out west. Indiana to Ohio, rte 44 to rte 70, around Columbus on 270, then 71 to Akron, 76 to Youngstown and then route 80 into PA. A big sign: Buckle up next million miles. A lot more trucks on rte 80, of course, and road work after road work. They must be fixing every single bridge in the state… Henk and I took turns driving. Around 5:30, route 81, and by 6 we were in Wilkes-Barre at the next hotel. Got a bite to eat at Denny’s – we get 20% off with my AARP card! – and then we went to church, Henk found out where to go for Easter Vigil services on his iPhone. A small old church in an old neighborhood, nice old priest plus a young pastor, and the service had all the bells and whistles: the fire outside, the candles, the readings in the dark, the spraying of the congregation with the blessed water. They could have used a bigger sprayer thing – I’ll never forget St. Finbar’s in Brooklyn, their priest went around with a bucket full of water and a large paintbrush and doused everybody gooood. Lots of snickering and giggling among the parishioners… that’s the joy of Easter right there!
This morning, on the road again just before 8. Like I said, the sun is glorious, like it should be on Easter morning. It’s the last day of our return trip, the grass is green, blossoms, tender early spring green, dandelions and forsythias at the gas stations. Hardly anybody on the road this morning, progress was excellent on rte 84 through PA, NY, and CT and on rte 90 through MA. We arrived in Boston around 1 o'clock. Clouds showed up in east Connecticut. Spring looks a week behind, and it might be another week back in NH. But the weather has been nice, so, you never know.
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